The Pittsburgh Steelers remain in the thick of the AFC playoff race after a 27-20 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. Our takeaways:
- Has it finally clicked for the Steelers? Pittsburgh has puzzled at times this season with flat showings that kept the team from building momentum. On Sunday, they delivered a strong overall performance on both sides of the ball, improving to 9-5 on the year. They'll win the AFC North if they can protect their home field over the next two weeks. The Falcons, now 5-9, remain in contention in the woeful NFC South.
- Le'Veon Bell finally looked mortal after three weeks of absurdly productive play. The second-year back found little daylight and was held to just 47 yards on 20 carries. He did score both of Pittsburgh's offensivetouchdowns, while adding 72 yards on five receptions.
- Officials got it wrong when they flagged Steelers linebacker Jason Worilds for unnecessary roughness on a sack of Matt Ryan in the second quarter. Worilds flattened Ryan on a clean hit that left the Falcons' quarterback shaken up. A flag was thrown for the hit, wiping out the sack and handing Atlanta a gift first down. The Falcons scored a touchdown three plays later. You can safely assume Mike Tomlin will be sending that tape to the league office.
- As expected, the Falcons' offense was considerably less explosive with Julio Jones out with a hip injury. Roddy White set the franchise record for touchdown receptions with a 4-yard score in the third quarter, but he has shown some signs of decline this season. Harry Douglas took advantage of more targets with a 10-catch, 131-yard day.
- Ben Roethlisberger didn't throw a touchdown pass, but don't be deceived by the box score. The Steelers' quarterback was excellent, throwing for over 300 yards with deadly accuracy. Roethlisberger is having another outstanding season.
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