Air Roethlisberger

Ben Roethlisberger threw six touchdown passes and Antonio Brown tied an NFL record that lasted 20 years to lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 43-23 blowout against the Baltimore Ravens Sunday night at Heinz Field.

The Steelers improved to 6-3 and trail the Cincinnati Bengals for first place in the AFC North, while the Ravens (5-4) are in last place behind the Cleveland Browns.

The Ravens picked up two consecutive first downs during their opening possession, including a 12-yard toss to tight end Owen Daniels on third-and-five, and a 14-yarder toTorrey Smith to near midfield. But three plays later the Ravens were forced to punt. Veteran Sam Koch pinned the Steelers at their 8 and that poor field position paid off a short time later for the Ravens.

The Steelers first offensive possession stalled, as Roethlisberger opened with an incomplete pass. Le’Veon Bell ran for three yards and caught a third-down pass for three to force a Brad Wing punt. He booted it for 46 yards, but Ravens returner Jacoby Jonesran it back 25 yards to set the table at the Steelers 35. It took just one play for Joe Flaccoto find Smith open for a touchdown behind cornerback Brice McCain in single coverage.

The Steelers didn’t get their initial first down until their fourth offensive possession. On second-and-eight, Roethlisberger found Antonio Brown on a quick curl that he turned into a 13-yard gain. LeGarrette Blount ran for nine yards on the ensuing play and then plowed four yards for another first down.

After a sideways pass to Brown netted six yards, Blount hit the right side for four and a third first down. So, slowly, but surely, the Steelers appeared to be moving the ball. But an illegal hands-to-the-face penalty by Maurkice Pouncey set back the club 10 yards. Roethlisberger was then sacked three straight times for minus-19 yards and the Steelers had to punt from their 12 on a fourth-and-39 play.

But the Steelers’ defense did its share after the Ravens got the ball. After a first-down run for 12 yards by Justin Forsett and another five-yard run by Lorenzo Taliaferro, Taliaferro got the ball again. The Steelers were ready, though, as Arthur Moats stripped him, and McCain recovered the fumble and ran it 26 yards to the Ravens 27. The Steelers needed just five plays to score and also took advantage of some extra-curricular action by the Ravens that drew flags.

On second-and-10, Roethlisberger connected with Brown for seven to the 20, but he was tackled with a horse-collar. The Ravens also committed defensive holding and roughed-up Roethlisberger with a shot to the head. So, then it was first-and-goal at the 10. After two short runs by Blount, Roethlisberger found Bell in the end zone for a five-yard score.

The Steelers’ defense remained hot, and Flacco … not so much. After getting a break on a 15-yard penalty when Steve McLendon put him on the ground, Flacco was pressured by Harrison and threw the ball to no-man’s land where Jason Worilds picked it off and ran it back 30 yards to the Ravens 30. Three plays later, Roethlisberger found Martavis Bryant open for a 19-yard touchdown to give the Steelers a 14-7 lead with 5:24 remaining before halftime.

The Ravens had a decent drive late in the half, but the Steelers defense stiffened at the end and forced Justin Tucker to kick a 46-yard field goal. The Steelers had 1:44 remaining and didn’t sit on their 14-10 lead, forged by a stellar defensive effort that forced two turnovers and held the Ravens to 1-for-6 on third-down conversions.

Roethlisberger hit Brown for 17 yards and Bell for 12 to just past midfield on second-and-six. On the next play, Markus Wheaton took off on a fly pattern down the right sideline and beat Lardarius Webb for a 47-yard touchdown. On the extra-point attempt, punter Brad Wing muffed the snap-hold but then pulled up and hit tight end Matt Spaeth for a two-point conversion to give the Steelers a 22-10 lead.

Then the Ravens had less than 50 seconds to do something and should have taken a knee immediately, but Jacoby Jones’ 30-yard kickoff return gave them some hope. It shouldn’t have, though, as Moats sacked Flacco for a nine-yard loss. A short gain followed, and then the Ravens let the clock run out to finally set the stage for the Mean Joe Greene number-retirement ceremony at halftime.

The Steelers’ defense corps was depleted in the second half, as Troy Polamalu (left leg) and Ryan Shazier (right ankle) were out with injuries, but Harrison was still playing. And that wasn’t good for the Ravens. His second sack of Flacco stifled a decent Ravens drive, and Koch’s punt landed inside the 20.

The Steelers moved the ball out from the 14, thanks to a pair of 15-yard penalties on the Ravens. A cheap shot on LeGarrette Blount by Terrell Suggs got things going, and Elivis Dumervil’s late hit on Roethlisberger moved the sticks past midfield. But Dumervil was devouring Marcus Gilbert and the Steelers had to punt after two Roethlisberger incompletions.

The Steelers got the ball back and drove 85 yards in seven plays and 3:38 with the big play a 54-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown by Brown. After Roethlisberger hit him on a crossing pattern, Brown stiff-armed one guy and out-ran another for the score. He became just the second player (tying Michael Irvin in 1995) with at least five catches for 80-plus yards in each of the first nine games in a season. The Steelers 29-10 advantage was short-lived, however, as Jacoby Jones ran back the ensuing kickoff 108 yards for a touchdown.

The Steelers didn’t hold back on their next possession, as Roethlisberger and Brown tortured Webb again. The first attempt led to a 12-yard pass-interference call. Roethlisberger then hit Brown for six, Heath Miller for 14 and Brown for 16. After a short run by Bell, Roethlisberger found Bryant open in the end zone from 18 yards out for the touchdown to make it 36-17 with 9:31 remaining. That made Roethlisberger 22-for-35 for 301 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions. It was the sixth time a Steelers quarterback had at least five touchdown passes with four of them going to Roethlisberger.

The Steelers attempted to run out the clock and had a third-and-one play with less than six minutes remaining, but Roethlisberger fumbled the snap and lost the ball to the Ravens. Flacco needed nine plays and 2:35 to drive the 33 yards for a touchdown, a one-yard toss to Crockett Gilmore, but the Ravens’ two-point conversion run failed. That made it 36-23, Steelers.

The Ravens tried an onside kick which the Steelers bobbled, but the ball was last touched by Pittsburgh before it went out of bounds to give the ball back to the Steelers with less than three minutes remaining. Then, the Steelers went the distance with Roethlisberger hitting tight end Matt Spaeth for a 33-yard touchdown. With his 12th TD pass in two games, Roethlisberger set an NFL record.