Stainless Steel

The Steelers opened December with the kind of signature win that could make them a force to be reckoned with in January.

Extending their winning streak to a season-high three games, the Steelers handed the New York Giants their first loss in seven games, 24-14, at Heinz Field.

The win kept the Steelers (7-5) tied with the Baltimore Ravens for first place in the AFC North. They also are one game out of a wild-card spot, a prospect that seemed unfathomable when they were 4-5 in November.

“It’s a great win for us,” Steelers cornerback Ross Cockrell said. “Obviously, they are a contender in the NFC. They’ve been on a winning streak, but we’re playing Steeler football now, and I think that’s evident.”

This version of Steeler football, at least during this winning stretch, has been built around getting the ball to Le’Veon Bell, Antonio Brown and the emerging Ladarius Green, plus riding a stingy defense.

Bell rushed for 118 yards, the first time in his career he surpassed the 100-yard mark in three consecutive games. He also finished with 182 all-purpose yards, touching the ball 35 times.

Brown caught six passes for 54 yards and made a leaping grab in the back of the end zone for a touchdown that gave the Steelers an 11-0 lead in the second quarter. Green had six catches for 110 yards and his first touchdown with the Steelers.

Not to be overlooked, the defense stopped the Giants (8-4) three times on fourth down in the second half. They have yielded four touchdowns in the three wins, with one coming Sunday with 26 seconds remaining. Lawrence Timmons and Sean Davis had interceptions, and Ricardo Mathews and James Harrison had sacks, giving the Steelers 13 in the winning streak.

“It’s that time of year when we have to be our best selves: offense, defense, special teams,” said quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns. “Everybody needs to just do their job, and I thought we did that tonight.

“This was a total team win, and we’ve been doing that these last couple of weeks.”

A storyline entering the game was how the Steelers defense would handle the Giants’ no-huddle set. It wasn’t much of an issue. The Giants had just 91 yards in the first half and 234 for the game.

Eli Manning threw two interceptions and finished 24 of 39 for 195 yards and two touchdowns. Odell Beckham Jr. had 10 catches for 100 yards but wasn’t much of a factor.

“I feel like we did a great job of neutralizing their key guys,” linebacker Ryan Shazier said.

After making two goal-line stands in the previous game against the Indianapolis Colts, the Steelers stopped the Giants on fourth-and-1 at the 3 in the third quarter while holding a 14-0 lead. Tight end Will Tye dropped Manning’s pass at the goal line as Shazier covered.

The Steelers came up with two more big stops in the fourth quarter when leading 21-7. On third-and-13 at the Steelers 35, Mike Mitchell broke up a pass intended for Beckham. On fourth down, Davis snagged his first career interception, picking off Manning at the 6.

The Giants got the ball at midfield with 8:22 left. On third-and-9 from the 24, Mitchell put a jarring hit on Tye as Manning threw incomplete. On fourth down, Mathews sacked Manning, and the Steelers took over with 6:56 left.

“Those plays are huge,” Shazier said. “Nobody tenses up. Nobody thinks the moment is too big.”

Randy Bullock, signed one day earlier after an injury to Chris Boswell, kicked his third field goal, a 38-yarder with 1:39 left, to give the Steelers a 24-7 lead.

The Steelers led 14-0 at halftime, using a safety, two Bullock field goals and a touchdown (with missed 2-point conversion) to get that number.

The turning point came with the Steelers leading 5-0 but with the Giants driving for a possible go-ahead score. Timmons stepped in front of Manning’s pass at the 2 and returned it 58 yards.

Three plays later, Roethlisberger scrambled and found Brown in the back of the end zone trying to shake coverage from Janoris Jenkins.

The Steelers have only AFC foes left on the schedule, starting with the 6-6 Bills on Sunday in Orchard Park, N.Y. The big game, of course, comes Christmas Day against the Ravens at Heinz Field.