Steelers take the hits, then thump Browns

PITTSBURGH - Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger played through a painful left leg injury to lead the Steelers to a 14-3 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Thursday night.

Roethlisberger passed for 280 yards and two touchdowns, including a 79-yard scoring strike to Antonio Brown with 2 minutes, 52 seconds remaining to help the Steelers (10-3) win for the eighth time in nine games.

Roethlisberger went to the locker room for X-rays following a gruesome second-quarter sack, but returned to start the second half, passing for 178 yards after the break.

Steelers 14, Browns 3

Cleveland 3 0 0 0 – 3

Pittsburgh 7 0 0 7 – 14

First quarter

 Cle–FG Dawson 20, 9:22.

Pit–Cotchery 11 pass from Roethlisberger (Suisham kick), 6:12.

Fourth quarter

 Pit–A.Brown 79 pass from Roethlisberger (Suisham kick), 2:52.

A: 60,754. Cle   Pit

First downs 19   20

Total Net Yards 304   416

Rushes-yards 30-98   28-147

Passing 206   269

Punt Returns 3-29   0-0

Kickoff Returns 2-39   2-31

Interceptions Ret. 1-29   2-33

Comp-Att-Int 19-36-2   16-23-1

Sacked-Yards Lost 3-16   2-11

Punts 6-34.2   4-41.3

Fumbles-Lost 2-0   2-2

Penalties-Yards 6-54   12-97

Time of Possession 32:18   27:42

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: Cleveland, Ogbonnaya 2-31, Hillis 10-25, Hardesty 11-24, McCoy 6-15, Cribbs 1-3. Pittsburgh, Mendenhall 18-76, Redman 6-35, Wallace 1-21, Moore 3-15.

Passing: Cleveland, McCoy 18-35-2-209, Wallace 1-1-0-13. Pittsburgh, Roethlisberger 16-21-1-280, C.Batch 0-2-0-0.

Receiving: Cleveland, Moore 4-55, Massaquoi 3-44, Cribbs 2-38, Little 2-25, Norwood 2-21, Smith 2-19, Watson 2-11, Hardesty 2-9. Pittsburgh, A.Brown 5-151, Wallace 4-57, Cotchery 2-33, Johnson 2-22, Miller 2-11, Ward 1-6.

Missed Field Goals: None.