Pittsburgh 34, Denver 27Dec. 20, 2015Post-Game NotesTEAM
Game action as the Steelers hosted the Denver Broncos at Heinz Field.


























































âą Pittsburgh improved to 9-5 overall, 6-2 at home and 6-4 vs. AFC opponents in 2015.
âą The Steelers have won their ninth game in 2015 â the 32nd season in team history with at least nine wins â 12th since 2000.
âą Pittsburgh was won at least six home games in a season for the eighth time since 2000 and 24th year in franchise history.
âą The Steelers are now 8-14-1 against the Broncos in regular-season history (5-6 at home).
âą Pittsburgh has won its last two December home games against Denver (Dec. 7, 1997: 35-24).
âą Pittsburgh is now 3-1 against Denver during the month of December (2-1 at home).
âą The Steelers have won 10 straight games in the month of December, dating back to Dec. 15, 2013, the longest active December winning streak in the NFL, tied with Carolina.
âą Pittsburgh has won each of its previous six home games in the month of December, dating back to Dec. 15, 2013.
âą The Steelers have won 10 straight games in the month of December, dating back to Dec. 15, 2013, tying as the third-longest winning streak in a month in team history (October, 1999-2001 & November, 1974-76, 11).
âą Pittsburgh came back to win the game after being down 17 points in the second quarter. It marked the first time the Steelers overcame a 17-point deficit to win a game since the team trailed the Baltimore Ravens by 21 points on 10/5/97 and came back to win 42-34.
âą The Steelers have scored in 21 consecutive quarters â setting a team record for the most consecutive quarters scored streak in team history (1997: 20 quarters).
âą Pittsburgh has extended its franchise record for consecutive games with 30 points or more to six, dating back to Nov. 8, 2015, the longest active streak in the NFL.
âą The Steelers have scored 30 points or more in seven of 14 games in 2015, including each of the previous six.
âą Pittsburgh is the first team to score 30 points against Denver since Dec. 22, 2014 (Cincinnati: 37).
âą The Steelers' defense has recorded 40 sacks in a season for the first time since 2010 (48), with 40 in 2015.
âą The defense now has 15 interceptions in 2015, the most interceptions by the Steelers in a season since 2010 (21).
âą Set a Heinz Field single-game attendance record with 67,234 and single-season records of total home attendance (517,854) and average attendance per home game (64,732).**
Head Coach Mike Tomlin* âą Is now 91-51 during the regular season, including 53-19 at home.
âą Has guided the Steelers to a nine-win season for the seventh time in his nine years as the team's head coach since 2007.
âą Led the Steelers to six home wins in six of his nine years as the team's head coach since 2007.
âą Earned a win in his first home game vs. the Broncos and evened his regular-season record against Denver at 2-2.
âą Owns a 67-39 all-time record against AFC opponents, including a 39-15 mark at home in inter-conference games.
âą Is now 25-12 in the month of December as the Steelers' head coach and 17-6 at home during the month.
âą Is now 69-13 when the Steelers hold a lead at halftime.QB Ben Roethlisberger âą Finished 40-of-55 for 380 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions for a passer rating of 94.5.
âą The 40 completions tied a single-game team record (10/26/14 vs. Indianapolis) and the 55 attempts tied for the third-most in a single-game in team history (Ben Roethlisberger, Nov. 29, 2015 at Seattle and Neil O'Donnell (Dec. 24, 1995 vs. Green Bay).
âą Improved to 112-55 as a starter during the regular season, including 64-21 at home.
âą Increased his Steelers' franchise record for most wins as a starting quarterback to 112 (Terry Bradshaw, 107).
âą Is now 2-3 against Denver in the regular season as a starter (1-1 at home).
âą Owns a 82-42 (.661) regular-season record as a starter against AFC opponents as a starter, including 47-17 at home (.734).âą Recorded his 10th consecutive season with 3,000 passing yards to become the sixth quarterback in NFL history with 10 straight 3,000-yard campaigns (Brett Favre: 18, Peyton Manning: 13, Drew Brees: 13, Eli Manning: 11 and Philip Rivers: 10).
âą With his 19th completion, reached 250 in 2015 â his fifth straight season with 250 completions to set a franchise record for the most consecutive 250-completion campaigns.
âą Has thrown for 300-plus passing yards in each of his last four home games â a new career-long and team record for consecutive home games with 300 passing yards.
âą Has thrown for 300-plus passing yards and at least two touchdowns in each of his last four home games â a new career-long and team record for consecutive home games with 300 passing yards and multiple touchdown throws.
âą Has thrown for 300-plus passing yards and at least two touchdowns in each of his last four home games â the longest active streak for consecutive home games with 300 passing yards and multiple touchdown passes.
âą Totaled 380 passing yards, his 44th 300-yard passing game of his career during the regular season, extending his franchise record.
âą Eclipsed 300 passing yards for the second time in his career against the Broncos (Nov. 5, 2006: 433).
âą Is the first quarterback to throw for 300 yards in a game vs. Denver since Dec. 7, 2014 (Buffalo: Kyle Orton).
âą With his first touchdown pass, extended his consecutive home games played with at least one scoring toss to 38 â dating back to Dec. 19, 2010 â the second-longest active streak in the NFL (Drew Brees: 52) â and the fourth-longest in NFL history.
âą Has thrown at least three touchdown passes in 34 games during the regular season, extending his franchise record. *
WR Antonio Brown* âą Totaled game highs in receptions (16) and receiving yards (189) with two receiving touchdowns.
âą Became the first player in NFL history to have two games with 15 or more receptions in a single season.
âą Extended his consecutive regular-season games started streak to 34 â the third-longest active consecutive games started streak among NFL wide receivers.
âą Has registered at least one reception in 87 consecutive games in which he has played, including the postseason â dating back to October 3, 2010.
âą Has registered at least one reception in 82 consecutive regular-season games â dating back to October 3, 2010.
âą Increased his 2015 catch total to 116 â the second-most by a Steeler in a season in franchise history behind only his own total of 129 receptions in 2014.
âą Set the record for most receptions in the first 14 games of a season by a Steeler with 116.
âą Has recorded 116 receptions in 2015 to mark his third consecutive 110-catch season, extending his franchise record to three straight 110-catch campaigns.
âą Became the second player in NFL history with three straight 110-catch seasons, joining Wes Welker (3, 2007-09).
âą Since 2013, has hauled in 355 receptions. His 355 catches are the most in any three consecutive seasons in NFL history.
âą Became the fourth player in Steelers history to amass 500 receptions, joining (Hines Ward: 1,000, Heath Miller: 581 and John Stallworth: 537).
âą Caught 16 passes to mark his fourth game of 2015 with at least 10 receptions, tying his own team record for four games in a single-season with 10 catches (4, 2014).
âą Increased his Steelers record to nine games with 10 or more receptions.
âą Along with 1,698 receiving yards in 2014, became the first player in team history with back-to-back 1,500-yard seasons.
âą Is the fifth player in NFL history to register consecutive 1,500-receiving yard seasons, joining Marvin Harrison (2001-02, Andre Johnson 2008-09, Calvin Johnson (2011-12) and Julio Jones (2014-15).
âą Reached 1,400 receiving yards in 2015 on his first catch for a 10-yard gain, marking his third consecutive year with 1,400 or more.
âą Owns a franchise record for consecutive seasons with 1,400 receiving yards with three.
âą Is the fifth player in NFL history to register three straight 1,400 receiving yard seasons, joining Marvin Harrison (4, 1999-2002), Calvin Johnson (3, 2011-13), Jerry Rice (3, 1993-95) and Demaryius Thomas (3, 2012-14).
âą Surpassed Calvin Johnson (2010-12; 4,765) for the third-most receiving yards by an NFL player in any three consecutive season span in NFL history, now with 4,783. Brown trails only Calvin Johnson (2011-13; 5,137) and Jerry Rice (1993-95; 4,850).
âą His 1,586 receiving yards rank as the second-most in a single-season in Steelers history behind his 2014 total of 1,698.
âą Surpassed his own Steelers record for the most receiving yards in the first 14 games of a season with 1,586.
âą Eclipsed 100 receiving yards for the eighth time in 2015, tying his own Steelers single-season record for the most 100-yard games.
âą Recorded the 24th 100-yard receiving game of his career, the third-most 100-yard performances in team history behind Hines Ward (1998-2011, 29) and John Stallworth (1974-87, 25).
âą His 1,642 yards from scrimmage in 2015 are the sixth-most in a season in team history.
âą Became the fourth Steelers player in team history to reach 9,500 combined yards. Others to reach this milestone: Franco Harris, Hines Ward and Jerome Bettis.
âą Became the first Steeler to register 1,500 yards from scrimmage in three consecutive seasons (2013: 1,503, 2014: 1,711 and 2015: 1,614).
âą Is the second wide receiver in NFL history with three consecutive seasons of 1,500 yards from scrimmage, joining Jerry Rice (1993-95).
âą Matched a single-game career-high with two touchdown catches â the ninth multi-touchdown catch game of his NFL career â moving into a tie for the third-most multi-touchdown receiving games in team history with John Stallworth.*
WR Markus Wheaton** âą Finished with six catches for 62 yards and one score. The touchdown was his fourth of the season, increasing his personal single-season high to four and career total to six.WR Martavis Bryant âą Extended his single-season career highs to 48 catches (26 in 2014) and 759 receiving yards (549 in 2014).
âą Set a single-game career-high with 10 receptions, surpassing his previous single-game best of seven (Dec. 13, 2015 at Cincinnati). RB DeAngelo Williams âą Totaled 56 yards from scrimmage, 26 rushing yards on 14 carries with a touchdown, and five catches for 30 yards.
âą Scored the team's first points of the game on a two-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. The touchdown run was his ninth rushing touchdown of 2015, the second-most in a season in his NFL career (2008: 18).TE Heath Miller âą Caught three passes for 12 yards.
âą Reached 50 receptions in 2015 on his first grab â marking his fifth consecutive year with at least 50 catches, dating back to 2011.FB Will Johnson âą Extended his consecutive regular-season games played streak to 45 â the third-longest active consecutive games played streak among NFL fullbacks.G Ramon Foster âą Played in the 100th game of his NFL career and made his 85th start.G David DeCastro âą Extended his consecutive regular-season games started streak to 38 â the sixth-longest active consecutive games started streak among NFL guards.DE Cameron Heyward âą Extended his consecutive regular-season games played streak to 78 â tying as the fifth-longest active consecutive games played streak among NFL defensive end.
âą Recorded his seventh sack of the season and 22nd of his NFL career.
âą His 22.0 sacks are sixth-most among Steelers defensive linemen since sacks became an official statistic in 1982. Keith Willis (1982-92) leads the list with 59.0 sacks.CB William Gay âą Extended his consecutive regular season games played streak to 142 â the longest active consecutive games played streak among NFL cornerbacks.S Mike Mitchell âą Extended his consecutive regular-season games started streak to 44 â the sixth-longest active consecutive games played streak among NFL free safeties.
âą Recovered a fumble forced by S Will Allen in the first quarter, his fifth defensive fumble recovery of his NFL career, and second of 2015 to match a single-season career high (2010: 2).
âą Was one of four defenders to tie for the team-lead with six tackles.S Will Allen
âą Made his 50th career start and forced a fumble in the first quarter, the fifth defensive forced fumble in his NFL career and second of 2015. His two defensive forced fumbles are a new single-season career high.
âą Increased his single-season career high to 7 passes defensed (4 in 2013).
âą Had a team-high two pass break-ups and was one of four to tie for the team-lead with six tackles.
**
LB Ryan Shazier** âą Recorded the first interception of his NFL career in the fourth quarter and was one of four defenders to tie for the team-lead with six tackles.LB Lawrence Timmons
âą Extended his streak of consecutive regular-season games started to 83 â the longest active streak among current Steelers â and the third-longest active streak among NFL linebackers.
âą Extended his consecutive regular season games played streak to 102 â the fourth-longest active consecutive games played streak among NFL linebackers.
âą Sacked Denver QB Brock Osweiler, surpassing Chad Brown and Mike Merriweather (31.0) for the 10th-most sacks in franchise history (since sacks became an official stat in 1982).
âą Was one of four defenders to tie for the team-lead with six tackles.
K Chris Boswell
âą Converted each of his two field goal attempts (24, 41) and all four extra point tries for 10 points.
âą Surpassed Kris Brown (25, 1999) for the most field goals made by a rookie/first-year player in team history in a single season with 26.
âą Has scored 10 or more points in each of the last six games, matching a franchise record for consecutive 10-point games (Gary Anderson, 1985, 6).
âą Is the ninth Steelers kicker (30th occasion) to reach 100 points in a single-season.
âą Became the third rookie/first-year kicker in Steelers history to tally at least 100 points in his first season with the franchise.
âą His 92.9 field goal percentage ranks first among rookie/first-year players in team history (min. 10 attempts).
âą His 92.9 field goal percentage ranks 3rd in a single-season in Steelers history behind only Shaun Suisham (93.8%) in 2013 and Gary Anderson (93.3%) in 1993.P Jordan Berry
âą Landed four of his six punts inside the Broncos' 20-yard line.
âą Has placed 26 of his 53 punts inside the opponent's 20 in 2015 â the best percent of punts inside the 20 by a Steeler in a season since the stat became officially tracked in 1976.
âą Has tied Drew Butler (26, 2012) for the 9th-most punts inside the 20 by a Steelers punter in a season since the stat became officially tracked in 1976.



