Pittsburgh 33, Cincinnati 20
Dec. 13, 2015
Post-Game Notes

**

TEAM**
• Pittsburgh improved to 8-5 overall, 3-3 on the road and 5-4 vs. AFC opponents in 2015.
• The Steelers are now 56-35 against the Bengals in regular-season history (26-19 on the road).
• Pittsburgh has won each of its last two road games in Cincinnati (Dec. 7, 2014: 42-21 and Dec. 13, 2015: 33-20).
• (The Steelers have won consecutive road game at the Bengals for the sixth time in regular-season series history (1975-76, 1991-95, 1999-2000, 2002-2008, 2010-12 and 2014-15).
• Pittsburgh won each of their previous four games against Cincinnati in the month of December (Dec. 15, 2013: 30-20, Dec. 7, 2014: 42-21, Dec. 28, 2014: 27-17).
• With its eighth win in 2015, the Steelers have won at least eight games in a season for the 12th consecutive year, dating back to 2004, the second-longest active streak in the NFL with eight wins or more behind only the New England (2001-15) with 15.
• The Steelers have won nine straight games in the month of December, dating back to Dec. 15, 2013, which is tied for the longest active December winning streak in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers.
• Pittsburgh has won each of its previous four road games in the month of December, dating back to Dec. 22, 2013.
• Pittsburgh has extended its franchise record for consecutive games with 30 points or more to five, dating back to Nov. 8, 2015.
• The Steelers have scored 30 points or more in six of 13 games in 2015, including each of the previous five.
• The defense held the Bengals to less than 100 rushing yards to mark the eighth time the team hasn't allowed 100 rushing yards by an opponent in its 13 games in 2015.
• Pittsburgh has not allowed a rushing touchdown in eight of its 13 games in 2015 and only four on the season. The four rushing touchdowns allowed are tied as the third-fewest in Games 1-13 of a season in team history (1997 and 2007: 3, 1942, 1992, 2001, 2004, 2009, 2010 and 2015: 4).
• Along with two interceptions vs. Indianapolis last week, Pittsburgh has recorded two interceptions in back-to-back games for the first time since 2011 (Games 10-11).
• The Steelers now have 6 red zone takeaways in 2015 (5 interception / 1 fumble recovery. It is the most by the team's defense since 2005 (7).
• Held Cincinnati to 20 points marking the team's eighth of its 13 games in 2015 allowing 20 points or less.
• Today's win marked Coach Tomlin's 90th regular-season victory. The Steelers are the first team in NFL history to have three coaches with 90 regular-season wins in its franchise's history (Chuck Noll: 193, Bill Cowher: 149 and Mike Tomlin: 90).
• The offense went 11-plays, 80-yards and scored a touchdown on the first possession of today's game, marking the second straight game vs. Cincinnati of scoring a touchdown on its first series (Nov. 1, 2015, 12-plays, 80 yards).
• Pittsburgh has scored in 17 consecutive quarters of play marking the second-longest consecutive quarters scored streak in team history (1997: 20 quarters).
• The Steelers scored 16 points in the first half against Cincinnati who entered the game holding opponents to 6.6 points in the first half – the fewest in the NFL.
• Pittsburgh has scored 82 points at the end of the half in 2015 (less than two minutes at the half) and entered the game with an NFL-best 79 points in the category.
• The defense now has 14 interceptions in 2015, the most by the team in a season since 2010 (21).
• The defense's three interceptions marked the team's first three-interception game since 2011 (Nov. 27 vs. Kansas City).
• The defense held Cincinnati to 20 points. The Bengals entered the game ranking fourth in the NFL with a 27.8 points per game average in 2015.

Head Coach Mike Tomlin
• Is now 90-51 during the regular season, including 38-32 on the road.
• Improved to 13-5 against the Bengals in the regular season (7-2 on the road).
• Owns a 35-17 all-time record against AFC North opponents. His 35 regular-season wins against division opponents are the most of any AFC North team since 2007.
• Is now 24-12 in the month of December as the Steelers' head coach (8-6 on the road).
• Is now 68-13 when the Steelers hold a lead at halftime.
• Is the third head coach in Steelers history to record 90 regular season victories, joining Chuck Noll, 1969-91: 193 and Bill Cowher, 19992-2006: 149.
• Became the first head coach in Steelers history to win 90 games in his first nine seasons at the helm (Bill Cowher, 19992-2000: 86 and Chuck Noll, 1969-77: 74).
• Is the ninth head coach in NFL history to win 90 games in his first nine seasons as a head coach, joining Mike Ditka, Joe Gibbs, Dennis Green, Mike Holmgren, John Madden, Mike McCarthy, George Seifert and Don Shula.
• Is the sixth head coach in NFL history to win 90 games in his first nine seasons with one franchise, joining Mike Ditka, Joe Gibbs, Dennis Green, John Madden and Mike McCarthy.
• With the team's eighth win in 2015, has led the Steelers to at least eight wins in each of his nine years as the team's head coach since 2007.
• Is the third head coach in NFL history to win at least eight games in each of their first nine years as an NFL head coach and with the same team (Dennis Green: Minnesota, John Madden: Oakland and Mike Tomlin: Pittsburgh).
• Becomes the sixth head coach in NFL history to lead a team to at least eight wins in each of their first nine years as a NFL head coach (George Allen: Los Angeles/Washington, Dennis Green: Minnesota, John Madden: Oakland, George Seifert: San Francisco/Carolina, Don Shula: Baltimore/Miami and Mike Tomlin: Pittsburgh).
• Is the fourth head coach in NFL history to win at least eight games in their first nine years as a head coach with a team (Dennis Green: Minnesota, John Madden: Oakland, Marty Schottenheimer: Kansas City and Mike Tomlin: Pittsburgh).

**

QB Ben Roethlisberger**
• Completed 30-of-39 passes for 282 yards with an interception for a passer rating of 85.6.
• Improved to 111-55 as a starter during the regular season, including 48-34 on the road.
• Increased his Steelers' franchise record for most wins as a starting quarterback to 111 (Terry Bradshaw, 107).
• Is now 17-7 against Cincinnati in the regular season as a starter (10-2 on the road).
• Owns a 44-15 (.746) regular-season record as a starter against AFC North opponents as a starter (20-8 on the road).
• Extended his NFL record for the most passing yards (5,595) and completions (485) in a career vs. Cincinnati.
• Has completed 255-of-379 passes for 3,009 yards with 19 touchdowns in 13 starts on the road in Cincinnati in his NFL career.

WR Antonio Brown
• Caught seven passes for a team-high 87 yards.
• Extended his consecutive regular-season games started streak to 32 – the third-longest active Consecutive games started streak among NFL wide receivers.
• Has registered at least one reception in 86 consecutive games in which he has played, including the postseason – dating back to October 3, 2010.
• Has registered at least one reception in 81 consecutive regular-season games – dating back to October 3, 2010.
• Increased his 2015 catch total to 100 – the fourth-most by a Steeler in a single-season.
• Surpassed Hines Ward (98, 2002) for the second-most receptions in the first 13 games of a season by a Steeler with 100.
• Has recorded 100 receptions in 2015 to mark his third consecutive 100-catch season, extending his franchise record to three straight 100-catch campaigns.
• Became the sixth player in NFL history with three straight 100-catch seasons, joining Marvin Harrison (4, 1999-2002), Jerry Rice (3, 1994-96), Herman Moore (3, 1995-97), Brandon Marshall (3, 2007-09) and Wes Welker (3, 2007-09).
• His 1,397 receiving yards rank as the fourth-most in a single-season in Steelers history behind his own totals in 2014 (1,698) and 2013 (1,499) and Yancey Thigpen's total in 1997 (1,398).
• Surpassed his own Steelers record for the most receiving yards in the first 13 games of a season with 1,397.

WR Markus Wheaton
• Caught four passes for 65 yards, including a team-long reception of 31 yards.

WR Martavis Bryant
• Hauled in seven catches for 49 yards.
• Extended his single-season career highs to 38 catches (26 in 2014) and 672 receiving yards (549 in 2014).
• Set a single-game career-high with seven receptions, surpassing his previous single-game best of six (Oct. 18, 2015 vs. Arizona).

**

RB DeAngelo Williams**
• Rushed for a game-high 76 rushing yards on 23 carries and two rushing scores. Added 15 receiving yards on two catches.
• With two rushing scores, increased his 2015 total to eight, marking the second-most in a single-season in his NFL career (2008: 18).
• Increased his career total to 61 touchdowns (54 rushing / 7 receiving) to become the eighth active NFL running back with 60 career touchdowns.
• Produced his third multi-rushing touchdown game of 2015 and 14th of his NFL career.
• Increased his 2015 rushing yardage total to 773 – the fifth-most rushing yards in a single-season in his NFL career (2008: 1,515, 2009: 1,117, 2013: 843 and 2011: 836).

TE Heath Miller
• Led all receivers with a game-high 10 receptions for 66 yards.
• Matched a single-game career high of 10 receptions (Sept. 28, 2014 vs. Tampa Bay and Nov. 1, 2015 vs. Cincinnati).
• Is the fourth player in team history to record three games with 10 or more receptions, tying Yancey Thigpen for the third-most such games in team history.
• His 66 receiving yards marked the 53rd game of his regular season career with at least 50 yards.
• Caught his 40th catch of 2015 with his first reception, extending his consecutive years with at least 40 receptions to nine, dating back to 2007.
• With his second catch, joined Ozzie Newsome (92) and Todd Heap (71) as the third tight end in NFL history to record 70 catches in a career vs. Cincinnati.
• With his fourth catch, joined Hines Ward (1,000) as the only players in franchise history with at least 575 career receptions.
• Increased his career total to 78 catches in his career vs. Cincinnati, and surpassed Todd Heap (71) for the second-most catches by a tight end in NFL history in a career vs. the Bengals, trailing Ozzie Newsome (92).
• Caught 8 passes in the first half, marking a new career high for any half of a game in his NFL career (Nov. 28, 2013 at Baltimore: 7, 2nd half).
• Became the third tight end in NFL history to post 700 receiving yards 721 in a career vs. Cincinnati, joining Ozzie Newsome (920) and Todd Heap (819).

FB Will Johnson
• Extended his consecutive regular-season games played streak to 44 – the third-longest active consecutive games played streak among NFL fullbacks.

DE Cameron Heyward
• Extended his consecutive regular-season games played streak to 77 – tying as the fifth-longest active consecutive games played streak among NFL defensive end.
• Posted two tackles and a sack for a four-yard loss.
• Recorded his sixth sack of the season (21st of his NFL career) – bringing down Cincinnati QB AJ McCarron in the fourth quarter.
• His 21.0 sacks are sixth-most among Steelers defensive linemen since sacks became an official statistic in 1982.  Keith Willis (1982-92) has recorded the most sacks by a Steelers defensive linemen with 59.0.

DE Stephon Tuitt
• Recorded the first interception of his NFL career picking off Cincinnati QB Andy Dalton on 2nd-and-goal from the Steelers' four-yard line in the first quarter.
• Became the first Steelers defensive end with an interception since 2014 (Brett Keisel, Oct. 20 2014 vs. Houston).
• Became the fifth Steelers defensive end to post an interception against Cincinnati, joining Keith Willis (Dec. 2, 1990), Ray Seals (Nov. 19, 1995), Orpheus Roye (Oct. 17, 1999) and Aaron Smith (Oct. 23, 2005).

**

CB William Gay**
• Extended his consecutive regular season games played streak to 141 – the longest active consecutive games played streak among NFL cornerbacks.
• Picked off Cincinnati QB AJ McCarron and returned the ball 23 yards for a touchdown to match a franchise record for the most interceptions returned for a touchdown with five (Rod Woodson, 1987-96).
• Became the 10th active NFL defender with five or more interceptions returned for touchdowns.
• His interception increased his NFL career total to 10 (8 with Pittsburgh).

CB Robert Golden
• Picked off Cincinnati QB AJ McCarron in the fourth quarter – his first career interception.

S Mike Mitchell
• Extended his consecutive regular season games started streak to 43 – the sixth-longest active consecutive games played streak among NFL free safeties.

S Will Allen
• Brought down Cincinnati QB AJ McCarron for a sack, his third of the season, and of his NFL career, and tied for the secondary lead on the defense with 5 tackles.
• Is the first Steelers defensive back with three sacks in a season since 2005 (Troy Polamalu and Deshea Townsend: 3.0).

LB Lawrence Timmons
• Led the defense with 8 total tackles (4 solo).
• Extended his streak of consecutive regular-season games started to 82 – the longest active streak among current Steelers – and the third-longest active streak among NFL linebackers.
• Extended his consecutive regular season games played streak to 101 – the fourth-longest active consecutive games played streak among NFL linebackers.

K Chris Boswell
• Converted each of his four field goal attempts (42, 47, 45, 31) and three extra point tries for 15 points.
• Improved to 24-of-26 in 2015 on field goal attempts, 8-of-10 between 40-49, 6-of-6 between 30-39 and 16-of-17 on point after tries.
• Matched a single-game career best of field goals made (Oct. 18, 2015 vs. Arizona).
• His 24 field goals are the second-most field goals made by a rookie/first-year player in team history behind only Kris Brown (1999) with 25.
• Became the third rookie/first-year kicker in Steelers history to tally at least 80 points in his first season with the franchise, now with 90 in 2015.  Kris Brown scored 105 points in 1999 and Matt Bahr scored 104 points in 1979.
• His 92.3 field goal percentage ranks first among rookie/first-year players in team history (min. 10 attempts).

P Jordan Berry
• Landed his first punt inside the Bengals' 20-yard line. Has landed 22 of his 46 points on the season inside the opponent's 20-yard line (47.8 percent).