The highs and lows of the Steelers AFC Wild Card Game vs. the Miami Dolphins.
**1:05 p.m. ET - Kickoff
1:10 p.m. ET - What went right:** The Steelers said they were excited to have Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, and Le'Veon Bell all healthy for a playoff game for the first time ever, and their play selection on the game-opening possession verified that. On a five-play, 85-yard drive that ended with a 50-yard catch-and-run by Brown for a touchdown, Bell rushed twice, and Brown caught two passes. On the touchdown play – a quick, wide receiver screen – Jesse James sprung Brown into the open with a block on Tony Lippett, and then Brown ran away from Bacarri Rambo to complete the play and give the Steelers a 7-0 lead three minutes into the game.
1:17 p.m. ET - What went right: After an initial first down, the Dolphins stalled on their opening possession of the game. The Steelers defense stiffened and forced a Miami punt. On the third down okay, Bud Dupree pressured Matt Moore into throwing a pass in traffic, and it in fact was Jarvis Landry who broke up a pass that otherwise could have been intercepted by Will Gay.
1:20 p.m. ET - What went right: Yes, the Steelers defense forced the Dolphins to punt on their opening possession. And yes, Antonio Brown made the right decision by allowing the ball to bounce into the end zone. But a holding penalty on Artie Burns pushed the offense back to the 10-yard line.
**
1:23 p.m. ET - What went right:** Ninety yards away from the goal line? No problem. On a six-play, 90-yard touchdown drive that gave the Steelers a 14-0 lead midway through the first period. After converting a third-and-11 with a 15-yard strike to Demarcus Ayers, Ben Roethlisberger delivered another strike to Brown on a slant over the middle and the All-Pro receiver took it from there. After CB Tony Lippett made a swipe at the ball and missed, Bacarri Rambo took a bad angle, and Brown had enough speed to finish the play for a 62-yard touchdown. Midway through the first quarter, Brown had three catches for 119 yards and two touchdowns, and Roethlisberger was seven-for-seven for 162 yards and two touchdowns.
1:37 p.m. ET - What went wrong: The Dolphins chipped into the Steelers lead by driving into position for a 38-yard field goal by Matt Darr. The big play on the drive came on a third-and-13 from the Miami 38-yard line. On a deep pass to Kenny Still, Will Gay seemed to lose track of the ball, and Still was able to make the catch for a 36-yard gain to the Steelers 26-yard line. Darr's field goal followed shortly thereafter.
**
1:56 p.m. ET - What went right:** For their offensive possession that followed the Dolphins field goal, the Steelers came onto the field with a personnel grouping that included Chris Hubbard as a tight end and Rosie Nix at fullback. On a 10-play drive, Le'Veon Bell carried on every play, and he gained 75 yards and the touchdown that gave the Steelers a 20-3 lead after Chris Boswell plunked his PAT attempt off the upright.
2:10 p.m. ET - What went wrong: The Dolphins faced a fourth-and-short on the possession following Bell's touchdown, and even though the Steelers punt return unit was prepared for a fake, the snap to the up-back still gained enough yards for the first down at the Miami 44-yard line.
2:15 p.m. ET - What went wrong: Later on the same possession, the Dolphins got a break when Bud Dupree was flagged for roughing Matt Moore, who was outside the pocket and running toward the line of scrimmage, but that yardage was mitigated by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Jay Ajayi that set up a first-and-25 from the original line of scrimmage. Matt Darr's 47-yard field goal cut the Steelers lead to 20-6 with just less than five minutes remaining in the first half.
2:21 p.m. ET - What went wrong: Ben Roethlisberger had not thrown an incomplete pass until there was about a minute remaining in the first half, and then the first time he didn't complete the pass to a teammate he completed it to a Dolphins defensive back. Scrambling to avoid the rush on a second-and-14 from the Miami 34-yard line, Roethlisberger threw a bit high to Antonio Brown. The ball, which should have been caught, bounced off Brown's hands and it was intercepted by safety Michael Thomas to give the Dolphins the ball at their own 27-yard line after his 16-yard return.
**
2:38 p.m. ET - What went right:** William Gay to the rescue. First-and-goal for Miami at the Steelers 8-yard line with 27 seconds left, and the Steelers lead was 20-6 and looking to be maybe cut in half. But Harrison beat Brandon Albert and was quickly on Matt Moore, who tried to run away but was caught from behind, and in the process Harrison stripped the ball loose. Stephon Tuitt recovered at the 13-yard line, and the first half ended with the Steelers having preserved their 20-6 lead.
2:39 p.m. ET - Halftime: Steelers 20, Dolphins 6
**
2:59 p.m. ET - What went right:** On the opening possession of the second half, the Dolphins moved to a third-and-6 from the Steelers 48-yard line. Coming on a blitz, Mike Mitchell recorded a sack/strip that L.T. Walton recovered for the Steelers ate the Pittsburgh 41-yard line with 10:48 left in the third quarter.
3:08 p.m. ET - What went right: Taking possession after L.T. Walton's fumble recovery off Mike Mitchell sack/strip, the Steelers moved to a first-and-goal at the Miami 6-yard line largely on the running of Le'Veon Bell. But from there, things fell apart. A quick pass to Antonio Brown lost 1 yard; a run by Bell was stuffed for no gain; and then on third down Ben Roethlisberger was sacked for a 9-yard loss by Ndamukong Suh. Chris Boswell's 34-yard field goal gave the Steelers a 23-6 lead with 6:32 remaining in the third quarter.
3:15 p.m. ET - What went right: On the first play of the Dolphins possession following Chris Boswell's 34-yard field goal, Matt Moore's pass for Jarvis Landry was intercepted by Ryan Shazier, and his 10-yard return set up the Steelers at the Miami 27-yard line.
**
3:27 p.m. ET - What went right:** Le'Veon Bell's 8-yard touchdown run gave him 165 yards rushing on the day, which was a franchise postseason record, and it gave the Steelers a 30-6 lead late in the third quarter. The possession was saved when the Steelers caught Tony Lippett trying to hurdle the center to block a field goal attempt, and that penalty yardage was enough to give the Steelers a first down. Three plays later, Bell's 8-yard touchdown run gave the Steelers a 30-6 lead that they carried into the start of the fourth quarter.
3:40 p.m. ET - What went right: Another big play by the defense turned the ball over on downs. It was fourth-and-4 from the Pittsburgh 42-yard line. Matt Moore was flushed out of the pocket and was tackles from behind by Stephon Tuitt after a 2-yard gain.
3:57 p.m. ET - What went wrong: The Dolphins drove 70 yards for a touchdown that cut the Steelers' lead to 30-12 pending the PAT attempt, but it took them 4:20 of valuable time to do it. And then on the two-point conversion attempt, Stephon Tuitt got DeVante Parker out of bounds before he could get his feet down in bounds, and so when the Dolphins lined up to kick off, they still needed three scores.
4:15 p.m. ET - Final Score: Steelers 30, Dolphins 12
