Biggest Takeaways from Pittsburgh Steelers' Week 14 Win

The Pittsburgh Steelers remain firmly in the playoff hunt, thanks to their 33-20 defeat of the Cincinnati Bengals on the road in Week 14, which prevented the Bengals from clinching the AFC North crown.

What did we learn from the victory? Here are the biggest takeaways from the Steelers' win over the Bengals on Sunday.

No Pass TDs, No Problem

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The Steelers scored 33 points on Sunday, yet none came via a passing touchdown. That's not a problem, though. Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger took care of business in other ways.

Roethlisberger completed 30 of his 39 pass attempts for 282 yards and an interception, taking two sacks in the process. He was primarily a chains-mover against Cincinnati rather than a source of points. This is important, because Pittsburgh has been known over the past two or three seasons as a team led by its passing offense first and everything else second.

But on Sunday, the passing offense was just a supplement to everything else the Steelers did right. There are, in fact, other ways the Steelers can win outside of Roethlisberger's arm and the receivers who catch his passes.

Winning the Turnover Battle

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Though Ben Roethlisberger did throw an interception to Bengals safety Reggie Nelson on Sunday, it didn't matter. It came near the end of the game, when the Steelers were already leading, 26-13. The ensuing Cincinnati drive also resulted in a turnover, with quarterback A.J. McCarron being picked off by safety Robert Golden.

Pittsburgh's winning effort in the turnover battle on Sunday had a big influence on the outcome of the game. Not only did Golden get the late interception that led to running back DeAngelo Williams' second rushing touchdown of the day, cornerback William Gay also reeled in a pick-six from McCarron to open the second quarter.

And the turnovers started with defensive end Stephon Tuitt picking off Andy Dalton in the first quarter. Dalton's ensuing attempt to tackle Tuitt fractured the quarterback's thumb, taking him out of the game, and the drive that followed led the Steelers to three points on a field goal.

The Steelers not only won the turnover battle on Sunday, they also got points off of the turnovers they generated, which is a very good way to ensure a win. Pittsburgh's defense made the plays it needed to, and the result was the one the Steelers were seeking.

DeAngelo Williams Keeps Making Big Plays

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He didn't break 100 rushing yards or get 30 carries, but that doesn't mean Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams didn't make an impact against the Bengals. 

Pittsburgh's two scores belonged to Williams—a one-yard run in the first quarter and another one-yard run in the fourth. He rushed a total of 23 times for 76 yards and caught two passes on two targets for 15 yards.

This was Williams' third multitouchdown game of the season, and it couldn't have happened at a better time, given the stinginess of the Bengals defense in allowing passing touchdowns on Sunday. When the passing game doesn't rack up the points, it doesn't seem to matter. Williams' presence on the field has been important for the Steelers in terms of both yardage and scoring this year.

Perfect Boswell

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With the Bengals not allowing the Steelers to score a passing touchdown on Sunday, it was imperative that the team get points when and where they could. And luckily for Pittsburgh, they have a very accurate kicker in Chris Boswell, and they were not hesitant to lean on him.

Boswell made all four of his field-goal attempts—kicks of 42, 47, 45 and 31 yards—as well as his three extra-point attempts on the day, accounting for 15 of the Steelers' 33 points. The performance was reflective of his season, in which he's made 24 of his 26 field-goal attempts (with his only misses coming from the 40- to 49-yard range) and 18 of his 19 extra-point tries.

Without Boswell's accurate kicking on the road, the Steelers may not have been able to pull off the win. Pittsburgh's fourth kicker of 2015 looks to be worth keeping for 2016 and beyond.

Heath!

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As mentioned earlier, the Steelers passing game did not produce any touchdowns in Week 14, but that doesn't mean it wasn't an important factor in the win. And no pass-catcher was more reliable for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger than tight end Heath Miller.

While Antonio Brown led the team in receiving yards, with 87, and fellow wideouts Martavis Bryant and Markus Wheaton had 49 and 65 yards, respectively, it was Miller who proved perfect on the day. Miller caught all 10 passes thrown to him for a total of 66 yards.

It was the third time this season that Miller had been targeted at least 10 times and the second time he's had at least 10 catches. So far this year, he has 49 receptions for 456 yards and one touchdown.

Though Bryant, Brown and Wheaton are the big-play receivers, when those plays aren't there, moving the chains comes down to the veteran Miller. That he is more than capable of handling this many targets and coming up big for his team means he could turn into a focal point of Pittsburgh's passing offense in the season's waning weeks and the postseason—should the Steelers get there.