The Steelers haven’t wrapped up the AFC North title or a playoff berth just yet, but go ahead and pencil them in. Or use ink if you prefer. The Steelers won their fifth game in a row, and, at 8-2, they have four more victories than the second-place Ravens.
Pittsburgh hasn’t lost since Ben Roethlisberger’s meltdown on Oct. 8 against the Jaguars. The Steelers quarterback threw five interceptions in that 30-9 loss. He has thrown five in the other nine games combined and has 10 touchdowns and three interceptions since that day.
The Steelers played like Super Bowl contenders against the Titans, who entered in a first-place tie with the Jaguars in the AFC South.
Pittsburgh never trailed, dominating Tennessee 40-17.
Roethlisberger threw four touchdown passes and Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota threw four interceptions. Mariota had never thrown even three picks in a single game.
The Steelers didn’t miss cornerback Joe Haden or safety Mike Mitchell, with Robert Golden, Mike Hilton, Sean Davis and Coty Sensabaugh all getting picks. Cameron Heyward had two sacks and Vince Williams, Stephon Tuitt and L.T. Walton each got one. It marked the first time since a Oct. 1, 1984, game against the Bengals that the Steelers had four interceptions and five sacks.
The Titans got within 16-14, scoring on the first play of the second half on a 75-yard pass from Mariota to Rishard Matthews. It was all Pittsburgh after that as the Steelers outscored the Titans 24-3 to finish.
It has Pittsburgh closing in on a fourth consecutive playoff appearance.
The Steelers have a favorable schedule to close out the regular season after playing six of their first nine games on the road. They have only two road games remaining -- at Cincinnati and at Houston.
And barring the unforeseen, the Steelers will play favorites in all of their remaining games with the possible exception of the Patriots, who travel to Pittsburgh on Dec. 17.
Here are five more things we learned during Thursday Night Football:
1. Antonio Brown showed again why he is the best receiver in football. He entered the game second in catches (60) and first in receiving yards (882) but had only three touchdowns.
The three-time All-Pro smoked the Titans for 10 catches for 144 yards and three touchdowns. His touchdowns covered 41, 5 and 10 yards. It was only the second three-touchdown game of his career. His first came Thanksgiving Day last year against the Colts.
His third touchdown was a highlight-reel, David-Tyree knockoff as he caught the ball over the top of cornerback Logan Ryan, trapping it against his helmet.
2. Not even Dick LeBeau could stop the Steelers.
LeBeau, 80, spent 16 seasons over two stints in Pittsburgh. It was his first trip back since he resigned as the team’s defensive coordinator in January 2015. He was there for Roethlisberger’s two Super Bowl championships.
The Steelers rolled to 349 yards and could have made the final score even worse if not for settling for four Chris Boswell field goals. Boswell connected from 41, 28, 50 and 26 yards.
3. Mariota will have better days, and so will the Titans.
The Titans last made the playoffs in 2008. The loss drops them a half game behind Jacksonville in the division. But Tennessee (6-4) already owns a victory in Jacksonville, and it hosts the Jaguars in the regular-season finale.
The young Titans must learn how to win big games under bright lights. The Titans had a field goal blocked. Mariota went 22-for-33 for 306 yards with a touchdown and four interceptions. A wide-open Delanie Walker dropped a sure touchdown in the end zone. The Titans rushed for only 52 yards.
The Titans can use the extra days off to figure out how to correct what went wrong.
4. The Steelers can win without their offense going through Le’Veon Bell, but they are better if it does.
Pittsburgh entered with a 6-0 record when Bell got at least 25 touches. He got 21 touches against the Titans.
Bell ended up with 12 carries for 46 yards and nine catches for 57 yards. He had only three carries and one reception midway through the second quarter -- a reason the game remained close until midway through the third quarter.
Bell entered as the NFL’s leading rusher with 840 yards. His 46 yards Thursday were his second-fewest this season behind a 10-carry, 32-yard game in the season opener against the Browns.
5. Yes, it’s nit-picking after a dominating victory, but the Steelers need improvement in the red zone. They rank 31st in percentage scoring touchdowns in the red zone behind only the Colts.
They entered the game converting 42.4 percent of their red-zone possessions into touchdowns.
Against the Titans, the Steelers scored touchdowns on only three of seven drives in the red zone, though one of those was in the waning seconds when they took a knee to turn it over on downs.
If the Steelers had turned more of those into touchdowns, Landry Jones would have entered the game earlier than he did in mop-up duty.
