2012 Pittsburgh Steelers season The Pittsburgh Steelers season was the team ' s 80th season as a member of the National Football League ( NFL ) . It was the 13th season under the leadership of general manager Kevin Colbert and the 6th under head coach Mike Tomlin . The Steelers failed to improve on their 12 – 4 record from 2011 and did not reach the postseason for the first time since 2009 . The Steelers finished the season with a record of 8 – 8 , their first non - winning season since 2006 . The 2012 Steelers set a new record for the most games decided on the last play , with 6 . Schedule . Preseason . The Steelers ' preseason schedule was announced on April 4 . Regular season . The Steelers ' regular season schedule was announced on April 17 . The Steelers returned home to take on the Redskins . Scoring began early in the game as the Steelers would score on Roethlisberger ' s 1 - yard pass to Leonard Pope to take a 7 - 0 lead . Shaun Suisham then kicked a 48 - yard field goal to make it 10 - 0 . In the 2nd quarter , the Redskins got on the board as RG3 found Santana Moss for a 2 - Yard TD Pass ( with a blocked PAT ) and the score was left at 10 - 6 . The Steelers didn ' t hesitate however as they pushed ahead by double - digits as Ben Roethlisberger connected with Heath Miller for a 7 - yard pass to make the score 17 - 6 . Suisham increased their lead with a 27 - yard field goal as the team lead 20 - 6 at halftime . Coming into the 3rd quarter , the Redskins scored first with a 48 - yard field goal from Kai Forbath to make the score 20 - 9 . However , the Steelers responded with Roethlisberger connecting with Will Johnson for a 1 - Yard TD pass to make the score 27 - 9 . In the fourth quarter , the Redskins tried to rally a comeback as Forbath kicked a 45 - yard field goal to make the score 27 - 12 . They would then be kept from scoring anymore points for the remainder of the game by the Steelers ' defense . With the win , the Steelers improved to over . 500 and outright second place in the AFC North at 4 - 3 and also 3 - 0 during home games . Week 9 : at New York Giants . Due to Hurricane Sandy ' s aftermath , the Steelers flew to New Jersey on game day because the team was unable to find a hotel in New York . After a scoreless first quarter punt fest , the Steelers drew first blood with Ben Roethlisberger ' s 4 - yard TD pass to Emmanuel Sanders for a 7 - 0 lead . The Giants however responded to tie the game with RB Andre Brown ' s 1 - Yard Run to make it 7 - 7 . After recovering a fumble , the Giants would take the lead as Michael Boley returned it 70 yards for a TD to move ahead 14 - 7 . The Steelers would shorten the lead to 4 with Shaun Suisham ' s 30 - yard field goal to make the score 14 - 10 at halftime . After the break , the Giants would increase their lead from 7 to 10 points with 2 Lawrence Tynes field goals from 50 and 23 yards out making the score at first 17 - 10 then 20 - 10 . However , the Steelers responded in the 4th quarter with Roethlisberger finding Mike Wallace for a 51 - yard catch and run pass to shorten the Giants ' lead to 3 making it 20 - 17 . After pressuring Eli and the Giants ' offense , the Steelers then drove down the field and took the lead with Redman ' s 2 - Yard Run to make it 24 - 20 . Getting the ball back after the Giants ' last 3 and out , Roethlisberger took a knee to end the game as the team improved to 5 - 3 , snapping the Giants ' 4 - game winning streak . Also , the Steelers would improve to 2 - 3 in road games and 3 - 0 against the NFC East . Week 10 : vs . Kansas City Chiefs . After a tough road win over the Giants , the Steelers returned home for a game against the Chiefs . With the win , the Steelers improved to 6 - 3 and also 4 - 0 in home games and 1 - 2 against the AFC West . However , Roethlisberger ( 9 / 18 , 84 yards , 1TD ) would be knocked out of the game in the 3rd quarter with a shoulder injury and is reported to be out for next week ' s home game against the AFC North - leading Ravens . Week 11 : vs . Baltimore Ravens . With their 3rd straight loss to the Ravens , the Steelers dropped to 6 - 4 and 2 games behind them in the AFC North . They are also now 1 - 1 in division games and 4 - 1 at home . Week 12 : at Cleveland Browns . By losing their first game to the Cleveland Browns in three years , the Steelers fall to 6 - 5 on the season , 1 - 2 against division rivals , 2 - 4 on the road , and 11 - 3 at Cleveland Browns Stadium . This is only the third time Pittsburgh has lost a game in Ohio ever since their quarterback Ben Roethlisberger , an Ohio native who was sitting out of the game due to injury , was drafted by them in 2004 . Also , Mike Tomlin ' s record against the Browns all - time would drop to 9 - 2 . The Browns would eventually become the only division rival whom the Steelers would lose to on the road during the season , after winning in Cincinnati on Sunday Night Football and before winning in Baltimore the next week ; the 2000 season was the last time these three events occurred together . Week 13 : at Baltimore Ravens . Coming off an 8 turnover performance against the Browns , the Steelers looked to avoid a three game losing streak . Pittsburgh 3rd - string quarterback , Charlie Batch led the Steelers a 3 - 0 lead for the first quarter and then after 13 unanswered points by the Ravens , the Steelers outscored the Ravens 20 - 7 through the rest of the game , giving them a 23 - 20 victory over the Ravens . This was the Steelers ' first win against the Ravens since the 2010 - 2011 season . Week 14 : vs . San Diego Chargers . With the loss the Steelers dropped to 7 - 6 overall , 4 - 2 in home games , 1 - 3 against the AFC West , and 14 - 1 all - time at home against the San Diego Chargers despite Big Ben returning to the field from injury . They became the only AFC North team to lose to the Chargers , win less than three games against all four AFC West teams , and not win any of those matchups in regulation . With losses by the Ravens and Bengals on the same day , the AFC North title remains in sight for Pittsburgh , who will travel to Dallas next week to take on the Cowboys , a team they have faced three times out of their eight appearances in the Super Bowl . Both teams share the NFL - record number of Super Bowl appearances for a franchise , tied at eight , and remain the only two teams to face each other more than twice in Super Bowl matchups . Week 15 : at Dallas Cowboys . Ben Roethlisberger threw an interception during their second play of overtime , handing the win to Dallas . With the overtime loss , the Steelers enabled the arch - rival Ravens ( 9 - 5 ) to secure their fifth consecutive playoff berth by dropping to 7 - 7 on the season , thus moving them down to third place in the AFC North with their playoff hopes in jeopardy . Pittsburgh also finished their regular season at 3 - 5 in road games after dropping to 0 - 2 at Cowboys Stadium ( the other loss there was to the Packers in Super Bowl XLV ) . The Steelers hope to rebound at home against the second - place Bengals ( 8 - 6 ) next week in what is a must - win game for both AFC North rivals , as only one of them will be able to join Baltimore in the playoffs , unless the Indianapolis Colts lose their final two games or the Miami Dolphins lose at least one of their final two games . It will be the fourth straight week in which the Steelers will be featured on NFL on CBS ' s marquee game . Week 16 : vs . Cincinnati Bengals . Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger , for the second week in a row , would throw a costly interception with a chance to win the game . With the loss , the Steelers not only fell to 7 - 8 , but have also been eliminated from the playoff race for the first time since 2009 and faced their first non - winning season since 2006 . It is also worth noting that the Steelers have missed the playoffs whenever they lost at least one game to Cincinnati during a given season from 2006 to 2012 . Pittsburgh hopes to avoid getting swept by the Browns for the first time since 1988 during their home finale in Week 17 , and facing their first losing season since 2003 , which was also the last time the Browns have won a game in Pittsburgh . By virtue of the Browns ' loss later that afternoon in Denver , the Steelers are assured of third place in the AFC North for the season . Week 17 : vs . Cleveland Browns . After losing to the Bengals , the Steelers stayed home for a regular season finale against the 5 - 10 Browns . After a scoreless first quarter , the Steelers would draw first blood moving ahead 3 - 0 off of a Shaun Suisham 41 - yard field goal . However , the Browns managed to tie it up with Phil Dawson ' s 51 - yard field goal at 3 - 3 . The Steelers pulled away not long before halftime with Roethlisberger ' s 1 - yard touchdown pass to Leonard Pope to take a 10 - 3 lead at halftime . After the break , Browns 3rd string QB Thaddeus Lewis to WR Greg Little to tie the game 10 - 10 . However , the Steelers responded with Roethlisberger ' s 9 - yard touchdown pass to WR Antonio Brown to move ahead 17 - 10 . In the fourth quarter , the Steelers would increase their lead with Roethlisberger ' s 12 - yard touchdown pass to WR Plaxico Burress to make it 24 - 10 . The defense shut down the Browns ' offense and therefore the team saved their season and finished 8 - 8 . During the game , the Steelers ' defense forced 4 turnovers ( 1 interception , 3 lost fumbles ) in retaliation for their 8 turnovers during their 20 - 14 loss at Cleveland when the Browns ' defense got 3 interceptions and 5 lost fumbles . This brings the Steelers ' yearly total of turnovers against the Browns to 5 in both games ( 2 interceptions , 3 lost fumbles ) . Heinz Field ' s turnout of 51 , 831 fans was the smallest for a Steelers game since their current stadium ' s opening in 2001 .