NFL

Big Ben takes charge to send Jets to defeat

PITTSBURGH — The Jets managed to shut down the Steelers’ running game yesterday, but they couldn’t stop Ben Roethlisberger.

Despite seeing his rushing attack produce a paltry 66 yards on 28 carries, Roethlisberger masterfully drove the Steelers up and down the field all afternoon. He finished the game 24-fof-31 for 275 yards and two touchdowns to lead Pittsburgh to a 27-10 victory.

“It’s not like we’re surprised by it,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said of Roethlisberger’s performance. “We’ve come to expect that from him. He expects it from himself.

“He’s our guy, and he delivered for us today.”

Roethlisberger’s 125.1 quarterback rating was the highest the Jets have allowed since Tom Brady had a 148.9 rating in the Patriots’ 45-3 rout on Dec. 6, 2010. Much of Roethlisberger’s damage came on third down: The Steelers finished the game 8-for-15 on third-down conversions, repeatedly extending drives and keeping the Jets’ defense on the field.

That helped the Steelers finish with a massive advantage in time of possession, holding the ball for 36:36.

“You’re not going to beat a quarterback with a 125 rating and over 36 minutes with time of possession,” Jets coach Rex Ryan said. “And that’s exactly what happened.”

Roethlisberger spent the afternoon picking apart a Jets secondary that was missing star cornerback Darrelle Revis. After a slow start to the game, Roethlisberger led the Steelers on touchdown drives on their final possession of the first half and their first of the second half, turning a 10-6 deficit into a 20-10 lead Pittsburgh never relinquished.

“We had a couple good, long drives,” Roethlisberger said. “I feel that taking the short pass can be a weapon for us. … We need to get our playmakers the ball.

“It is important to me because we have so many playmakers at the wide receiver and tight end positions … even the backs out of the backfield can take a 5-yard pass. … I think that is good for us.”

Despite all of Pittsburgh’s success in the short and intermediate passing game yesterday, no play was bigger than Roethlisberger’s 37-yard touchdown pass to Mike Wallace on the Steelers’ opening drive of the second half. Faced with a third-and-16, Roethlisberger dropped back and lofted a pass deep down the left sideline to Wallace, who was up against Antonio Cromartie in single coverage.

As Cromartie seemed to lose track of the ball in the end zone, Wallace leaped, hauled in the pass and managed to get both feet in bounds as he landed to give the Steelers a 20-10 lead.

“I mean, the third-and-16 killed us,” Ryan said. “That was a back-breaker obviously, when Ben avoids a sack and Wallace does a great job of getting both feet in bounds. … That was a killer play in the game.”