Steelers-Falcons Capsule

PITTSBURGH (8-5) at ATLANTA (5-8)

Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS

OPENING LINE - Steelers by 1 1/2

RECORD VS. SPREAD - Pittsburgh 6-7, Atlanta 7-6

SERIES RECORD - Steelers lead 12-2-1

LAST MEETING - Steelers beat Falcons 15-9, OT, Sept. 12, 2010

LAST WEEK - Steelers beat Bengals 42-21; Falcons lost to Packers 43-37

AP PRO32 RANKING - Steelers No. 11, Falcons No. 23

STEELERS OFFENSE - OVERALL (2), RUSH (8), PASS (2).

STEELERS DEFENSE - OVERALL (19), RUSH (9), PASS (23).

FALCONS OFFENSE - OVERALL (8), RUSH (23), PASS (5).

FALCONS DEFENSE - OVERALL (32), RUSH (21), PASS (32).

STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES - Falcons are assured of second straight non-winning season, but lead NFC South with a tiebreaker edge over New Orleans (5-8). If Atlanta wins out, it would win division and host first-round playoff game. ... Steelers are half-game behind Cincinnati in AFC North. ... Pittsburgh RB Le'Veon Bell has three straight games of at least 200 yards of total offense, joining Walter Payton as only players in NFL history to accomplish feat. ... Falcons tied for last in league with just 15 sacks. Osi Umenyiora and Kory Biermann share team lead with minuscule 2 1/2 sacks apiece. This would be a good week to turn those numbers around. Steelers can be vulnerable to strong rush, having allowed 31 sacks. ... After three subpar games, Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger threw for three touchdowns in last week's victory over Bengals, including a 94-yarder to Martavis Bryant. Roethlisberger guides NFL's second-rated passing offense against league's lowest-ranked pass defense. ... Two of past three games between teams have gone to overtime. They settled for a 34-34 tie in 2002 after failing to score in extra period, and Steelers won 15-9 in 2010 season opener on Rashard Mendenhall's 50-yard touchdown run. In between, Falcons won another tight game, 41-38 in 2006.

---

AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL