Quotes of Note: What Steelers Said After Beating Titans

The decision to start with the ball and to hold it for most of the first half were big factors in Pittsburgh's ability to hold off Tennessee 27-24.

NASHVILLE – For a time, the Pittsburgh Steelers made it look easy.

They scored three touchdowns and a field goal the first four times they had the ball and built a 17-point halftime advantage. From there, they held on and defeated the Tennessee Titans 27-24 in a matchup of the AFC’s last two unbeaten teams Sunday at Nissan Stadium.

Here is a roundup of some of what Steelers players and coaches had to say about the Titans following their victory:

• Coach Mike Tomlin, on the Titans’ ability to rally: “We knew they wouldn't flinch. They have been in these type of games more than we have. To be quite honest with you, we knew that that was a winning edge for them and it showed. We had something to do with how the game got as well. … I would be remiss if I didn't talk about the Tennessee Titans and Coach Mike (Vrabel) and just their commitment to their style of play and the manner in which they go about it is really challenging. They're a good group.”

• Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, on the decision to take the ball after winning the coin toss: “It was kind of a combination of feeling good about the script, the first few plays, but also knowing that they're a team that kind of lives by time of possession, lives in that kind of playing from the lead. And so, we wanted to take the ball and do everything we could to go down and score to give our defense kind of a leg up in terms of what they may do on offense.”

• Wide receiver Diontae Johnson, on Pittsburgh having the ball for 19:56 on the first half: “Oh, that was big. They got great offense, a great running back. Derrick Henry back there. Just, they got a whole group that can just make plays. And for our defense to step up like that and just minimize the offense today was just great. We needed it.”

• Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, on Tennessee’s defense: “I think for them they wasn't trying to get nothing up top. I think they were trying a lot of Tampa 2, a lot of deep, two safeties in the back, trying to keep everything in front of them. … We (were) throwing everything short. … And that's the kind of game it was.”

• Defensive lineman Cameron Heyward, on the Steelers being held to a season-low two sacks: “There weren't a lot of shots to get on the quarterback. We knew that going into the game. They hadn't given up a lot of sacks. But I think a lot of it has to do with staying on schedule. There were instances where we stopped the run and instances where we didn't.”

• Tomlin, on Tennessee’s improved play in the second half: “They were confident, no doubt. But I don't know that they changed anything schematically or anything substantial changed. We just got to play better.”

• Linebacker T.J. Watt, on limiting Derrick Henry to 75 rushing yards on 20 carries: “We know what we can do when we feel like we can be a truly special defense. And that's why no one's really satisfied after today. We need to do a lot better job, especially in the second half. But it starts with the run. And even though we did a good job in the first half, we got to continue and roll it over into the second half.”

• Roethlisberger, on getting the win: “It wasn't always pretty, there were times that it was, but three interceptions is unacceptable on my part, so I need to clean it up and be better. But defense came through in the end, missed field goal at the end of the game and just kind of everything played itself out and at the end of the day we got a win against a really good football team at their place.”