The 2012 season was the Pittsburgh Steelers' 80th in the National Football League (NFL), their 13th under general manager Kevin Colbert and their sixth under head coach Mike Tomlin. They failed to improve on their 12–4 record from 2011 and did not reach the postseason for the first time since 2009. After a 6–3 start, the Steelers lost five of their last seven games and finished the season with a record of 8–8, their first non-winning season since 2006. The 2012 Steelers set a new NFL record for the most games decided on the last play, with 6. For the first time since 1997, Hines Ward was not on the team's roster, as he retired shortly after being released in March 2012.
Staff
Roster
2012 draft class
Round Selection Player Position College 1 24 David DeCastro Guard Stanford 2 56 Mike Adams Tackle Ohio State 3 86 Sean Spence Inside linebacker Miami (Fl) 4 109 Alameda Ta'amu Defensive tackle Washington 5 159 Chris Rainey Running back Florida7 231 Toney Clemons Wide receiver Colorado 240 David Paulson Tight end Oregon 246 Terrence Frederick Cornerback Texas A&M 248 Kelvin Beachum Tackle SMU Note: Pick from Raiders through the Washington Redskins (The Steelers traded selections 119 and 193 to the Redskins for selection 109). Note: All three of these selections are compensatory selections.
Schedule
Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Game site NFL.comrecap 1 at Philadelphia Eagles L 23–24 0–1 Lincoln Financial Field Recap 2 August 19 Indianapolis Colts W 26–24 1–1 Heinz Field Recap 3 at Buffalo Bills W 38–7 2–1 Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap 4 Carolina Panthers W 17–16 3–1 Heinz Field Recap
Regular season Week Date Opponent Result Record Game site NFL.comrecap 1 September 9 at Denver Broncos L 19–31 0–1 Sports Authority Field at Mile High Recap 2 September 16 New York Jets W 27–10 1–1 Heinz Field Recap 3 September 23 at Oakland Raiders L 31–34 1–2 O.co Coliseum Recap 4 Bye 5 October 7 Philadelphia Eagles W 16–14 2–2 Heinz Field Recap 6 at Tennessee Titans L 23–26 2–3 LP Field Recap 7 October 21 at Cincinnati Bengals W 24–17 3–3 Paul Brown Stadium Recap 8 October 28 Washington Redskins W 27–12 4–3 Heinz Field Recap 9 November 4 at New York Giants W 24–20 5–3 MetLife Stadium Recap 10 Kansas City Chiefs W 16–13 6–3 Heinz Field Recap 11 November 18 Baltimore Ravens L 10–13 6–4 Heinz Field Recap 12 November 25 at Cleveland Browns L 14–20 6–5 Cleveland Browns Stadium Recap 13 December 2 at Baltimore Ravens W 23–20 7–5 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 14 December 9 San Diego Chargers L 24–34 7–6 Heinz Field Recap 15 December 16 at Dallas Cowboys L 24–27 7–7 Cowboys Stadium Recap 16 December 23 Cincinnati Bengals L 10–13 7–8 Heinz Field Recap 17 December 30 Cleveland Browns W 24–10 8–8 Heinz Field Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1: at Denver Broncos
The Pittsburgh Steelers opened their 2012 season facing the Denver Broncos, the team that had stunned them in the AFC Wildcard Playoffs to end their 2011 season. The game was even more important, as it was former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning's first game with the Broncos, and his first since recovering from neck surgery following the 2010 season. The Steelers were playing their first game with new offensive coordinator Todd Haley, but were missing long-time team leaders Hines Ward and James Farrior. The first quarter of the game featured multiple punts by both teams, as neither offense could establish any consistency in moving the football. The Steelers scored first, scoring on a 21-yard field goal to take a 3–0 lead early in the second quarter. The Broncos would respond by going no-huddle and scoring the game's first touchdown on a 7-yard run by Knowshon Moreno. The Steelers would end the first half scoring on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Heath Miller, giving them a 10–7 lead. The Steelers would begin the third quarter by methodically driving the offense down the field and kicking a 35-yard field goal, capping off a drive that kept Manning and the Broncos offense on the sideline for nearly 10-minutes. However, it would only take Manning 36-seconds to put the Broncos back on top 14–13, when a short screen pass to Demaryius Thomas resulted in a 71-yard touchdown. The Steelers would put the first points of the fourth quarter on the board, when Roethlisberger found Mike Wallace for a 3-yard touchdown pass. The Steelers would fail to convert on their 2-point conversion attempt, leading 19–14. The Broncos would once again go no-huddle and score on a 1-yard pass to Jacob Tamme, and also convert a two-point attempt, giving the Broncos back the lead, 22–19. After a 26-yard field goal with only 3-minutes remaining in the game, The Steelers were given one more chance to come back and win. However, a Roethlisberger pass would be intercepted and returned 43-yards for a touchdown, sealing the Broncos win over the Steelers 31–19 as the team began their season 0–1 for the 2nd straight year.
Week 2: vs. New York Jets
The Pittsburgh Steelers began week two looking to avoid a 0–2 start to their season. They would move the ball down the field on their opening possession, but could only come away with 3-points. The New York Jets responded by scoring the game's first touchdown, and would lead 7–3 at the end of the first quarter. The Steelers would score off another field goal early in the second quarter and a one-yard pass late in the second quarter to lead 13–10 at halftime. The Steelers would come out after halftime and quickly take control of the game, scoring on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Mike Wallace. The Steelers defense dominated the Jets offense, completely shutting down Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez and his receivers. The Steelers would score one more touchdown late in the fourth quarter to give them a 27–10 victory and move them to 1–1 in the standings.
Week 3: at Oakland Raiders
The Pittsburgh Steelers headed to Oakland, CA in week three to take on their long-time rivals. The Steelers would score first on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to tight end Heath Miller, but the Raiders would respond when running back Darren McFadden would break loose on a run and take it 64-yards for a touchdown. Heath Miller would catch another 4-yard touchdown pass, and the Raiders would once again respond with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Carson Palmer to Darrius Heyward-Bey. The Steelers would kick a 33-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to give them a 17–14 lead. The Steelers would begin the second half by driving down the field and scoring on a 22-yard touchdown pass to Mike Wallace. But the Raiders would yet again respond with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Richard Gordon. The Steelers would again drive down the field easily, but Antonio Brown would fumble the football in the endzone. After review, it was determined that Brown had recovered his own fumble and the Steelers found themselves leading the game 31–21 with 1:31 left in the third quarter. Early in the fourth quarter, Pittsburgh safety Ryan Mundy, playing for the injured Troy Polamalu, committed a helmet-to-helmet hit on Oakland receiver Heyward-Bey. The hit knocked Heyward-Bey unconscious and he was taken to the hospital with a concussion and sprained neck. (Mundy was not flagged for the illegal hit by the replacement referees, but would be fined by the NFL a few days later.) The Steelers secondary issues from the past few years continued, as they could not stop Carson Palmer and the Raiders passing attack. The Raiders would score on a 6-yard touchdown pass and a 32-yard field goal to tie the game at 31. The Steelers had a chance to win the game late in the fourth quarter, but the Raiders defense held them to a 3-and-out and forced them to punt the ball back. Palmer would again exploit Pittsburgh's suspect secondary and kicker Janikowski would kick a 43-yard field goal as time expired to give the Raiders a 34–31 victory over the Steelers, their first of the season. The Steelers would head into their bye-week 1–2, and eventually ended up being the only AFC North team to lose to the Raiders.
Week 5: vs. Philadelphia Eagles
After a scoreless first quarter, the Steelers drew first blood as Ben Roethlisberger connected with Rashard Mendenhall for a 13-yard catch for a TD to take a 7–0 lead. With 0:06 left in the first half, the Steelers increased their lead to 10–0 with a 20-yard field goal from Shaun Suisham going into halftime. In the 3rd quarter, the Eagles responded with Michael Vick's TD pass to WR LeSean McCoy to shorten the lead 10–7 for the only score of that quarter. The Steelers responded in the 4th quarter with Shaun Suisham kicking a 34-yard field goal to make the score 13–7. The Eagles however took the lead with Vick hooking up with Brent Celek for a 2-yard TD pass as the Eagles moved ahead 14–13. However, the Steelers were able to move down the field in the final seconds and capitalize their victory with another 34-yard field goal from Shaun Suisham as they went on to win the game 16–14.
With the win, the Steelers improved to 2–2. They would also increase their record at home to 2–0.
Week 6: at Tennessee Titans
Still hungry for their first road win of the season, the Steelers traveled to LP Field to take on longtime and former divisional rivals the Tennessee Titans. Scoring began early in the first quarter as the Titans took a 3–0 lead after Rob Bironas's 22-yard field goal. The Steelers responded with Suisham's 29-yard field goal to tie the game 3–3. The Steelers took the lead after Roethlisberger connected with Mike Wallace for an 82-yard touchdown pass to take a 10–3 lead. The Titans drew closer with Bironas's 38-yard field goal to shorten the lead 10–6. In the 2nd quarter, the Titans retook the lead with Jamie Harper's 1-yard touchdown run to make the score 13–10. They would increase their lead with yet another Bironas field goal from 47 yards out to increase their lead 16–10 at halftime. The Steelers moved down the field in spite of a 28-yard field goal to make the score 16–13 for the only score of the 3rd quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Steelers retook the lead with Baron Batch's 1-yard TD run to make the score 20–16 and then increased their lead with Suisham's 52-yard field goal for a 23–16 lead. After thinking all was lost, the Titans drove down the field for a comeback attempt. Matt Hasselbeck threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Britt to tie the game at 23–23. After Suisham missed a game-winning 54-yard field goal, the Titans again drove down the field and ended the game with Bironas's 40-yard field goal to make the final score 26–23. The loss to the Titans was the first for the Steelers since their 31–14 loss against them in 2008 which was also in Tennessee. The Steelers fell back under .500 and sat at 2–3 and 3rd place in the AFC North while sitting at 0–3 in road games during this point of the season.
Week 7: at Cincinnati Bengals