Ben Roethlisberger: Pittsburgh Steelers won't panic

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been a postseason staple in the Ben Roethlisberger era partly because they always have seemed to raise their performance when the game is hung in the balance.

The Steelers of recent years knew how to close. Not so much in 2012, and Pittsburgh will be sitting at home in January because of it. The Steelers have lost five of their eight games decided by three points or less this season.

Roethlisberger recently discussed why that has happened.

"In the past, I've prided myself and our team in the fourth-quarter comebacks," Roethlisberger said Wednesday, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "We've always said you don't want to have them because then you're usually not doing so well early on in the games. But we've always been good at it. This year just wasn't. I don't think there's a rhyme or reason why."

It has to hurt Roethlisberger, especially considering late interceptions in the past two weeks helped bury his team against the Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals.

"I don't think there's any reason to go panic," Roethlisberger said. "I've been pretty good for eight years doing it. I had one not-so-good year at it. I felt like I played pretty good football, though, other than those situations."

Follow Dan Hanzus on Twitter @DanHanzus.