Voting is now open for FedEx Air & Ground Players of the Year, with the winner being announced during the two-hour primetime "NFL Honors" awards show in Arizona on Jan. 31 on NBC the night before Super Bowl XIX.
Each week leading up to "NFL Honors", we'll take a look at monumental games during the 2014 season for one FedEx Air and one FedEx Ground Player of the Year nominee. This week, we focus on Week 14, when two Steelers stalwarts swept the voting after a pivotal AFC North victory.
Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers
One Look Back to Week 14:
Steelers 42, Bengals 21
For much of the 2014 season, the Steelers were a tough team to figure out. They went on a horrific three-game stretch from late September to mid-October that was stench-worthy, losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, winning ugly against the Jacksonville Jaguars and then losing to the Cleveland Browns. Then, two weeks later, Pittsburgh went out and dump trucked the Indianapolis Colts, 51-34, as Roethlisberger enjoyed a historic six-touchdown night.
The Steelers entered a Week 14 showdown in Cincinnati against the division-leading Bengals with a 7-5 record and in must-win mode. A 42-21 triumph jumpstarted a four-game winning streak to end the season, which resulted in the team earning the AFC North crown. Roethlisberger threw for 350 yards and three touchdowns in the win. He would finish the season with a career-high 4,952 yards passing and matching a career-high with 32 touchdown passes. After a 3-3 start to the season, Roethlisberger guided the Steelers to an 8-2 record over the team's final 10 games, averaging 335.9 yards passing a game and throwing 24 touchdown passes in the process.
Le'Veon Bell, Pittsburgh Steelers
One Look Back to Week 14:
Steelers 42, Bengals 21
Roethlisberger was a big reason for the Steelers' surge toward the postseson, but he had some help in the backfield from Bell. The second-year running back rushed for a career-high 1,361 yards and eight touchdowns in 2014.
During the win over the Bengals, Bell accounted for three touchdowns. He rushed for 185 yards on the ground and two touchdowns, and added six receptions for 50 yards and a touchdown. Bell finished the season setting a Steelers record with 2,215 yards from scrimmage, topping the 2,034 yards posted by Barry Foster during the 1992 season.
Three weeks after the pivotal road win in Cincinnati, the Steelers hosted the Bengals in the season finale with the division title on the line, and completed the remarkable late-season ride by winning the AFC North for the first time since 2010.
