Nashville, TN (My Sportsbook) - Kerry Collins passed for 216 yards and hit Justin Gage for a touchdown, as the Tennessee Titans rattled off 21 unanswered points to seal home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs with a 31-14 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Collins connected on 20-of-29 throws while Gage finished with 104 yards on five catches for the Titans (13-2), who finished with 323 total yards in the win, becoming the first team this season to surpass the 300-yard mark against the vaunted Steelers defense.

Chris Johnson and LenDale White each logged rushing touchdowns as the Titans have won three of their last four games to force the rest of the conference to come through Tennessee to get to the Super Bowl.

Despite defensive linemen Albert Haynesworth (knee) and Kyle Vanden Bosch (groin) being out with injuries, the Titans held Pittsburgh to a mere 71 rushing yards and forced four turnovers. Jason Jones led the way defensively with 3 1/2 sacks and Michael Griffin had two interceptions, returning his last one 83 yards for the clinching score.

"Today was huge. Winning home field [advantage] is absolutely gigantic for us," Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan said. "Today proved that we're a great football team."

Ben Roethlisberger threw for 331 yards and two touchdowns on 26-of-40 throws, but he was also picked off twice and lost two fumbles for the Steelers (11-4), who had their five-game winning streak snapped and have to settle for the No. 2 seed in the playoffs.

"I didn't play well," Roethlisberger said.

Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes each caught a touchdown pass to go with 109 and 93 receiving yards, respectively, for Pittsburgh, which wrapped up the AFC North last week with a win against Baltimore.

Pittsburgh came out in a hurry-up offense with its second possession after intermission. Roethlisberger caught the defense on their heels and connected with Holmes for 20 yards and Ward on back-to-back 21-yard hookups, the last of which being a score for a 14-10 lead just over five minutes into the half.

The Titans took the lead right back, though. Justin McCareins's 19-yard grab on a 3rd-and-20 set up fourth down from the Pittsburgh 21. The Titans went for it and got more than a first down, as Chris Johnson took a quick pitch to the left, cut back inside and sprinted for the go-ahead touchdown.

Griffin picked off Roethlisberger on Pitt's next drive and returned it 32 yards to the Pittsburgh 37-yard line. After failing to stop Tennessee on another fourth-down try, the Steelers committed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on 4th-and-1 from the four.

The Titans were lining up to kick a field goal and took advantage of the extra set of downs on White's one-yard plunge over the goal line on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Each team then punted twice with the Steelers taking over on their own 20 down 24-14 with 2:26 remaining. Roethlisberger moved the visitors down the field, but Griffin made a sliding interception and zigzagged 83 yards the other way for the clinching score with 16 ticks remaining.

"We're not making any excuses. They played very good football," Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said. "They made critical plays, we made critical errors."

The Steelers penetrated the red zone midway through the first quarter, but on 3rd-and-6 from the Tennessee seven, Roethlisberger was forced out of the pocket and tried scrambling for at least a first down. Jones caught the QB from behind and another Titans defender knocked the ball loose and the Titans recovered.

It turned into a field position battle from there, as Rob Bironas' 42-yard field goal early in the second quarter benefited from a short field.

Shortly thereafter William Hayes forced another Roethlisberger fumble, and on the third play after the turnover, Collins fired a bullet down the middle of the field to Gage, who got open on a double-move and held on for the 34-yard score despite taking a big hit from Troy Polamalu.

Roethlisberger responded after the miscue, scrambling for a first down on 3rd-and-8 before hitting Holmes for a 31-yard touchdown with 5:40 to go before the half.

The 10-7 Titans lead held up through the break, as Jeff Reed missed a 33- yarder on the final play before the halftime buzzer.

Game Notes

Pittsburgh's last wins in Nashville occurred in 2001, when both teams were still part of the AFC Central division...Tennessee's win makes next week's game with playoff-bound Indianapolis virtually meaningless as is Pittsburgh's matchup with Cleveland to close out its regular season...Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison limped to the locker room in the first quarter with an apparent hip injury, but he returned and recorded his 16th sack of the season, setting a franchise record...Johnson finished with 69 yards on 16 carries, while White logged 48 yards on 15 carries...McCareins had six catches for 55 yards in the win.