PITTSBURGH -- Trailing by three in the third quarter with a fresh set of downs, Ben Roethlisberger went through his cadence, then he stopped.

With a better idea of the pressure coming from the Baltimore Ravens, the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback took a few steps toward his receivers and gave them instructions. Then he settled back into the shotgun formation and took the snap.

With three receivers to the right and Chase Claypool and Eric Ebron on the left, Roethlisberger hit Claypool for a 9-yard gain, just shy of the first-down marker.

It was the kind of sequence Roethlisberger and the Steelers' offense leaned on over and over again in the second half to complete their comeback Sunday and remain undefeated with a 28-24 victory.

"We were just changing plays," Roethlisberger said. "I know throughout my whole career, people say I always play playground, backyard football. Today, it was in its truest form. That's why I tip my cap to all of the skill guys. I basically would tell them, 'Here's the protection, and everyone else do this.' There were plays when I would say, 'Hey, JuJu [Smith-Schuster], you run this. Ray-Ray [McCloud], you run this. Ebron, you run this.' We had guys not blink an eye. To me, that is just so awesome.

"Coach Tomlin always says, 'Don't be a robot.' They didn't have to be robots, they were just able to do things on the fly. That's what made me most proud today."

Orchestrating the no-huddle offense, Roethlisberger took over in the second half, playing his signature brand of football, the kind that drew Ebron to Pittsburgh in free agency.

"That's kind of what I came here for," said Ebron, who had four catches for 48 yards and a touchdown. "I came here for that Ben Roethlisberger. That guy that has trust in his players that are on the field, and he wants to go down there and win, and I've been begging him for it, you know? I'm asking Ben, 'Ben, you want to win? You want to win? Come on, we have to do something.' And we did that."

With the help of an up-tempo offense, different combinations of offensive weapons -- like Ebron and McCloud playing more than usual -- and a buy-in from every receiver, the Steelers shook off a dismal first half to score 21 second-half points.

"In the second half, we kind of just went to a no-huddle with a personnel group that was newer," Roethlisberger said. "We've got to get guys in matchups. [The Ravens are] a really good defense. They're really good. They create pressure. They're really good in the secondary and back end. So just tried to get guys in spots and call some plays. Everyone made plays today in the second half. That was really satisfying."

In an 11-play drive that ended in a James Conner touchdown in the third quarter, the Steelers ran a no-huddle offense on seven plays. And of those 11 plays, eight were pass plays. Roethlisberger completed six of those passes, was sacked once and converted another on a defensive pass interference call that helped the Steelers pick up 20 yards.

It was a dramatic change from the stagnant first-half offense, with Roethlisberger attempting just 10 passes all half, completing four of them for 24 yards. The Steelers ran just 20 offensive plays and couldn't get anything going, gaining just 64 yards in the first half.

Roethlisberger's downfield attempts weren't on target, and the Ravens were jumping all over the short routes. Nothing was working.

The Steelers were playing too tight and showed.

"Offensively, we were anticipating this matchup way too much," Ebron said. "We just needed to settle down, find our rhythm, and once we did that, things got better."

Playing in his first Steelers-Ravens game since 2018, Roethlisberger dictated that rhythm in the second half, but he couldn't have done it without significant contributions from his receivers.

Smith-Schuster, who didn't have a target in the first half, finished as the Steelers' leading receiver with seven catches for 67 yards.

He played with a toughness in the second half that sustained drives, muscling his way through defenders for extra yards after the catch.

"He was caught short of the line a few times and plowed his way through guys," Roethlisberger said of Smith-Schuster. "He has will and desire."

In the fourth quarter, Smith-Schuster made four crucial catches in a drive that ended with the go-ahead touchdown by Claypool. In that eight-play, 80-yard drive, the Steelers moved the ball down the field with nothing but Roethlisberger's pass attempts and two significant Ravens penalties.

After a forgettable first half, the second half was vintage Roethlisberger, complemented by his young, scrappy receivers. It's why the Steelers should feel good about being 7-0, even if the wins were far from perfect. Going into the second half of the season, beginning with Sunday's game against the woeful Cowboys, the Steelers should have confidence in their team because their quarterback is making necessary adjustments, playing to his strengths and maximizing the talent around him.

"It's never pretty," Roethlisberger said. "We weren't pretty today on offense. No one blew up the stat sheet and this, that and the other, but once again, I say this every week, we don't care. We just want to win the game."