Ben Roethlisberger led the Pittsburgh Steelers to a much-needed 17-10 victory over the New England Patriots on Sunday, moving to 8-5-1 on the season with just two games to go.

Steelers Director of Communications, Burt Lauten, also shared an interesting stat: Roethlisberger also ensured that he has a 15th straight non-losing season to begin his career.

The Steelers can do no worse than 8-7-1, which would still be a winning record. The organization has been a model of consistency under Roethlisberger, with winning seasons in 12 of his 15 seasons at the helm.

Pittsburgh did go 8-8 in 2006, 2012 and 2013, though it should be noted that they started out 0-4 in the latter year. But Roethlisberger went to work and helped them finish out 8-4, avoiding his first losing season in the process.

The Steelers last had a losing season in 2003, where they went 6-10 following consecutive playoff appearances. Once Roethlisberger took over as the starter in 2004, the Steelers embarked on one of the most incredible runs of consistency and dominance in the history of professional football.

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Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Sunday's win was pivotal in so many ways for the Steelers. They now control their own destiny for the AFC North, needing to win their next two games to clinch the division. They'll need just one victory if the rival Baltimore Ravens fall to the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday to clinch.

What This Means

A fourth straight loss would have dropped the Steelers to 7-6-1, moving them out of the playoff race and in dire need of a road win over the New Orleans Saints next Sunday. But they gave themselves a little extra breathing room with that big victory.

For another, the Steelers finally get the best of their Kryptonite. Tom Brady entered this game 11-2 all time against Pittsburgh, with New England winning the previous five meetings.

But Big Ben beat the Pats for just the fourth time in his career - and Brady for the third time. And the Steelers couldn't have picked a better time to finally slay the dragon and get past their rivals once and for all.

NEXT: LE'VEON BELL UPDATE: JETS BECOME FRONTRUNNER FOR STEELERS STAR