The Pittsburgh Steelers' defense gave up 348 yards to the Miami Dolphins and still looked great.
Five sacks, three takeaways and two key plays near the goal line helped Pittsburgh hold off a late Miami rally and post a 21-20 victory Monday night."For whatever reason, we have a bend-but-don't-break, big-play, opportunistic defense," Steelers coach Bill Cowher said. "It isn't something we've drawn up by design. There is a resiliency that typifies this team."
Rebounding from back-to-back losses, the Steelers have now won two in a row by a total of four points. They're 8-5 and trail AFC Central leader Houston by one game heading into a showdown at home against the Oilers on Sunday.
"We're in a do-die situation," quarterback Neil O'Donnell said. "We have to win every week. We dug ourselves a hole early, so we have to come out and play like we did tonight."
The Dolphins (9-4) fell into a first-place tie in the AFC East with Buffalo, which plays at Miami on Sunday. Coach Don Shula's team had the NFL's best record two weeks ago, but now has suffered back-to-back losses.
"We're still in it," Shula said, "and we've got to start turning it around."
The Dolphins rallied in the final 10:30 with two touchdowns, including rookie O.J. McDuffie's 72-yard punt return. But Rod Woodson's eighth interception of the season ended the Dolphins' final possession after they had reached their 44-yard line with 15 seconds left.
Earlier squandered chances hurt the Dolphins, who twice failed to score after penetrating Pittsburgh's 5-yard line. Woodson forced a fumble to end one threat and Chad Brown sacked DeBerg to spoil another.
Carnell Lake's interception and a 46-yard return - extended by a lateral to Woodson - set up O'Donnell's 2-yard touchdown pass to Merril Hoge for a 21-6 lead five seconds into the fourth quarter.
The takeaways gave Pittsburgh nine in the past two games.
"Turnovers come in bunches," Woodson said.
Ranked No. 1 in the NFL in yards allowed, the Steelers frequently blitzed DeBerg. He completed 27 of 44 passes for 344 yards, but gave back 45 yards in sacks and threw two interceptions.
"They got a lot of yardage," Woodson said. "Stats are good for whatever, but the bottom line is whether you win or lose."
"That's the best defense in the NFL," DeBerg said. "They came with every kind of blitz. That's an outstanding scheme they have."
The Dolphins began to rally when Keith Jackson caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from DeBerg with 10:30 left to trim Pittsburgh's lead to 21-13.
The Dolphins failed to move on their next possession, but forced another punt, and McDuffie dodged and darted down the middle of the field untouched to score with 6:37 left.
"We had our opportunities for a win late in the game," Shula said. "We dug ourselves into a hole early by not taking advantage of the opportunities we had."
Pittsburgh's Leroy Thompson, subbing again for the injured Barry Foster, rushed for 81 yards in 28 carries and caught four passes for 61 yards. He scored on two short runs.