Chad Brown did his best Greg Lloyd imitation, and the Pittsburgh Steelers' defense emulated the Steel Curtain of the 1970s.
The Steelers enjoyed perhaps their most dominating defensive performance since the days of Mean Joe Greene and Jack Lambert, sacking Jeff Blake 10 times and scoring on a fumble return in beating the Cincinnati Bengals 20-10 Sunday.Mike Tomczak completed a go-ahead 32-yard touchdown pass to Kordell Stewart in the third quarter, but still had an off day, so Pittsburgh turned to its old standbys: defense and the running game.
Brown, who moved to outside linebacker after Lloyd tore up a knee in the Steelers' opener, had 41/2 sacks for 27 yards in losses, four tackles, seven assists, one forced fumble, two pass defenses and an interception. And Jerome Bettis finished with 109 yards in his fifth consecutive 100-yard game, one short of Franco Harris' 1972 team record.
Greene set the Steelers' record with five sacks against Houston in 1972.
The Steelers, with five straight victories, are 5-1 for the first time since they last won the Super Bowl in 1979. Cincinnati is 1-5 and has lost 10 of its last 11 to Pittsburgh.
Tomczak was 14-of-28 of 182 yards and two interceptions.
Jaguars 21, Jets 17
At Jacksonville, Mark Brunell threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Willie Jackson to break a 14-14 tie as the Jaguars (3-4) overcame a 14-3 deficit to beat New York.
The Jets (0-7) have now lost 11 straight and are 3-20 in the last two seasons.
The lone bright spot for New York was a 20-yard field goal by Nick Lowery in the third quarter that set the NFL career record at 374, one more than Jan Stenerud. Wayne Chrebet, the only regular receiver healthy for New York, had 12 catches for 162 yards.
Panthers 45, Rams 13
At Charlotte, Kerry Collins threw three touchdown passes and Michael Bates ran back a kickoff for another score as Carolina broke its team record for points by 16.
Anthony Johnson rushed for a club-record 126 yards to help the Panthers (4-2) send St. Louis (1-5) to its fifth consecutive loss.
Oilers 23, Falcons 13
Despite an injury that knocked out quarterback Chris Chandler in the first half, Houston (4-2) kept Atlanta winless.
Eddie George had 109 yards on 23 carries, the third 100-yard game of his rookie year for the Oilers. Houston, scheduled to move to Nashville in 1998, was cheered on by a small contingent of fans that made the four-hour drive from the Tennessee capital.
Even with the extra fans, the game drew only 35,401 to the Georgia Dome to watch the Falcons (0-6).
Saints 27, Bears 24
Ray Zellars, suspended last week for arguing with coach Jim Mora, ran for 174 yards for host New Orleans, which entered the game last in the NFL in rushing with 64 yards per game.
Zellars got 156 yards in the second half as the Saints (2-5) won their second straight on Doug Brien's career-best 54-yard field goal with 1:44 left. Zellars had 39 yards on the drive that led to the kick.
The Bears (2-5) had a 17-7 lead at the half, turning two New Orleans' fumbles and a failed fourth-down try into points.