Ben Roethlisberger threw for 302 yards and two touchdowns and Hines Ward caught seven passes for 131 yards as the Pittsburgh Steelers outlasted the host Miami Dolphins 23-22 on Sunday.
Jeff Reed kicked an 18-yard field goal following a disputed fumble call with 2:26 left to provide the winning margin.
Roethlisberger fumbled the ball at the goal line on an attempted quarterback draw, but replays could not determine which team recovered the ball in the end zone, giving Pittsburgh fourth-and-goal at the 1.
The Steelers (5-1) committed a slew of mistakes at the outset but the Dolphins (3-3) could not take full advantage. Emmanuel Sanders fumbled the opening kickoff of the game, giving Miami the ball at the Pittsburgh 22-yard line. The Dolphins gained only one yard, however, and settled for a field goal.
Roethlisberger was sacked and fumbled on the ensuing possession, but again Miami could not manage a first down and had to settle for a field goal and a 6-0 lead.
The Steelers got a field goal back early in the second quarter and took the lead on their next series when Roethlisberger found Ward on a 21-yard touchdown pass. The Dolphins settled for another field goal before Roethlisberger found Mike Wallace with a 53-yard bomb on the first play of a drive to make it 17-9.
Chad Henne and Davone Bess hooked up for a 26-yard touchdown before the half and the teams traded field goals in the third to make it 20-19. Dan Carpenter added a 40-yard field goal in the fourth to give Miami a 22-20 edge.
Pittsburgh | Miami | |
Rashard Mendenhall | Player | Ricky Williams |
15 | Attempts | 11 |
37 | Yards | 48 |
2.5 | Avg Yards | 4.4 |
0 | Touchdowns | 0 |
9 | Long | 11 |
Pittsburgh | Miami | |
Hines Ward | Player | Davone Bess |
7 | Receptions | 6 |
131 | Yards | 66 |
18.7 | Avg Yards | 11.0 |
1 | Touchdowns | 1 |
43 | Long | 26 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Pittsburgh | 348 | 58 | 290 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 |
Miami | 313 | 64 | 249 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 3.0 | 4 |