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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Cincinnati Bengals are the NFL's team of
the decade -- its worst team. Think how bad they would be without
the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Rodney Heath made two first-half interceptions, one for a
touchdown and the other setting up a score, and the Bengals nearly
blew a big lead again before holding off the reeling Steelers 27-20
Sunday.
|  | | Bengals running back Corey Dillon is caught from behind by Steelers safety Chris Oldham. |
The Bengals (2-10) have won only three of their last 23, and
need one more loss for the most losses (107) by any NFL team in a
decade. But they beat the Steelers for the third time in two
seasons, two of them in Three Rivers Stadium.
"The buzzard flew away today, and we had Lady Luck on our
side," said linebacker Takeo Spikes, who recovered a fumble for
one of Pittsburgh's three first-half turnovers.
The Bengals, who squandered a 14-point margin last week in
losing to Baltimore 34-31, opened a 24-3 lead behind the turnovers,
Jeff Blake's passing and Corey Dillon's 120 yards rushing, then
held off a comeback led by backup quarterback Mike Tomczak.
Tomczak, in his first extensive playing time since 1996, was
19-of-35 for 264 yards and two touchdowns. But the Steelers (5-6)
still lost to a one-win team at home for the second time in three
weeks. Cleveland upset them 16-15 on Nov. 14.
The Steelers have lost three in a row overall and are only 1-4
at Three Rivers Stadium, where they were 45-9 under coach Bill
Cowher before losing six of their last seven.
Afterward, Cowher denied he wants to get out of the remaining
three years on his contract and coach elsewhere, calling such
speculation "ludicrous." There will be one big change: Tomczak
will start Thursday at Jacksonville and Stewart will temporarily
return to wide receiver, where he played part-time before moving
fulltime to quarterback in 1997.
"I guess Slash is back," said Stewart, who has only six
touchdown passes in his last 15 starts. "I'm not sad, I'm not
pouting, but I have no doubts at all that I will be the quarterback
again. It's just not working right now."
Cowher said, "I think it will be good for Kordell to sit back
right now and look. There is a great deal of pressure being placed
upon him, and Mike Tomczak gave us a real spark."
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GAME NOTES |
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Jeff Blake has 12 career TD passes against Pittsburgh.
Darnay Scott has four touchdown catches in his past three starts against the Steelers.
The Steelers had never before lost at home to a
division opponent in consecutive seasons under Bill Cowher.
Until Sunday, the Steelers' only three touchdown drives at home covered 16, 11 and 8 yards, all following turnovers.
Steelers center Dermontti Dawson (strained hamstring) missed his fifth consecutive
game.
The Bengals' secondary had only six interceptions before
intercepting Kordell Stewart twice.
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Tomczak, who replaced Stewart after Heath's two interceptions,
threw touchdown passes of 15 yards to Bobby Shaw and 34 to Hines
Ward to make it 24-20 early in the third quarter. The Steelers
previously had only three touchdowns in four home games, all
following turnovers.
But the Steelers never caught up. Kris Brown's 46-yard field
goal was wiped out by a holding penalty, forcing a punt, and they
twice failed to convert on fourth-and-short in the fourth quarter.
Pittsburgh drove to the Bengals 26 in the final minute, but
Heath broke up a fourth-and-6 pass and the Bengals ran out the
clock.
"Maybe we found a cure," Bengals defensive end Michael
Bankston said. "We played well on offense and defense, we got
turnovers, we got sacks, we got touchdowns and Corey was running
wild."
Blake hit his first three passes for 134 yards against the NFL's
top-rated passing defense, including a 76-yard touchdown to Darnay
Scott on the game's third play as the Steelers bit on Blake's
play-action fake.
"We had nothing to lose, just drop back and let it go," said
Blake, who was 15-of-28 for 241 yards and one interception.
Stewart, 5-of-11 for 36 yards, was intercepted by Heath on
Pittsburgh's first possession. Blake promptly hit Carl Pickens for
34 yards and Scott for 24 to set up his own 4-yard touchdown
scramble that made it 14-0 with 8:04 left in the first quarter.
That brought on the booing that has led Stewart to label himself
as "Pittsburgh's public enemy No. 1." It got worse when Stewart
threw a pass directly to Heath, who returned it 59 yards for a
touchdown. Heath, a free agent rookie, started in place of Ty
Howard.
Doug Pelfrey added a pair of 29-yard field goals, one after
Spikes' fumble recovery, but missed a 25-yarder with 5:51 left that
would have pushed the lead to 10.
Scott made four catches for 123 yards as the Bengals, the NFL's
19th-ranked passing offense, outgained Pittsburgh 415-391.
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ALSO SEE
NFL Scoreboard
Cincinnati Clubhouse
Pittsburgh Clubhouse
Tomczak replaces Stewart as Steelers QB
Week 12 wrap-ups
Week 12 infirmary report
TJ's Take: Jags back on offensive
PrimeTime Players
Week 12 stats leaders
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Bill Cowher says there is no truth to the published reports that he will resign as Steelers coach.
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RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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