Pittsburgh Rallies to Top Miami

MIAMI —  With the game on the line, Mike Tomczak connected on one more pass than Dan Marino.

Tomczak threw for 252 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown to Ernie Mills with 2:10 remaining, and the Pittsburgh Steelers rallied from an 11-point second-quarter deficit to beat the Miami Dolphins, 24-17, Monday night.

Marino moved Miami 73 yards in the final two minutes to the 7-yard line, but his pass to Scott Miller on fourth and one with 25 seconds left fell incomplete in the end zone.

“It’s very exhilarating,” Tomczak said. “When we scored, I told [teammate] Will Wolford, ‘Marino’s got too much time.’ He said, ‘Who cares?’ ”

The Dolphins (6-6) fell a game behind San Diego in their bid for a wild-card berth.

“It shouldn’t have come down to us scoring with two minutes left,” Marino said.

The Steelers (9-3) increased their lead to three games over second-place Houston in the AFC Central.

“That’s a big win for our team, facing a team that’s looking at this as their playoff game, in a hostile environment,” Pittsburgh Coach Bill Cowher said.

With the outcome, AFC West leader Denver (11-1) became the first team to clinch a postseason berth.

The Steelers’ Jerome Bettis rushed for 119 yards. Miami scored only one touchdown against the Pittsburgh defense, which has allowed the fewest yards and points in the AFC.

Miami was hurt by nine penalties for 54 yards. Pittsburgh was penalized only once. Guards Everett McIver and rookie Jeff Buckey, making their first starts for the Dolphins, were each penalized once for 10 yards in the second half.

“Penalties and miscues took us out of our rhythm,” Dolphin Coach Jimmy Johnson said. “It was a frustrating loss. We felt like we could win, and we had plenty of opportunities.”

Marino’s 38-yard pass to Troy Drayton set up a 41-yard field goal by Joe Nedney to tie the score, 17-17, late in the third quarter. But Nedney missed a 48-yarder with 8 1/2 minutes left.

Pittsburgh’s second sack of Marino backed up the Dolphins, and a punt gave the Steelers the ball at the Miami 45 with six minutes to go.

Tomczak’s touchdown pass came eight plays later on third and eight. Mills broke free in the end zone when cornerback Terrell Buckley collided with a teammate.

Mills said the ball seemed to be in the air a long time.

“I just said, ‘Come on, come on,’ and it finally got there,” he said.

Tomczak, who also threw completions of 34, 36 and 38 yards, was 16 for 29 and overcame two early turnovers. He lost a fumble, ending a scoring threat, then threw an interception that Calvin Jackson returned 61 yards for a touchdown.

Marino completed 22 of 37 passes for 254 yards. He had two passes dropped, spoiling apparent first downs.

“It’s a very difficult loss because I felt we should have won,” Marino said. “We were here at home on Monday night, and for us to have a chance to get into the playoffs, we have to win while we’re at home.”