Steelers Overtake Miami Tomczak Rallies Pittsburgh; Decision Benefits Denver

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 2 minutes to the 7-yard line, but his pass to Scott Miller on fourth-and-1 with 25 seconds left fell incomplete in the end zone.

“It’s very exhilarating,” Tomczak said. “When we scored, I told 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 2 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,” 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, while Pittsburgh was penalized just 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,” Dolphins 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 it at 17-17 late in the third quarter. But Nedney missed a 48-yarder with 8-1/2 minutes left.