Steelers and Seahawks not looking super

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks aren't looking very super these days. <br/><br/>The teams that met in the last Super Bowl are quickly losing sight of next February's big game. At least

Monday, October 30th 2006, 6:41 am

By: News On 6

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks aren't looking very super these days.

The teams that met in the last Super Bowl are quickly losing sight of next February's big game. At least Seattle, which lost 35-28 at Kansas City, still is tied for first place in the NFC West, albeit at 4-3. The Seahawks have lost two straight.

Pittsburgh sank to 2-5 with a 20-13 loss to equally lowly Oakland. The defending champion Steelers trail Baltimore by three games in the AFC North.

Seattle actually led 28-27 late in the game before Larry Johnson scored his fourth touchdown, a 3-yard run, and the Chiefs (4-3) added a 2-point conversion. Damon Huard, playing with a sore groin muscle, completed 17 of 25 passes for 312 yards and a touchdown.

``We made it hard on ourselves at the end, but came back and overcame some obstacles and put it away,'' Johnson said. ``We gave them more chances than they needed.''

Pittsburgh was even more generous, particularly Ben Roethlisberger. Both of Oakland's touchdowns came on interception returns, a 100-yarder by Chris Carr and a 24-yarder by Nnamdi Asomugha. The Raiders also had five sacks, 2 1/2 by Derrick Burgess.

``I'm embarrassed about the way I played,'' said Roethlisberger, who was coming off a concussion suffered last weekend. ``I'm letting the whole team down. It just seems like one guy makes mistakes and that's me. ... In my wildest dreams, I didn't think I'd be playing this bad.''

Elsewhere, it was Indianapolis 34, Denver 31; Atlanta 29, Cincinnati 27; Baltimore 35, New Orleans 22; Chicago 41, San Francisco 10; Cleveland 20, the New York Jets 13; San Diego 38, St. Louis 24; Jacksonville 13, Philadelphia 6; Dallas 35, Carolina 14; the New York Giants 17, Tampa Bay 3; Green Bay 31, Arizona 14; Tennessee 28, Houston 22.

On Monday night, New England is at Minnesota.

Off this week were Washington, Detroit, Buffalo and Miami.

Chiefs 35, Seahawks 28

Seattle had its chances. In the final 17 minutes, the visiting Seahawks took the lead with two touchdowns resulting from outrageous Kansas City mistakes.

Seneca Wallace, making his first NFL start in place of injured Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, put Seattle on top 28-27 with a 49-yard TD pass to Darrell Jackson after cornerback Ty Law fell down. A few plays before that, Law dropped a sure interception.

Late in the third period, Seattle's Kelly Herndon returned a fumble 61 yards for another touchdown when Kansas City holder Dustin Colquitt tried an ill-advised pass after mishandling the snap on a field-goal attempt.

Raiders 20, Steelers 13

Host Oakland won back-to-back games for the first time since last October despite gaining only 98 yards on offense _ 2 less than Carr got on his pickoff.

Pittsburgh still had a chance after the two late interceptions, getting a first-and-goal at the 1 trailing 20-13 with about 3e minutes left. On fourth down, Kirk Morrison broke up Roethlisberger's pass to Santonio Holmes in the end zone.

After the Steelers forced a punt, Pittsburgh had one last-ditch chance. Roethlisberger completed a 49-yard pass to Nate Washington down to the Oakland 4 on the final play.

Colts 34, Broncos 31

In a Mile High shootout, Peyton Manning and Adam Vinatieri, not surprisingly, made the difference.

Manning went 32-for-39 for 345 yards passing and three touchdowns _ all to Reggie Wayne _ and Vinatieri kicked a 37-yard field goal with 2 seconds, his fourth successful kick of the day.

Wayne finished with 10 catches for 138 yards and did most of his damage against defensive back Darrent Williams. Indianapolis gained 437 yards to become the first team to start 7-0 in consecutive seasons since the 1929-31 Green Bay Packers did it three straight times.

Rookie backup running back Mike Bell had 136 yards rushing and two scores for Denver.

Falcons 29, Bengals 27

At Cincinnati, Michael Vick threw three touchdown passes _ giving him seven TD passes in the last two games _ and went 20-of-28 for 291 yards as Atlanta tied New Orleans atop the NFC South.

Carson Palmer's 55-yard touchdown pass to Chris Henry cut it to 29-27 with 3:41 to go, but Vick helped the Falcons run the clock down to 19 seconds before Cincinnati got the ball back.

Ravens 35, Saints 22

At New Orleans, Steve McNair ran for a touchdown and passed for two more as Baltimore ended a two-game losing streak in coach Brian Billick's first game calling plays since firing offensive coordinator Jim Fassel.

The Ravens' defense was dominant as well, accounting for touchdowns on a pair of 12-yard interception returns by Louisiana natives Ronnie Prude and Dawan Landry. They also knocked Reggie Bush out of the game in the fourth quarter with an injured left ankle, but he later said he expected to play next week in Tampa Bay.

Drew Brees was intercepted three times, twice on deflections and sacked twice. He finished 24-of-45 passing for 383 yards and three touchdowns for New Orleans.

Bears 41, 49ers 10

At Chicago, the 7-0 Bears' quick defense ravaged the mistake-prone 49ers and their offense moved with ease. By halftime, the Bears were cruising 41-0 and were off to their best start since the 1985 Super Bowl champions won their first 12.

The Bears turned two fumble recoveries and a one-handed interception by Brian Urlacher into a 24-0 first-quarter lead, setting the franchise record for first-quarter points. And they matched a franchise record for points in a first half, set in 1948 against Washington, with their 41-0 lead.

The 49ers had four first-half turnovers and Chicago turned each one into a touchdown.

Browns 20, Jets 13

At Cleveland, a potential one-handed tying touchdown grab by Jets tight end Chris Baker in the final minute was called out of bounds.

On fourth-and-4, Chad Pennington dropped back and ducked underneath a blitz from safety Sean Jones before lofting a pass to the near right corner for Baker. The tight end leaped and hauled in Pennington's pass with one hand as he soared through the air.

But before he could get either of his feet down, Baker was drilled from the side by defensive back Brodney Pool, who sent Baker sprawling out of bounds. The officials huddled for several seconds before referee Mike Carey said Baker could not have made the catch in bounds.

Because it was a judgment call, the play is not reviewable under the NFL's instant replay system.

Chargers 38, Rams 24

LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for a season-high 183 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead host San Diego.

Tomlinson surpassed 8,000 yards rushing for his six-year career, and tied his boyhood idol, Emmitt Smith, as the second-fastest players to score 90 touchdowns, in 86 games. The quickest was Jim Brown in 81 games.

Tomlinson reached the milestone by scoring on the ground to cap the Chargers' first two drives. He added his 91st when he caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Philip Rivers with 3:58 left.

Shawne Merriman, trying to avoid a four-game suspension for a positive drug test, sacked Marc Bulger three times. Safety Marlon McCree returned a fumble 79 yards for a touchdown.

Jaguars 13, Eagles 6

Fred Taylor keyed a power running attack and scored on a 15-yard run, and visiting Jacksonville shut down Donovan McNabb. Taylor and Maurice Drew ran for 103 and 77 yards rushing, respectively. Of the Jaguars' 285 total yards, 209 were gained on the ground.

The Jaguars held the Eagles to 229 total yards _ 164 before the last drive. Philadelphia (4-4) came in averaging a league-best 417 yards per game, but couldn't generate much.

Cowboys 35, Panthers 14

Tony Romo rallied visiting Dallas from a 14-point first-quarter deficit, throwing for 270 yards and a touchdown, and Julius Jones rushed for 94 yards and a score. Dallas set a team record with 25 fourth-quarter points.

Romo, starting in place of the benched Drew Bledsoe, slowly led the Cowboys back with poise, using a variety of short passes to a number receivers.

Marion Barber had touchdown runs of 3 and 14 yards late for Dallas. The Panthers were plagued by mistakes as they lost their second straight, blowing double-digit leads in both.

Giants 17, Buccaneers 3

Missing three injured defensive starters and losing another early, the Giants held Tampa Bay to 174 yards on a blustery day.

Eli Manning and Plaxico Burress provided the offense as the Giants took an early 14-0 lead en route to their fourth straight win. They combined on a 7-yard touchdown pass and a 25-yard wind-blown catch that led to a 1-yard touchdown run by Brandon Jacobs.

Matt Bryant, who had a game-winning 62-yard field goal last weekend against Philadelphia, kicked a 43-yarder for the Bucs, whose two-game winning streak ended.

Packers 31, Cardinals 14

Ahman Green, who struggled early this season after returning from a torn right quadriceps, scored two first-half touchdowns.

Green and backup running back Vernand Morency both surpassed 100-yards rushing and Brett Favre added a rare TD rushing as the Packers won their first home game under first-year coach Mike McCarthy. The host Packers have won two straight after losing four of their first five.

The Cardinals came into this year with playoff expectations, but have lost seven straight. The Packers sacked rookie quarterback Matt Leinart four times and held him to 61 yards passing in the first half.

Titans 28, Texans 22

Vince Young ran for a touchdown and threw for another, and the Titans won consecutive games for the first time since the end of the 2003 season.

The Texans lost their 11th straight road game, wasting backup quarterback Sage Rosenfels' three TD passes in the final 17 minutes.

The Titans harassed Houston's David Carr into his worst performance this season, sacking him four times and forcing him into three of the Texans' five turnovers before he was yanked.