Steelers drop fifth straight

Seattle pulled out a 23-16 victory with two fourth quarter touchdowns.
SEATTLE (AP) -- Another Sunday, another nail-biter for the Seattle Seahawks.
Another victory, too.
Darrell Jackson scored a fourth-quarter touchdown on a 14-yard pass from Matt Hasselbeck and set up another late score with a 43-yard catch-and-run in Seattle's 23-16 victory over the slumping Pittsburgh Steelers.
For the fifth time in the last six weeks, the Seahawks (6-2) survived a tight fourth period. For the fourth time, they found a way to win.
"Maybe it's just going to be that kind of year," coach Mike Holmgren said. "That's OK, as long as we continue to win most of them."
Jackson made two big plays in the final 12 minutes. His TD catch put Seattle ahead 16-6 early in the fourth, and his long gain moved the ball to the 1 to set up Shaun Alexander's TD run and a 23-13 lead.
It was a good turnaround for Jackson, who failed to catch six straight passes thrown his direction earlier. In last week's loss at Cincinnati, he dropped three passes.
"I felt like somebody had something on me, like I can't catch the ball right now," Jackson said. "But I hung in there and my teammates were behind me. They pulled me through."
Losing streak extended
The Steelers (2-6) lost their fifth straight, their longest losing streak since dropping six in a row in 1999.
There was no sign of the turmoil that turned up after last week's loss to the Rams, when receiver Plaxico Burress complained he wasn't getting enough balls thrown his way and a sense of complacency threatened to overrun the team.
Pittsburgh's blitzing defense pressured Hasselbeck all day, producing four of five sacks in the first half. The offense left Seattle guessing in the fourth quarter, when a slow-paced field goal contest turned into a wide-open shootout.
The Steelers, though, hurt themselves with 11 penalties for 76 yards and a 4-of-14 conversion rate (29 percent) on third downs.
"We brought it a little bit more, but we didn't have pressure when we needed pressure. Period," said defensive end Kimo von Oelhoffen. "We have to get more. We're close, but we have to remember how to finish it off."
The Steelers, held in check by the Seahawks much of the afternoon, pulled to 16-13 early in the fourth when Tommy Maddox threw a 2-yard pass to Hines Ward, who stretched out for an acrobatic catch.
Trailing 23-13 at the 4-minute mark, Pittsburgh reached the 3 but settled for Jeff Reed's 21-yard field goal. A potential TD pass fell incomplete with Ward and Antwaan Randle El matched up against lone defender Shawn Springs.
Steelers frustrated
"It's frustrating," said Maddox, who completed 21-of-35 passes for 226 yards and one TD. "When you continue to work as hard as we're working, and you keep falling just a little short, it's a little hard to swallow."
It's a different story for the Seahawks, who are on target for a 12-win season that would match the 19-year-old franchise record for victories.
That's getting ahead of things, though, because Seattle is far from perfect and guard Steve Hutchinson, among others, knows it. He had no problem summarizing the first half of the season.
"We're not blowing people out," Hutchinson said. "We can't just show up and expect to win. We've got to learn to play four full quarters. But one positive is that we're tight-knit and we're behind our guys, no matter what."