PITTSBURGH Steelers win a glimmer of hope

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Winning for only the second time in two months allowed the Pittsburgh Steelers to seize something they began fumbling away weeks ago.
Hope.
Maybe only a glimmer of it, but still enough to cling to as they prepare to meet AFC North co-leaders Cincinnati and Baltimore during the final month of the season.
The Steelers (4-7) still need a mini-miracle to make up their two-game deficit against the Ravens (6-5) and Bengals (6-5) with only five games remaining. Despite beating the Browns 13-6 Sunday, the Steelers picked up no ground because the Ravens and Bengals won on the same weekend for the first time in a month.
Home to Bengals
By winning, the Steelers made certain that Sunday's home game against Cincinnati will mean something to both teams, even if Pittsburgh will be playing only to delay what may be the inevitable.
"We've got to win this game," running back Jerome Bettis said Monday. "Our season hangs in the balance. ... We're in a situation where every game is a one-game playoff."
The Steelers aren't totally dependent on other teams to beat the Ravens and Bengals down the stretch because they have games left against both teams. They finish the regular season Dec. 28 at Baltimore.
What's different is that a post-Thanksgiving game against Cincinnati will mean as much to the Bengals as it does the Steelers. That hasn't happened since 1977, when the Steelers (9-5) lost 17-10 in Cincinnati (8-6) during the next-to-last weekend of the season before beating San Diego 10-9 to win the AFC Central.
"It's crazy," Bettis said. "You think something weird is going on."
Returned to basics
The Steelers might already be out of it if they hadn't returned Sunday to the basics that have sustained them for years: their running game and their defense.
Bettis ran a season-high 24 times for 93 yards, his best game since gaining 109 yards against Cincinnati on Oct. 13, 2002. He also became only the fifth NFL running back with 3,000 carries in his career.
Tight end Mark Bruener also made his first reception in more than a year for the game's only touchdown, and a defense that had forced only 11 turnovers in 10 games helped cause five turnovers.
The Steelers have fallen behind so early so often, it was the only the second time their running game was largely responsible for a victory. They ran for a season-high 138 yards in beating the Bengals 17-10 on Sept. 21.
"You criticize a guy and say maybe he's this and maybe he's that, but if you don't get it 24 to 25 times, you don't get a chance to show anything," said Bettis, whose previous season high was 18 carries.
"The public perception is whatever they read, and if they read we're washed up or we're not good, then that's what they believe," he added. "And if we don't get the opportunity, how can we show that we can play?"
Still can run
One productive afternoon didn't do much to improve their season's statistics -- the Steelers are 31st in rushing -- but it showed they still can run the ball with a lead.
"I never thought I'd see the day we were No. 31 in rushing ... but when you get behind 14, 17 points, you've got to throw the ball," Bettis said.
Bettis needs 123 yards to overtake Thurman Thomas and move into ninth place in NFL career rushing, but he realizes his days in Pittsburgh probably are over if the Steelers don't make the playoffs.
"My future is in question, it is a question mark, but I can't worry about it," he said.