Sloppy win for Steelers on MNF

Pittsburgh survived a sloppy field to pull out a 3-0 win over Miami.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Trudging through the quagmire of Heinz Field, the Dolphins and Steelers nearly went all night without scoring.

Instead what they ended up with was the lowest scoring game in 14 years when Jeff Reed’s 24-yard field goal with 17 seconds left gave the Steelers a 3-0 victory Monday night over winless Miami (0-11).

It was the first 3-0 game in the NFL since the Jets beat visiting Washington on Dec. 11, 1993.

Hanging with the division-leading Steelers (8-3) for 591⁄2 minutes in the longest scoreless tie since the Lions and Giants on Nov. 11, 1943, the Dolphins couldn’t get the game to overtime in the first 3-0 game since the Jets beat the Redskins on Dec. 11, 1993.

The only scoring drive started on the Dolphins’ 42 after Miami punted out of its end zone. Ben Roethlisberger drove the Steelers into field goal range with completions of 21, 11 and 6 yards to Hines Ward.

Reed, who had missed badly from 45 yards earlier on a rain-drenched field, came through after Roethlisberger was sacked on third down.

The game was delayed 25 minutes by lighting and heavy rain.

The Steelers drove into Miami territory on each of their first seven possessions but failed to score. Reed missed 44-yard field goal with 29 second left in the third quarter.

Rain was heavy throughout much of the day in Pittsburgh and seemed to pick up in the hours leading up to game time. Precipitation was generally light after kickoff.

The Steelers had a new natural surface installed on top of the existing grass over the weekend after four high school championship games were played there Friday and the University of Pittsburgh faced South Florida Saturday.

The grounds crew spread a drying agent over the areas on the field where the tarps had overlapped, and those areas of the field were full of divots after only a few drives. Paint marking the yard lines and hash marks all over the field had washed off. Drainage was poor and each step by players in the middle of the field usually resulted in a splash.

Joey Porter, a longtime Steeler playing in his first game against his former team, intercepted a Roethlisberger pass on the game’s opening drive.

Ricky Williams, playing in his first NFL game since Jan. 1, 2006 due to a violation of the league’s substance abuse policy, had six carries for 15 yards but left the game in the second quarter with a shoulder injury.