Steelers rally for last-tick defeat

Broncos kicker Jason Elam scored the winning points as time expired.

DENVER (AP) — The Denver Broncos took the city’s minds off the Colorado Rockies for a few hours Sunday night, beating the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-28 on Jason Elam’s 49-yard field goal as time expired.

Rookie Tim Crowder had a 50-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown and Jay Cutler threw three TD passes.

The Broncos (3-3), coming off their worst home loss in 41 years, looked nothing like the troubled team that had lost playmakers on both sides of the ball and whose season was threatening to unravel before the leaves had finished falling.

Suddenly able to get to the passer despite Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey (thigh) missing a game for just the third time in his career, the Broncos forced three turnovers and sacked Ben Roethlisberger four times.

The Steelers (4-2), who had allowed just five touchdowns all season , surrendered four on this night, including Cutler’s throws of 15 yards to Brandon Stokley and 1 yard each to Tony Scheffler and Cecil Sapp.

Elam, who has the game-winner in all three of the Broncos’ wins so far, nailed his kick to cap a seven-play, 49-yard drive that covered the final 1:10 after Pittsburgh had rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit to tie it.

The Broncos, who lost running back Travis Henry for the night with bruised ribs in the third quarter, snapped a three-game skid and handed the Steelers their second loss in three games.

Denver was surprisingly in control throughout and built a two-touchdown lead on Scheffler’s 1-yard TD catch midway through the third quarter.

Pittsburgh pulled to 28-21 with a 94-yard drive capped by rookie tight end Matt Spaeth’s 13-yard touchdown catch one play after Roethlisberger barely got the first down on a fourth-and-1 sneak.

Without Henry, the Broncos went three-and-out and Pittsburgh got the ball at its 22 with 7:47 left after a 61-yard punt by Todd Sauerbrun.

Roethlisberger completed all eight of his passes on the 80-yard drive, which he capped with a 12-yard TD pass to tight end Heath Miller, his second touchdown grab of the night.

After a touchback, Scheffler caught a 16-yard pass before hopping off the field with an apparent right foot injury. He broke that foot in the summer and only recently returned to full strength.

Brandon Marshall caught a 9-yard pass and an offside call put the ball on the 50. Glenn Martinez caught an 11-yard pass and tight end Daniel Graham caught another 9-yarder with 20 seconds on a play that was initially ruled an incompletion before a booth-ordered replay overturned the call.

Selvin Young lost a yard and, after a timeout, Elam split the uprights.

The Broncos seized the momentum with their first touchdown by a defensive lineman since Ellis Johnson’s interception return against Oakland on Nov. 28, 2004.

Elvis Dumervil split blockers Marvel Smith and Alan Faneca and dumped Roethlisberger for a 12-yard loss, while stripping the ball from the quarterback’s grasp. Crowder scooped it up and raced half the length of the field for a 21-7 lead just 90 seconds after Sapp’s 1-yard touchdown grab had given Denver its first lead.

Larry Foote’s interception at the Broncos’ 41 set up Santonio Holmes’ 13-yard TD catch that cut Denver’s lead to 21-14 in the third quarter.

Up to seven inches of snow blanketed Denver on Sunday, forcing the NL champion Rockies to move their workout indoors, but the football game three miles away was unaffected because the field was covered. By game time, the skies were clear and the field dry, although light flurries returned in the fourth quarter.

Denver is last in the NFL in stopping the run and the Steelers have the league’s second-best rushing offense. But Pittsburgh running back Willie Parker had only three carries for 10 yards in the first quarter and the Broncos began to build confidence.

Parker got going and finished with 93 yards on 21 carries.