MNF | Steelers muddle through in mud
PITTSBURGH - A terrible field and dreadful weather caused the Miami Dolphins and Pittsburgh Steelers to rewind to a different NFL era, a time when points came at a premium and one field goal could decide a game.
They trudged through the quagmire of Heinz Field, nearly going all night without scoring. Nearly.
Jeff Reed’s 24-yard field goal with 17 seconds left Monday night gave Pittsburgh a 3-0 victory over winless Miami, the first time in 64 years a league game went that long before points were scored.
It was the league’s lowest-scoring game since Dec. 11, 1993, when the New York Jets beat Washington 3-0. The Detroit Lions and New York Giants played the league’s last scoreless tie in 1943.
“Those conditions, whew, they were horrendous,” Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward said after daylong rain and new sod created awful playing conditions. “The footing was bad. All of a sudden, you’d hit a water puddle and sink down.”
Hanging with the first-place Steelers (8-3) for 59 ½ minutes, Miami (0-11) almost pushed the messy game to overtime, where Pittsburgh is 0-2 this season. But the Dolphins managed a mere 159 yards of offense while going nowhere nearly all night.
The scoring drive started on the Miami 42 after the Dolphins punted out of their end zone. Ben Roethlisberger drove the Steelers into field-goal range with completions of 21, 11 and 6 yards to Ward.
Reed, who had missed badly from 45 yards earlier on the rain-drenched field, came through after Roethlisberger was sacked on third down.
“You put new sod in and weather like this, it’s not a good combination,” Reed said. “I planted [on his first field-goal try] and the whole sod moved over.”
After five high-school and college games were played at Heinz Field last weekend, crews put down a new layer of sod atop the chewed-up turf for Monday night’s game.
“It was like being on the beach, in the sand, on every play,” said Miami linebacker Joey Porter, a former Steelers standout playing against his old team for the first time.
Note
• The Dolphins activated running back Ricky Williams after a 1 ½-year suspension, but he injured a shoulder during the second quarter after carrying six times for 15 yards.