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If you are a fan of defense, you likely would want to TiVo Monday night’s Steelers 3-0 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Pittsburgh.  In a game where the Steelers could ill afford to lose after last weeks setback against the Jets, they did what they had to do on their final drive to kick a Jeff Reed chip shot 24-yard field goal to earn them their 8th win against three losses.  For the Dolphins, it was the 6th time this season they had lost a game by three points, but it was not Monday night because of their defense.

The field conditions in Pittsburgh were possibly the worst in years.  The sod that was placed down a few days ago was a mess due to the rain that hit the Western PA area throughout Sunday and Monday.  Then add on to that the fact the game was delayed by about 25 minutes due to lightning, and you had what turned into almost an unwatchable game in front of a stadium that looked rather empty by the time Reed hit the game-winner.

The Fins (0-11) went again with rookie John Beck at QB, and he did what he could in the conditions, going 15-for-24 for 132 yards.  He was sacked four times, and the offense was not able to move inside the Steelers 20 the entire night.  The best shot the Dolphins had was when they lined up at the Pittsburgh 20 for what would have been a Jay Feeley 37-yard field goal attempt.  Instead, there was a delay of game, and Cam Cameron sent his offense back on the field and Beck was sacked, ending their best scoring attempt on the night.  “We had a play we liked, obviously the kicking conditions were very, very difficult,” Cameron said of going for it.

The Steelers game-winning drive started at the Dolphins 42 with 4:13 to go.  The big play was a Ben Roethlisberger to Hines Ward 21-yard pass play that put the ball on the Dolphins 19-yard line.  After a holding on the Steelers, Roethlisberger went twice more to Ward, then hit Willie Reid for 6 yards on 3rd-and-3 from the Dolphins 12.  They then were able try one pass, and then ran twice to take the clock to :17 seconds to allow Reed to try the short field goal.

Pittsburgh’s offense managed 216 yards to the Dolphins 159 yards.  Roethlisberger went 18-for-21 for 165 yards with a pick.  The Dolphins got to him for five sacks for 33 yards, but again, he made a few big plays in that final drive to get the job done.  Ward hauled in 9 passes for 88 yards, and Parker ran for 81 yards on 24 carries in very tough conditions.  “I thought Hines Ward was big tonight, he was Hines Ward, and we needed every one of those catches he provided for us, it was a workman like effort” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said.  The black and gold improved to 8-3, but with a Bengals team coming to town coming off a big win against the Titans, the team has to feel fortunate to win this ugly game.

The Dolphins will try once again to get their first win of the season Sunday when they take on the New York Jets at home.