Steelers cling on for victory

The Pittsburgh Steelers came up with a pair of goal-line stands late in the fourth quarter that would have made the old "Steel Curtain" proud.

The Pittsburgh Steelers came up with a pair of goal-line stands late in the fourth quarter that would have made the old "Steel Curtain" proud.

With members of the 1974 Super Bowl championship team looking on, the Steelers made three stops from the one-yard line, then held on for a 13-9 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

Pittsburgh (4-3) used a smothering defensive effort to build a seemingly safe 13-0 lead.

But the Falcons (1-6) got on the board on a five-yard toss from Chris Chandler to Terance Mathis with 6:42 remaining.

Four plays later, safety Marty Carter recovered Jerome Bettis' first fumble of the season at the Steelers 47.

Chandler threw a 40-yard strike to Mathis on the first play from scrimmage and Ken Oxendine bulled up the middle to get to the one.

But full-back Bob Christian lost a yard on a pair of carries and linebacker Levon Kirkland stuffed Oxendine at the one to preserve the lead with 1:45 to play.

Pittsburgh punter Josh Miller stepped out of the end zone for a safety and Tim Dwight returned the ensuing free kick to the Falcons 36.

With no timeouts left, Chandler gained 19 yards on passes to Mathis and Dwight.

After an offside penalty on the Steelers, an eight-yard toss to Christian and a spike, Chandler found Dwight over the middle for 27 yards to the Pittsburgh five.

He hobbled to the line of scrimmage and managed a spike to stop the clock with two seconds remaining.

But Chandler threw behind Dwight at the goal line and the defending NFC champions suffered their 10th straight Monday night loss.

Pittsburgh's Kordell Stewart was ineffective, completing 13-of-21 passes for 127 yards.

But he threw a screen pass that Richard Huntley turned into a 13-yard touchdown late in the first quarter after cornerback Chad Scott returned an interception 16 yards to the 11 yard line.