Marc Bulger started the quarter with a quick slant pass to Torry Holt, moving the ball into Pittsburgh territory.

But after Antonio Pittman picked up the first down on the ground, Bulger ate the football and took a nine-yard sack. Jackson got 13 yards back on a draw play, but Bulger couldn’t connect with Drew Bennett on third down and Scott Linehan elected not to gamble on fourth-and 4.

When Donnie Jones punted the ball into the end zone, the Rams gained 16 yards of field position with their “safe” play.

Claude Wroten (!) forced  Najeh Davenport to  fumble on the next Steelers  series, but Pittsburgh got the ball back. That  allowed Ben Roethlisberger to complete another pass to Hines Ward for the first down.

Carey Davis raced around left end for another first down . . . and the clock continued to melt away. Another completion to  Ward  earned still another first down as Pittsburgh  crept into  scoring position.

Davenport sprinted around right end for 16 more yards, moving the ball to the Rams 21.  Now there were less than 6 minutes left to play.

When Roethlisberger’s third-down scramble came up just short of a first down, Steelers  coach Mike Tomlin opted to take the three points. Jeff Reed’s 29-yard field goal pushed the Pittsburgh advantage to 34-24.

Bulger  kept the Rams alive with a third-down completion to Bennett, who finally is paying some dividends on his hefty contract.  

But then came the kill shot. Bulger hung a fourth-and-10 pass up the right sideline and Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor went up to get it. Then he  took the ball across the field, picked up a string of blocks and returned  his interception 51 yards for the  touchdown.

Ballgame. The Steelers led 41-24 with 3:46 to play.