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Steelers looking to hold on to playoff spot

Dec 20, 2007 - 1:58 PM Pittsburgh (9-5) at St. Louis (3-11) 8:15 pm EST

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- For the third straight week, the Pittsburgh Steelers look to clinch a playoff spot. But this time, they can't do it without some help.

The Steelers hope to snap a two-game losing streak when they visit the St. Louis Rams on Thursday night.

After losing in New England two weeks ago, Pittsburgh suffered a 29-22 defeat to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

The Steelers yielded an uncharacteristic 224 yards on the ground, including 147 by Fred Taylor, who became the first opposing running back to rush for 100 yards in Pittsburgh in 30 games.

The loss dropped Pittsburgh into a tie for first place with the Cleveland Browns in the AFC North. It also prevented the Steelers from clinching at least a wild card berth.

"They (Jaguars) played our style of football, and they did it better than we did," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "We have to do a better job of tackling."

Pittsburgh has a one-game lead over Tennessee, but needs the Titans to lose at home this week to the New York Jets to wrap up a postseason berth.

The Steelers can't get it done with just a win because a victory over an NFC opponent will not help in the tiebreaker scenario.

Pittsburgh can, however, clinch the AFC North with a win and a Browns loss at Cincinnati. The Steelers own the divsion tiebreaker, based on a season sweep of Cleveland.

Still, the Steelers could have reason to be concerned about the health of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who faced the Jaguars with a sore right shoulder that kept him out of practice for two days last week.

Roethlisberger threw three touchdown passes against Jacksonville to set a Steelers' single-season record with 29. He broke Terrry Bradshaw's previous team mark of 28, set in 1978.

But Roethlisberger was generally ineffective against the Jaguars, completing 16-of-33 passes for only 146 yards. He also was sacked five times.

Pittsburgh's problems actually began before the back-to-back defeats to the Patriots and Jaguars. Last month, it lost to the lowly New York Jets and struggled to beat the then-winless Miami Dolphins.

Against the Rams, the Steelers would like to pound the ball behind Willie Parker, the NFL's leading rusher, who ran for 100 yards last week.

St. Louis has nothing at stake except to play spoiler. Marc Bulger returned last week after missing two games with a concussion but threw two interceptions in a 33-14 loss to the Green Bay Packers.

The Steelers will look to contain a healthy Steven Jackson, who rushed for a season-high 143 yards against the Packers.