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Titans, Steelers battle for home field in AFC

Dec 16, 2008 - 3:15 PM Pittsburgh (10-3) at Tennessee (11-2), 1:00 pm EST

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- While they may be winning ugly, the Pittsburgh Steelers are staking a claim as the top team in the AFC.

The Steelers can make an even greater statement Sunday when they visit the Tennessee Titans Sunday in a showdown that could determine home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

Tennessee (11-2) gets a second chance to wrap up the No. 1 seed after suffering a 13-12 loss at Houston on Sunday.

If the Steelers (10-3) win at Tennessee, they own the tiebreaker over the Titans and would secure the AFC's top seed with a victory over Cleveland in Week 17.

Last week, Pittsburgh clinched the AFC North title and first-round bye with a dramatic 13-9 victory at Baltimore.

The Steelers' offense sputtered throughout the game, but Ben Roethlisberger capped a 92-yard drive in the final minutes with a disputed 4-yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes with 43 seconds remaining.

Following a video replay, the officials ruled that Holmes got his feet in the end zone as he came down with the ball.

"Seven (Roethlisberger) delivered, as he's done time and time again," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "I think a lot has been said about our offensive struggles, particularly in the last several weeks. One thing that is consistent is that when we need plays, when we have to move the ball, we have."

The Steelers have won five straight since a 24-20 loss to Indianapolis on November 9 to clinch their fourth division title in the last seven years.

Last week marked the third time during the winning streak that the Steelers had to rally in the fourth quarter. Two weeks ago, they erased a 10-point deficit in the final seven minutes to beat Dallas, 20-13.

Now the Steelers take the league's stingiest defense (13.7 ppg) to Tennessee, where they will looking for a second straight road win against one of the AFC's elite teams.

It could be another defensive struggle as the Titans are the league's second-toughest team to score against, yielding 14.1 points per game.

After ending the Indianapolis Colts' five-year stranglehold atop the AFC South the previous week, the Titans may have suffered a letdown against the Texans. They allowed Houston receiver Andre Johnson to catch 11 passes for a career-high 207 yards and a touchdown.

"Hopefully we'll be up for the challenge and guys will come back from vacation," Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck said. "I think we were on vacation this week, knowing we got a bye."

However, the Titans will be without one of their defensive leaders in tackle Albert Haynesworth, who will miss the remainder of the regular season after suffering a knee injury late in last week's game.

However, Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher expects Haynesworth, to return for the playoffs. Since the Titans have a first-round bye, he will have an extra week to recover.

"Often this is a 10-day to two-week thing," Fisher said. "There's no doubt he'll be back."

Tennessee's sack leader with 8 1/2, Haynesworth is expected to be named to the AFC Pro Bowl roster for the second straight season.