National Football League

Raiders rally to deal Steelers 4th straight loss

Published Dec. 6, 2009 11:55 p.m. ET

foxsports

The Super Bowl champion Steelers are losing their confidence as fast as they're losing leads and losing games. The Oakland Raiders? Suddenly, they're winning like they did in the old days, with remarkable comebacks and surprise finishes.

Louis Murphy caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Bruce Gradkowski with nine seconds remaining, his second score in the final 5 1/2 minutes, and the Raiders scored three late touchdowns to stun Pittsburgh 27-24 on Sunday and deal the Steelers their fourth consecutive loss.

The Steelers (6-6), in danger of missing the playoffs after winning the Super Bowl for a second time in four seasons, went ahead 24-20 on Ben Roethlisberger's 11-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward with 1:56 remaining, only to have the Raiders (4-8) rally and win it.

For the two-touchdown underdog Raiders, it was a comeback win even better than their 20-17 upset over Cincinnati two weeks before. Then, Murphy caught a 29-yard touchdown pass and Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 33-yard field goal in the final 33 seconds.