PRO FOOTBALL : Steelers Show Some Life and Stun Vikings : Minnesota Falls Behind in First Half, Is Shut Out in Second and Loses, 27-14

In a turnaround, the Pittsburgh Steelers, not the Minnesota Vikings, played like a team that was supposed to be a Super Bowl contender.

And the Vikings, not the Steelers, played as if they were in a stupor.

Pittsburgh’s much-maligned defense set up a score and shut out Minnesota in the second half as the Steelers stunned the Vikings, 27-14, Sunday.

The Steelers, buried by turnovers and penalties while being outscored, 92-10, in their first two games, are 1-2.

Minnesota, also 1-2, has been outscored, 65-21, in consecutive losses to Pittsburgh and Chicago. The Bears beat them last week, 38-7.

“They kicked us backwards,” Viking Coach Jerry Burns said. “They beat us in every way. Our defense didn’t do the job and our offense didn’t do anything.”

The Steelers, pumped up by cheers of “Dee-fense, Dee-fense,” stopped the Vikings’ running and passing game and had five sacks and forced two turnovers.

The Vikings tied the game, 14-14, when Chris Doleman’s sack caused a fumble that Henry Thomas returned 27 yards for a touchdown with 6:39 left in the second quarter.

But the Steelers then drove 60 yards to retake the lead for good, with Merril Hoge powering in from the two to make it 21-14 with 1:10 left in the half.

Gary Anderson, who missed earlier from 43 yards, made it 24-14 with a 38-yard field goal with 12:10 left in the game. He added a 44-yarder with 2:13 left.

Anderson scored nine points, giving him 740 career points to break Roy Gerela’s team record of 732.

Wade Wilson, continually harassed by a Pittsburgh defense that was statistically the league’s worst, was replaced early in the fourth quarter after completing 12 of 22 passes for 118 yards.

But backup Tommy Kramer also had no success moving an offense that has produced only two touchdowns since a 38-7 opening-game victory over Houston. The Steelers were coming off losses of 51-0 to Cleveland and 41-10 to Cincinnati.

“Offensively, we can’t run and we can’t throw . . . there’s no aspect that is encouraging,” Burns said.

Bubby Brister completed 16 of 22 passes for 157 yards and one touchdown, a 12-yarder to former Viking tight end Mike Mularkey on the Steelers’ first possession.

Mularkey, a Plan B free agent who signed with the Steelers last winter, beat former Pro Bowl linebacker Mike Merriweather, who was traded to Minnesota in April after being the first veteran in Steelers’ history to sit out a season in a contract dispute.

“I didn’t have a problem with Merriweather the whole game,” Mularkey said. “It was a frustrating day for him. I think he was a little unhappy about what happened to him on his return to town.”

The Vikings came back to tie it on a one-yard touchdown keeper by Wilson one play after replay official Bill Swanson overturned an apparent four-yard touchdown run by Alfred Anderson. Swanson ruled Anderson was down before reaching the end zone.

On the first play of the second quarter, Pittsburgh’s David Little intercepted a tipped pass at the Vikings’ 34. Five plays later, Tim Worley, the Steelers’ first-round draft choice, scored standing up from the eight.