Steelers Hold Off Dolphins, 21-20 : Pro football: Pittsburgh repeatedly stops Miami, which squanders chances early and falls short at end.

The Pittsburgh Steelers used a ball-control offense and big-play defense to defeat the Miami Dolphins and tighten the AFC playoff picture.

Leroy Thompson gained 142 yards rushing and receiving, and the Steelers repeatedly stymied Miami scoring threats in a 21-20 victory Monday night.

The Dolphins (9-4) fell into a tie with the Buffalo Bills atop the AFC East. Pittsburgh (8-5) stayed one game behind the division-leading Houston Oilers in the AFC Central.

“We showed a lot of people that we’re not going to go down without a fight,” Steeler Coach Bill Cowher said.

On Sunday, Houston plays at Pittsburgh, and Buffalo plays at Miami. The Dolphins have lost their last two games.

“We’re still in it,” Miami Coach Don Shula said, “and we’ve got to start turning it around.”

The Dolphins rallied in the final 10:30 with two touchdowns, including rookie O.J. McDuffie’s 72-yard punt return. But Rod Woodson intercepted a pass by Steve DeBerg to end the Dolphins’ final possession after they had reached their 44-yard line with 15 seconds to play.

Earlier squandered chances hurt the Dolphins, who twice failed to score after penetrating Pittsburgh’s five-yard line. Woodson forced a fumble to end one threat, and Chad Brown sacked DeBerg to spoil another.

Carnell Lake’s interception and a 46-yard return--extended by a lateral to Woodson--set up Neil O’Donnell’s two-yard touchdown pass to Merril Hoge for a 21-6 lead five seconds into the fourth quarter.

“We’ve started taking the ball away,” Cowher said. “We have some people who are playmakers. We’ve become a very opportunistic team.”

Miami’s comeback started when Keith Jackson caught a three-yard touchdown pass from DeBerg with 10:30 to play, trimming Pittsburgh’s lead to 21-13.

The Dolphins failed to move on their next possession but forced another punt, and McDuffie dodged and darted down the middle of the field untouched to score with 6:37 left. The touchdown was his second on a punt return this season.

“We had our opportunities for a win late in the game,” Shula said. “We dug ourselves into a hole early by not taking advantage of the opportunities we had. We had some excellent chances to put points up.”

DeBerg completed 27 of 44 passes for 344 yards, but he had two passes intercepted.

Thompson, subbing again for the injured Barry Foster, rushed for 81 yards in 28 carries and caught four passes for 61 yards. He scored on short runs to cap drives of 15 and 16 plays.