That ‘70s Show (Repeat)

The more they keep winning, the more the Pittsburgh Steelers keep hearing about the 1970s. Maybe it’s because they haven’t had a record this good since then.

Or, it would seem, a defense this good.

The Steelers improved to 10-2 for the first time since their Super Bowl days, overcoming another erratic game by kicker Kris Brown and Jerome Bettis’ absence to beat the New York Jets, 18-7, Sunday.

“We don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves, but you’ve got to be excited,” said Kordell Stewart, who led an efficient offense that had five drives of 10 plays or longer. “It’s working. You can’t help but be excited, because it hasn’t been like this here in a long time.”

The Steelers opened a two-game lead over the idle Super Bowl champion Ravens (8-4) in the AFC Central and assured themselves they’ll leave Baltimore with the division lead even if they lose next Sunday.

“But we’re not thinking about losing again,” safety Lee Flowers said. “Our goal is to not lose another game, because we know what 14-2 will get us.”

The Steelers went 14-2 in 1978, the third of their four Super Bowl championship seasons. Their NFL-leading defense played Sunday like one of those ‘70s teams, shutting out the Jets (7-5) in the second half and limiting NFL rushing leader Curtis Martin to 58 yards. He averaged twice that in his first three games against his hometown team.

“We weren’t going to let him beat us,” linebacker Joey Porter said. “We wanted to stop him and make them find another way to beat us.”

The Steelers came closer to beating themselves as Brown, who missed four field goals last month against Baltimore in their only loss in 11 games, missed two field goals and an extra point.

“I can’t keep having games like this,” he said. “It’s time for me to buckle it up and make sure when we get close, we get points.”

Brown bounced back to make kicks of 38 and 20 yards in the fourth quarter. He made first-half attempts of 26 and 33 yards.