This Win Is Ours for Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers haven’t had a winless exhibition season in 38 years. Brian St. Pierre, a quarterback not guaranteed of making the team, may have prevented another.

St. Pierre led a 70-yard scoring drive in the fourth quarter that was capped by his two-point conversion pass to Wes Ours, and the Steelers rallied to beat the Dallas Cowboys, 15-14, Thursday night at Pittsburgh.

Dante Brown, a free agent rookie running back from Memphis, scored on a 13-yard run on fourth-and-one to get the Steelers (1-2) within 14-13.

St. Pierre, a fifth-round draft pick out of Boston College, prevented their third consecutive preseason loss by finding Ours in the right flat on the go-ahead conversion pass with 4:11 left.

Steeler Coach Bill Cowher dislikes playing overtime in the preseason, so he usually goes for the two-point conversion in such situations.

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The San Francisco 49ers signed veteran defensive end Chidi Ahanotu to a one-year contract.

Ahanotu has played 10 NFL seasons with Tampa Bay, St. Louis and Buffalo. He started 14 games for the Bills last season.

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Brad Kassell, signed last year as a long snapper, will start at middle linebacker for the Tennessee Titans on Saturday night against Cincinnati in a bid to win the job left vacant when Randall Godfrey was released.

Kassell, who was undrafted after playing at North Texas, had never been a long snapper. But he made the roster last season with his special teams work and now is competing with Frank Chamberlin and Rocky Calmus.

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Cornerback Dre’ Bly of the Detroit Lions will sit out Saturday’s exhibition game against the Cleveland Browns because of a sprained ankle.

Bly did not play in Detroit’s first two exhibitions, but had been hoping to play against Cleveland. He was listed as questionable as late as Wednesday, but Lion Coach Steve Mariucci ruled him out.

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Leonardo Carson, a reserve defensive lineman for the San Diego Chargers, was arrested Thursday in Mobile, Ala., shortly after allegedly kidnapping and assaulting the sister of his estranged girlfriend.

Police said Carson entered the apartment of the woman, physically assaulted her and forced her into his car.

He drove to a nearby shopping center and experienced car problems, which allowed the woman to escape, police said. Carson was arrested minutes later without incident.

Carson, a fourth-year defensive tackle who was in Alabama on an unexplained “leave of absence” from the team, was charged with first-degree burglary and second-degree kidnapping. The Chargers declined to comment on his arrest.

Carson started 20 of 32 games the last two seasons for the Chargers and was a two-time All-Southeastern Conference selection at Auburn.

Times staff writer Sam Farmer contributed to this report.