In one of the fiercest rivalries over the last ten years featuring some of the NFL’s most notable players, it was a few backup players that made their marks in very memorable fashion.

Dennis Dixon, third string quarterback, can be added to the list of notable Steelers that already includes Troy Polamalu, Plaxico Burress, Ben Roethlisberger and Hines Ward.

Paul Kruger can be welcomed to the club that includes Shannon Sharpe, Tony Siragusa, Ed Reed and Ray Lewis.

With 6:42 left to play during overtime, Kruger intercepted a pass from Dixon to set up Billy Cundiff’s field goal of 29 yards to give Baltimore a 20-17 victory on Sunday night over Pittsburgh.

Dixon was the starting quarterback because Roethlisberger was sidelined due to a concussion along with Charlie Batch, the backup, out due to his left wrist being broken. In two seasons Dixon had only thrown one pass before starting versus the Ravens.

Dixon, for most of the game, did his best to impersonate Roethlisberger. He connected with Santonio Holmes on a touchdown pass of 33 yards and added a running touchdown of 24 yards to give the Steelers a fourth quarter 17-14 lead.

Mike Tomlin, Steelers coach said, throughout the game I liked his demeanor. He made plays. He represented himself well.

However during overtime the only turnover by Dixon led to Baltimore (6-5) getting the victory.

Ray Rice, Ravens running back who rallied his team during overtime said, this boosts our confidence. Not only to get the win against a team this great with their legacy, but also against a division opponent. Right now it’s a season of five games for us.

Pittsburgh (6-5) have lost three games in a row, their longest losing streak since 2006 when they lost three straight.

Tomlin said, we won’t go gently. We aren’t going into a shell. We will be in attack mode. That’s what is needed.

Kruger, playing for Terrell Suggs, injured linebacker, intercepted the pass and was able to return the ball 26 yards down to Pittsburgh’s 28 yard line. Six plays later the game winner was delivered by Cundiff, giving the Raven’s their first win in overtime since November 2005 versus the Steelers.

Kruger, a rookie who was playing in just his fourth game said, to be part of this win is really big for me. The play was designed to be a blitz with me being the dropper who was in the right place and at just the right time.

The situation was that they had been disguising the blitz all throughout the entire game, said Dixon. We did see it. Basically I tried to just trust my instincts. Their guy made a very good play.

The last two losses for Pittsburgh have come during overtime. Dixon was 12 out of 26 for a total of 145 yards. Rashard Mendenhall rushed for 95 yard in 24 attempts.

Tomlin said, don’t talk about moral victories to me and things like that.

Joe Flacco went 23 for 35 passing for a total of 289 yards with one touchdown. The win keeps Baltimore right in the middle of the hunt for the playoffs.

Flacco said, you need to be ready for playing 60 minutes. We played more today. It feels good. That is what we needed to have. It was even bigger against this team.

The game on Sunday featured a rematch of the AFC championship game last season when Pittsburgh finished off a sweep of three games against the Ravens with their 24-13 win.

With Roethlisberger on the sidelines in full uniform looking on while Dixon, the third string quarterback, on third down and five ran to the right for a touchdown from the Ravens 24 yard line to give Pittsburgh their first lead in the game, 17-14, with only 6:24 remaining.

However, the Ravens were able to come back. Flacco, facing a fourth down and five from the Ravens 46 yard line, connected with Rice on a 44 yard pass, setting up a field goal of 24 yards by Cundiff with just 1:51 left to play.

On the last play in regulation, Cundiff was short on a field goal attempt of 56 yards.

During the third quarter the Steelers were able to close the game to 14-10 with Jeff Reed’s field goal of 44 yards, capping a drive of 24 yards that featured a pass of 20 yards from Dixon over to Mendenhall.

Late second quarter Baltimore went ahead 14-7 on a drive of 89 yards. Flacco completed 11 and 54 yard passes to Mark Clayton, and then connected on a 10 yard scoring pass with Derrick Mason.

On Pittsburgh’s first possession Dixon’s first pass was almost intercepted by Baltimore. They were forced to punt. Then Willis McGahee capped a drive of 73 yards with a run of 2 yards to give Baltimore their first offensive touchdown during the first half since October 4.

On the second drive for Pittsburgh, Dixon’s 31 yard impromptu run was wiped out due to a holding penalty. However the next time Dixon got the ball there weren’t any flaws. Dixon went a perfect 3 for 3 and a total of 60 yards, capped off with his touchdown pass over to Holmes.

When the very last player to be taken in the 2009 draft came out onto the field, 2008’s best team was doomed.

On Sunday, just a few minutes following Ben Roethlisberger wobbling off the field due to a possible concussion, a field goal of 22 yards was kicked by Ryan Succop with 8:28 left to play in overtime, as Kansas City snapped a 10 home game losing streak, with a 27-24 win over a stunned Pittsburgh team.

A catch and run of 61 yards by Chris Chambers set Succop up. Mr. Irrelevant was able to boot the game winner through for Kansas City (3-7) whose stadium was full of towel waving Steelers (6-4) fans.

Roethlisberger had 398 passing yards along with three touchdowns before he was kneed in the helmet while Derrick Johnson was sacking him. Charlie Batch came in to replace him. Mike Tomlin, Steelers coach said, he wasn’t sure how severe the injury was.

Tomlin said, he took a harsh blow. It was concussion oriented. I doubted he would come back to the game. I don’t have much information about where he is at or his availability. As we proceed we’ll have more information.

Right before the big play by Chambers, Ike Taylor, Steelers cornerback dropped a potential interception.

Todd Haley, Kansas City rookie coach said, this job’s not for the faint hearted.

Matt Cassel, Chiefs quarterback, had a terrible first half. He only passed for 35 yards and had four completed passes. However during the last two quarters as well as overtime he came through, finishing the game with a total of 248 passing yards along with two touchdowns.

Haley said, I have to give Cassel credit. The kid is a real fighter. Haley grew up going to Steelers training camp with his father who was a personnel executive with Pittsburgh. During the Super Bowl last year Haley lost to the Steelers while was the offensive coordinator for Arizona.

Haley said, it’s nice getting rewarded against this type of team. The guys showed a lot of guts and heart.

Facing third down, Cassel connected on a pass to Chambers, signed just three weeks ago from San Diego off waivers. Chambers moved the ball 61 yards until he got pushed out on the 4 yard line.

Ryan Succop, who was the last player selected this April, came into the game and clinched the first home win for the Chiefs in over a year. Late third quarter Succop had a field goal of 27 yards to tie the game at 17.

For the Steelers, it was their second straight loss. They have also lost to the Bengals, their division rivals twice, and were playing without Troy Polamalu, their Pro Bowl safety, who is injured. Chris Kemoeatu, guard, also left the game due to a knee injury.

During regulation, Pittsburgh (6-4) held onto the ball for nearly 19 minutes more than Kansas City (3-7) and also out gained the Chiefs 463-206. Kansas City stayed in the game with the 97 yard return by Jamaal Charles during the opening kickoff as well as an interception return of 94 yards by Andy Studebaker.

Hines Ward, Steelers wide receiver said, during the third quarter we lost some momentum with all of our turnovers and things like that. Ward caught 10 passes for a total of 128 yards and one touchdown. When you allow a team like that to hang around, you give them the chance. Whenever you give that team hope, the feed off of the crowd noise. In overtime they did what they needed to do.

Studebaker, who was making his first start in the NFL, intercepted a pass from Roethlisberger inside the end zone during the third quarter, returning the ball down to Pittsburgh’s 8 yard line before he was drug down by Rashard Mendenhall, Steelers running back.

Studebaker said, once I had the ball picked off, 100 yards seemed like a very long way. That was a very fun play.

During the next three plays, however, Cassel got sacked twice. Kansas City settled for a field goal of 27 yards by Succop.

A touchdown pass of 8 yards from Roethlisberger to Mendenhall gave Pittsburgh the lead back at 24-17 after Pittsburgh recovered a turnover by Cassel at the 27 yard line.

However, Kansas City, who was playing without Dwayne Bowe, their suspended wide receiver, came back. Cassel connected with Lance Long on a pass of 30 yards, and then a 47 yard pass to Chambers to set up a touchdown pass of 2 yards over to Charles to tied the score at 24 with less than 5 minutes to play.

Cassel had a touchdown pass of 21 yards to Leonard Pope as well early third quarter.

Jamaal Charles, who got the first rushing touchdown for the Chiefs the week before, this week got the first kickoff return touchdown for the Chiefs in four years. Charles got the ball on the opening kick off near the 3 yard line, then veered to the right and was barely touched, for the fourth kickoff touchdown return allowed by Pittsburgh in five games.

It was Kansas City’s first home victory, and first defeat of an opponent with a record over .500 since defeating Denver in 2008 during the fourth week last season. In addition, it was the first time posting consecutive wins since October 14-21, 2007.

Succop said, to beat the Super Bowl champs is a really great feeling. Lots of hard work went into this. Our players, coaches and everyone has bought into it.

It might not have been a concession speech, but it did sound like one. For a majority of the past twenty seasons the Bengals have been chasing the Steelers. It’s now turned around. It’s Pittsburgh this time that realizes it’s an uphill battle.

It’s clear they are the division’s best team, said Steelers safety Ryan Clark on Sunday after Cincinnati defeated Pittsburgh 18-12 and took control of their division, the AFC North. I would give up my left arm just to get a chance to play them one more time.

Who would have imagined the Super Bowl champs saying such a thing about a rival that they have in large part dominated and intimidated at times since the 1980s? Particularly with only seven games remaining in the season.

Cincinnati (7-2) was able to pull that off by defeating Pittsburgh (6-3) at their very own game and in their stadium, where the Steelers have won their last 10 games. They shut down the running game of Pittsburgh as well as Ben Roethlisberger, gave up just four Jeff Reed field goals, and were able to convert the only big play of a very tight game, a 96 kickoff return by Bernard Scott to score a touchdown.

Marvin Lewis, head coach of the Bengals said, I have never experienced a more grinding football game.

Pittsburgh was playing without Troy Polamalu, their star safety, for all except the opening series of the game. He aggravated his injured left knee that had sidelined him previously for four games. Polamalu had an MRI exam performed, but there wasn’t any word immediately regarding his status.

Whether they are going to have Polamalu the rest of the season or not, Pittsburgh realizes that they are in big trouble.

The Bengals with their sweep of the season series with Pittsburgh, the first since 1998, gives them effectively a two game lead over the Steelers due to the fact that they own a tiebreaker as well as a 5-0 record in their division for the very first time in history. By this time in the season they are usually playing for next season.

Chad Ochocinco said, it’s really refreshing to be where we are at this point in the season. We have a reason to play and it feels great.

Especially when it seemed that the Bengals were almost waiting for something bad to occur. They settled for four Shayne Graham field goals, following one deep drive after another not producing any touchdowns.

They also had to play the second half of the game without Cedric Benson, their star running back. However they still were able to find a way for following up on their September 27th 23-20 victory over Pittsburgh, and in the city where the Bengals have only won 13 times over the last 40 years. A majority of those wins came in the 1980s.

Graham said, it’s very hard to describe this feeling. You’ve been through this so many times, leaving the stadium, holding your head down after you’ve lost the game.

Cincinnati, with a dismal record last season of 4-11-1, has swept both Pittsburgh and Baltimore just one season after the two teams played in the AFC title game. They are 4-0 in their road games and have won seven out of their last eight games.

Kyle Cook, Bengals center said, we lost these types of games in the past.

For Pittsburgh, the defeat was very frustrating after winning five games in a row and scoring a minimum of 27 points in those games. If they had won the game they would be leading the division and controlling the momentum. Clark concedes that now they might be playing just to get a wild card spot unless Cincinnati collapses.

Deshea Townsend, cornerback said, we still need to find some way of getting into the playoffs. We have plenty of veterans to help us get there. We are chasing the Bengals. Hopefully we will see them once again.

Cincinnati was very Pittsburgh-like in a football game where the combined offense for the two teams was only 444 yards. They seemed to be copying from the playbook of Dick LeBeau, defensive master. Cincinnati didn’t allow Pittsburgh to convert on any of their last ten third downs and pressured Roethlisberger all day who was just 20 out of 40 passing for 174 yards and was sacked four times. They also contained Rashard Mendenhall who only rushed for 36 yards on 13 carries. In Denver the week before he rushed for 155 yards.

Mostly the Bengals didn’t allow the defense of the Steelers to dictate, despite them gaining only a total of 218 yards. They were even able to get away with botching up on an extra point for the second game in a row versus the Steelers.

The most critical drive of the game came late and lasted over four minutes, capped by a field goal of 43 yards by Graham. Earlier he hit field goals from the 23 yard line and the 32 yard line twice.

With just under two minutes left, Pittsburgh got the ball. However, Roethlisberger threw four incomplete passes in a row from the 33 yard line, and it was all over.

Roethlisberger said, something was just missing all day long. I am not sure what it was. There was something weird that day. May it was the warm weather for November. We didn’t make plays that we usually make.

Chad Ochocinco caught 2 passes for a total of 29 yards, while Carson Palmer went 18 for 30 for a total of 178 yards. Neither play really got going. However the Bengals didn’t have any turnovers. The Steelers had one, and it did make a difference.

On Pittsburgh’s first drive in the second half, Frostee Rucker intercepted a Roethlisberger pass and returned the ball to Pittsburgh’s 14 yard line. However, they played to the familiar script and only got a field goal from Graham.

This time, however, things were different. They didn’t settle by losing the game.