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PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- It was all about timing. David Akers kicked a 42-yard field goal 4:16 into overtime as the Philadelphia Eagles rallied from a late deficit and earned a 26-23 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Shut down for most of the afternoon against the hottest defense in football, the Eagles trailed 23-13 with 3:42 remaining in regulation after Kris Brown kicked a 40-yard field goal for the Steelers. Pittsburgh, which came into the contest having not allowed a touchdown in its last five games, fell apart in the waning moments of regulation. Donovan McNabb capped a four-play, 57-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass that pulled the Eagles within 23-20 with 2:29 left. Without a timeout, the Eagles opted for an onside kick, and Philadelphia's Je'Rod Cherry recovered on the Steelers 40-yard line. But the officials ruled he touched the ball before it went 10 yards. On the second attempt, safety Tim Hauck recovered on the 32, giving the Eagles life. McNabb drove the Eagles into field goal range, where Akers had to scramble onto the field before kicking a 42-yard field goal as time expired. After winning the coin toss to start overtime, Brian Mitchell --the NFL's all-time leading kick returner -- returned the ball 16 yards to the Philadelphia 37. McNabb converted a 3rd-and-3 with a four-yard pass to former Steeler Charles Johnson that moved the ball to the 48. On the next play, McNabb hit Stanley Pritchett with a 16-yard pass over the middle. Three plays later, Akers came on and calmly booted his second consecutive game-winning kick in overtime. Last week, Akers, who kicks with his left foot, converted a 32-yarder to beat the Dallas Cowboys. "We go through our normal routine, and then we practice for that kind of situation," Akers said. "How could you express how you feel when things happen like this. You're just looking for one more chance, one more attempt." Philadelphia (7-4) has won four of its last five games and is 46-26-3 in the all-time series against the Steelers. The Steelers (5-5) have lost consecutive games following a five-game winning streak. "We didn't play badly. We just didn't do the little things defensively," said Steelers safety Lee Flowers, who guaranteed victory for his team earlier in the week. With the game tied, 13-13, the Steelers got a big play from their defense early in the fourth quarter. Abandoning their running game, the Eagles made a key mistake on just their second running play of the second half. Pritchett went around left end and fumbled after getting hit by Flowers. Linebacker Joey Porter scooped the ball up and rumbled 32 yards into the end zone to give Pittsburgh a 20-13 lead with 12:56 remaining. Porter appeared to fumble as he crossed the goal line but the Eagles elected not challenge the call. The Steelers showed their ground game off and appeared to put the contest out of reach with 3:42 left on Brown's 40-yard field goal. Jerome Bettis, who carried 30 times for a season-high 134 yards, carried four times for 25 yards on the 11-play, 49-yard march. "This definitely hurts more than last week," said Bettis, whose team was coming off a last-second 9-7 loss to Tennessee. "You have a game in hand, they have second chances and penalties." But like he did last week, McNabb was able to rally his team, finding Mitchell with a 13-yard TD pass with 2:29 left to cut the deficit to three. McNabb, who completed 26-of-55 passes for 213 yards, moved the Eagles 39 yards in eight plays to set up Akers' 42-yard field goal as time expired. "He made plays right down the stretch," Eagles offensive tackle Tra Thomas said. "He's now put together two comebacks in a row. We knew he was going to be great." "This is two weeks that we've come back. You could see that McNabb's confidence has been growing," Johnson said. "He's our field general. Our team has a whole lot of heart. These kinds of wins bring the team together." In a game that was expected to be decided by defense, the Eagles got a big play from their unit late in the first quarter when Bobby Taylor intercepted Kordell Stewart and returned it 38 yards to the Pittsburgh 17. The Eagles could not get in the end zone and had to settle for Akers' 26-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead. Having not allowed a touchdown in their last 21 quarters -- one shy of the NFL record established by Pittsburgh's 1976 "Steel Curtain" defense -- the Steelers finally gave up one early in the second period. Philadelphia went 78 yards in 11 plays, capped by McNabb's one-yard TD pass to Jeff Thomason that provided a 10-0 lead. The Eagles picked up 53 of their 78 yards on the drive on penalties. Pittsburgh committed 13 penalties for 141 yards. Brown kicked field goals of 38 and a career-high 52 yards in the final 2:59 of the first half, pulling the Steelers within 10-6 at the break. Mitchell returned a kickoff 32 yards late in the second quarter, becoming the NFL's all-time leading kickoff returner with 10,269 yards. Earlier this season, he became the league's all-time leader in punt yardage. The Eagles took the second-half kickoff and went 48 yards in eight plays, capped by Akers' 45-yard field goal for a 13-6 advantage. Bettis got the Steelers even with 3:19 left in the third quarter when he barreled over from seven yards Whereas Bettis chewed up yards on the ground, Stewart was largely ineffective and completed 14-of-31 for 159 yards and one interception. "It hurts when you lose by two, three points every time," Stewart said. "Sometimes, I think it would be easier if we got blown out."
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