Steelers strike down Vikings with two defensive scores

PITTSBURGH -- Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson and the Minnesota Vikings were anything but perfect.

The Vikings couldn't gain a half-yard when it might have turned the game, then watched the Steelers' big-play defense end their unbeaten season with two long touchdown returns in the final 6½ minutes.

LaMarr Woodley's 77-yard fumble return and Keyaron Fox's 82-yard interception return on turnovers by Favre allowed the Steelers to turn back Minnesota's repeated comeback attempts, and the Steelers rode three major defensive stands to an important 27-17 victory yesterday.

The anticipated quarterback showdown between Favre and NFL passing leader Ben Roethlisberger became a defensive duel. And the Super Bowl champion Steelers (5-2) -- No. 1 defensively the past two seasons -- are tough to beat in any game that's decided by defense.

The Vikings conceded as much in the third quarter when, after failing to score from a half-yard out on three plays in which Peterson got the ball only once, they settled for a field goal that kept Pittsburgh in the lead at 13-10.

To the Steelers, the goal-line stand was as decisive as the two defensive TDs that followed.

"That's the biggest point of the game," safety Ryan Clark said. "You have the best running back in the world and you don't give it to him. They're saying they can't beat us running."

Woodley's return, after Brett Keisel stripped Favre of the ball, was reminiscent of James Harrison's 100-yard interception return for a touchdown in the Super Bowl against Arizona.

The touchdown put the Steelers up 20-10 with 6:23 remaining, after the Vikings drove to the Steelers' 8 and were in position to take their first lead since Peterson's 2-yard TD run put them up 7-3 in the second quarter.

"I got to the 40 and I didn't think I was going to make it," Woodley said.

The Vikings (6-1) weren't done, not in this season of last-minute surprises. Percy Harvin (Virginia Beach) answered with an 88-yard kickoff return TD, but Favre couldn't pull this one out after twice rallying the Vikings to victory in the closing minutes.

"There were a lot of what ifs, a lot of reasons we didn't win," Favre said. "The red zone was one of them. They're physical, and they were as good as we thought they'd be."

With Favre hitting Peterson on a 29-yard pass play, the Vikings drove to the Steelers 18 with just over a minute left, and their biggest victory of the season awaited.

But Fox stepped in front of Favre's pass intended for Chester Taylor and returned it almost the length of the field.