PITTSBURGH – Jacoby Jones had a 63-yard punt return for a touchdown and Justin Tucker made two of his three field-goal attempts to give the Baltimore Ravens a 13-10 lead over the Pittsburgh Steelers after three quarters of their AFC North showdown Sunday night.
Jones had a touchdown return for the second consecutive week; he ran back a kickoff in a win over Oakland. Jones, who also had a kickoff return for a score against Dallas last month, has four career touchdowns on punt returns.
In addition to the special teams score, Baltimore's defense set up field goals by Tucker of 26 and 39 yards off of Pittsburgh turnovers. Mike Wallace fumbled in the first quarter and backup quarterback Byron Leftwich threw an interception in the third quarter.
Leftwich had a 31-yard touchdown run less than a minute into the game. Making his first NFL start in more than three years because of shoulder and rib injuries to Ben Roethlisberger, Leftwich was 11 for 24 for 153 yards at the end of the third quarter.
Not known for his scrambling ability, the 250-pound former first-round pick took the second official snap of the game and scrambled out of the pocket, turned the corner, got a block, split two defensive backs at the right sideline and made it to the end zone for his 10th career touchdown rushing and first since 2008.
The play was a career-best run for Leftwich and the longest touchdown run of the season for Pittsburgh.
The Steelers' Shaun Suisham kicked a 22-yard field goal during the final minute of the third quarter.
Tucker missed a 41-yard try less than a minute into the second quarter.
The Steelers (6-3) have Rashard Mendenhall in their lineup for the third time this season and he had seven carries for 25 yards at the end of the third quarter. Backup Isaac Redman was knocked out of the game with a concussion. Jonathan Dwyer has 42 rushing yards on 10 carries.
Both teams were struggling on third downs — Pittsburgh converted three of 12 opportunities through three quarters and the Ravens were 3 for 11.
The Steelers have won four consecutive times to pull to within a game of their rivals. The teams will play again in two weeks in Baltimore.
Joe Flacco was 18 for 29 for 153 yards and Ray Rice had 15 carries for 28 yards through three quarters for Baltimore (7-2).
Roethlisberger was knocked out of last Monday's overtime win over the Kansas City, allowing Leftwich to make his first start with the Steelers over four seasons. It is Leftwich's first NFL start since September 2009 with Tampa Bay. He hasn't won a game he started in more than six years.
The Steelers have lost to the Ravens each of the past four times they played them without Roethlisberger.
The Ravens are missing three defensive starters of their own: linebacker Ray Lewis and cornerbacks Jimmy Smith and Lardarius Webb.
___
Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.