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Plenty of Steelers had time in the spotlight in their 28-17 victory yesterday against the Cincinnati Bengals, but their most recent first-round draft choices took center stage.

Safety Troy Polamalu, who did not help them much as a rookie last season, and rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who was not supposed to help them at all this season, snatched a game that was slipping away and carried it across the finish line. Each accounted for a touchdown and a large dose of what was missing last season: making the plays at the right moment.

"We did what we had to do to win," coach Bill Cowher said.

Roethlisberger, 2-0 since taking over for injured Tommy Maddox, led his team from behind to the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter. Polamalu sealed the victory by intercepting his former college roommate, Carson Palmer, and returning the ball 26 yards for a touchdown, bobbing and weaving and breaking six tackles along the way. He ran over Palmer to get into the end zone with 2:03 left to lock up the Steelers' third victory in four games and their first two-game winning streak since 2002. Cincinnati tumbled to 1-3.

"Call him the Tasmanian Devil," free safety Chris Hope said. "You have to get out of his way because you don't know what he's going to do."

Roethlisberger completed 17 of 25 passes for 174 yards and one touchdown of 11 yards to running back Verron Haynes. Duce Staley ran for 123 yards, matching the total of Cincinnati's Rudi Johnson. Jerome Bettis came on again in goal-line situations and scored on runs of 2 yards and 1 yard, giving him five touchdown runs on the young season.

The Steelers' rookie quarterback outplayed Palmer, the first pick in the 2003 draft. Palmer completed 20 of 37 passes for 164 yards, one touchdown of 2 yards to fullback Jeremi Johnson and two interceptions.

"Both of those quarterbacks played well," Cowher said. "There are going to be a lot of those types of games down through the years with these two kids."

It was the kind of game the Steelers might have lost last season, when they went 0-4 in games decided by six points or fewer. This year, all three victories have been close.

"For some reason, last year, we didn't make the plays when it counted," center Jeff Hartings said. "We didn't have that big drive when we needed it. We're starting to do that."

The biggest play officially went in the books as no play. It occurred with the Steelers trailing, 17-14, midway through the fourth quarter and their fans shifting nervously in their seats at Heinz Field. A drive that began on the Steelers' 11 reached a critical stage at the Bengals' 22, second and 15.

Roethlisberger threw into the left part of the end zone toward wide receiver Plaxico Burress, who got tied up with cornerback Tory James as the pass fell incomplete. A flag fluttered and James was called for pass interference. Instead of third-and-15 at the 22, the Steelers had a first down at the one.

Bettis made two runs of it from there and crashed over right guard for the touchdown that put his team in front 21-17.

The Bengals complained loud and long about the interference penalty.

"It was an unfortunate call," Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis said.

"Phantom interference," linebacker Kevin Hardy called it.

Seven minutes later, the Tasmanian Devil doomed his old University of Southern California roommate and the Bengals and assured the Steelers of their best start since they won three of their first four in 2001 and finished 13-3.

"We're talking about making plays so much," Steelers cornerback Deshea Townsend said. "The more you speak it, the more it can happen. I just think guys are more positive. We think we're going to make plays. We're pushing the envelope to make it happen."

For a while, it looked as if it might not happen.

Cincinnati ran out to a 7-0 lead after recovering the first of two Staley fumbles. The Bengals had to move only 27 yards and scored on Jeremi Johnson's 2-yard touchdown reception.

The Steelers tied it on their next series after wide receiver Antwaan Randle El returned the kickoff 35 yards to the 46. Burress beat James for a 30-yard reception, Staley took a pitch 10 yards, and Bettis rammed through a big hole behind guard Alan Faneca for a 2-yard touchdown.

Roethlisberger hit high gear on the Steelers' next drive to put the Steelers in front 14-7. He completed four of five passes, one of 16 yards to Burress, another for 20 on third down to Randle El, then the 11-yard touchdown to Haynes on third-and-8.

The Bengals sent a seven-man blitz on that last play, and Roethlisberger deftly moved to his right and connected with his roommate. Haynes, whose touchdown was a career first, was not the primary receiver.

"I was supposed to clear it up, and Plax [would] come underneath," Haynes said. "It just so happened they blitzed and the end tried to cover me. If I don't beat the end, I'm in the wrong profession. I'll go back to sitting behind a desk or something. It was a perfectly thrown pass."

Shayne Graham kept the Bengals close when he kicked a 34-yard field goal in the second quarter.

Cincinnati reclaimed the lead with a long touchdown drive to open the second half. The Bengals moved 71 yards on 14 plays in 6:25, converting all four third-down plays, including third-and-10 at the Steelers 15 when wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh caught a 13-yard pass over the middle.

Rudi Johnson scored from there on a 2-yard run up the middle for a 21-17 Cincinnati lead, and that old 2003 feeling began creeping into Heinz Field. The Steelers won two of their first three last season, heading into two home games. They lost both, plus the next three, and ended up 6-10.

This was different.

"I'd say it was a small step," Steelers linebacker James Farrior said. "It's only our third win of the season. We have a long way to go."

A long way, yet they already have won half as many as they did all of last season.

"We're 3-1," Farrior said. "Who's going to be upset by that?"