PITTSBURGH -- For more than two seasons, the Pittsburgh Steelers couldn't win with Kordell Stewart at quarterback. Now it seems they can't win without him.
The Steelers fell behind by 10 points after Oakland put yet another injured quarterback out of a game with an injury, but Stewart unexpectedly returned in the second half to lead a 21-20 upset of the Raiders on Sunday.
Stewart, suddenly playing again like he did in leading Pittsburgh to the AFC title game in 1997, threw for two touchdowns and ran 17 yards for the decisive score early in the fourth quarter.
Stewart, who had only three touchdown passes through 11 games, has thrown for five touchdowns and run for four in his last 21/2 games to keep alive the Steelers' faint playoff hopes.
Stewart slipped away from three Raiders on his scoring run with 14:48 remaining, two plays after Jerome Bettis' 30-yard run. Bettis had 128 yards in his sixth 100-yard game.
The Steelers (7-6) have won two in a row to surpass their 6-win total of last season, when Stewart was benched for the final five games.
Oakland (10-3), which overcame two Tyrone Wheatley fumbles to lead 17-7, was beaten for the first time by a team other than Denver and lost ground as it tries to gain home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs.
Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 42-yard field goal to cut the Steelers' lead to 21-20, but came up short on a potential game-winning 44-yarder with 3:59 remaining. Oakland drove to the Steelers' 41 in the final minute before Rich Gannon threw incomplete on fourth-and-1 and the Raiders not yet in field goal range.
The Steelers announced Stewart would miss the rest of the game after he injured his right knee late in the first quarter, apparently after being sandwiched by Regan Upshaw and Darrell Russell on an incomplete pass. He put on a ski cap and watched the rest of the half from the sideline.
Stewart's unannounced return at the start of the second half clearly picked up the Steelers' offense, and he promptly led a 16-play, 91-yard drive finished by his 6-yard scoring pass to tight end Mark Bruener.
Bruener appeared to be stopped at the 3, but his second effort carried safety Calvin Branch into the end zone to cut the Raiders' lead to 17-14. On the long drive, Stewart scrambled 17 yards for a first down on second-and-16 and hit Richard Huntley for 19 yards on third-and-7.
Stewart, who was 14-of-23 for 136 yards and no interceptions, had thrown a 19-yard scoring pass to Bobby Shaw before becoming the ninth quarterback knocked out of a game by Oakland this season.
The Raiders needed only one play with Stewart out to take the lead, with Eric Allen cutting in front of Hines Ward to intercept Kent Graham's first pass and return it 27 yards for a touchdown. Graham had thrown only two passes in two months before replacing Stewart.
Oakland, playing in Three Rivers Stadium for the first time since the Steelers were the defending Super Bowl champions in 1980, later drove 87 yards for their 17-7 lead. Gannon, who ended 21-of-40 for 273 yards, went 5-for-5 on a drive ended by his 21-yard scoring pass to running back Randy Jordan.
Steelers snatch victory from Raiders with Stewart at helm 
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