Coach Mike Tomlin thought he had a case for the Steelers' 3-0 victory against the Miami Dolphins ending one play before it did Monday night.

So, too, did a couple of the ESPN announcers.

When Miami was penalized for an illegal forward pass after the Dolphins tried to pull a Stanford-Cal like miracle by flipping the ball around from player to player, there were two seconds left in the game.

By rule, 10 seconds of the game are run off when some penalties are called on the offense, including an illegal forward pass. ESPN's Ron Jaworski and Mike Tirico both said that would end the game.

But referee Jeff Triplette, after huddling with four fellow officials, did not call it that way. He said over the mike that the Dolphins were penalized for an illegal forward pass and that the Steelers declined the penalty.

Tomlin said yesterday he does not remember declining any penalty, but he did try to get Triplette or any other officials' attention to point out that 10 seconds should be run off, thus ending the game right there. He did not succeed, and Miami was given one final desperation try that also failed.

Yesterday, Mike Pereira, NFL vice president of officiating, issued a statement to the Post-Gazette. He said the call was correct.

"There is a 10-second [runoff] for an illegal forward pass thrown from beyond the line of scrimmage," the statement read. "It is also a loss of down. This was an illegal [second] forward pass thrown from behind the line. That is a 5-yard penalty and not a 10-second runoff. It is not a loss-of-down penalty."

Parker feasts on Bengals

Willie Parker, second in the NFL in rushing and 75 yards behind injured leader Adrian Peterson, should be licking his chops to play the Bengals Sunday.

Parker has 595 yards rushing in five starts against Cincinnati, an average of 119 yards a game and 4.8 yards a carry.

He has no idea why he has done so well against the Bengals.

"I really don't look like it as just Cincinnati and I get up more for this game," Parker said. "Maybe the guys up front have a good day when we play them or something of that nature that makes it easier for me.

"They bring something different every time we play them."

Parker passed Rocky Bleier for seventh on the club rushing list with 3,888 career yards. He joined Priest Holmes as the only undrafted players in NFL history to top 1,000 yards three consecutive seasons.

Harrison continues to roll

Linebacker James Harrison's 8.5 sacks are more than any Steelers player had last season when Joey Porter led them with seven. With two more sacks, he would have more than any of their players since Jason Gildon had 12 in 2001.

Another record for Big Ben

Another game, another record for Ben Roethlisberger. He completed 18 of 21 passes against Miami Monday for an 85.7 percent completion rate.

It broke Kordell Stewart's team record of 84.6 percent when he completed 22 of 26 against Cincinnati Nov. 24, 2002.

"I didn't even know," Roethlisberger said. "I never know anything until you guys tell me. That credit goes to the receivers. I told them that I would put it close to them and they needed to make plays for me. They did it."

His 15 completions in a row Monday tied Bubby Brister's record set Oct. 1 1989 vs. Detroit.

One record he failed to extend Monday was his team mark of throwing a touchdown in 15 consecutive games.

Injury updates

Six Steelers did not practice yesterday. Wide receiver Santonio Holmes (ankle), safety Troy Polamalu (knee) and offensive left tackle Marvel Smith (back) did not play Monday, and their status is uncertain for the game Sunday. Wide receiver Hines Ward was held out and will be OK. Running back Dan Kreider (knee) and cornerback Bryant McFadden (ankle) also watched.

For the Bengals, wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh (back) and cornerback Deltha O'Neal (knee) did not practice, and offensive tackle Willie Anderson (knee) was limited.