JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Ben Roethlisberger and a patched-up Steelers offense lit up Jacksonville last night and the fire should glow back in Pittsburgh for a while.

Roethlisberger had his best game of the season with 309 yards passing, Mewelde Moore looked like Fast Willie Parker and the Steelers surprised the Jaguars, 26-21, but not themselves.

"I don't want to use the excuse of people being hurt," linebacker James Harrison said. "We came out here and did what we had to do."

Not everything was new on offense because old-hand Hines Ward caught the winning touchdown pass from Roethlisberger with 1:53 left. Ward, who dropped three earlier passes, including one in the end zone, beat safety Brian Williams to haul in Roethlisberger's 8-yard fade pass in the right corner of the end zone.

"This team showed a lot of character off some adversity," Ward said.

Ward also caught an 18-yard pass four plays earlier on third down with a defender hanging all over Roethlisberger to keep the winning drive going.

"Ben held on until the last moment on that in-route," Ward said.

Moore, making his first start for the Steelers because of injuries to Parker and Rashard Mendenhall, ran for 99 yards on 17 carries.

The Steelers mixed the run and the pass in a game in which they lost another offensive lineman, tackle Marvel Smith to cramps in the fourth quarter. They also were playing without right guard Kendall Simmons and fullback Carey Davis.

But the line performed well and Moore, with some help from Gary Russell, made the ground game go. They rushed for 129 yards and Roethlisberger completed 26 of 41 passes, three for touchdowns.

The victory lifted the Steelers to 4-1 and a big lead in the AFC North Division as they take next weekend off. Jacksonville slipped to 2-3.

"Great night for the Steelers," an excited coach Mike Tomlin said. "Guys stepped outside their lanes and delivered."

It was not easy, despite the Steelers late scoring drive and early domination.

The Jaguars came alive in the second half after managing little on offense and scored a go-ahead touchdown on David Garrard's 24-yard pass to tight end Marcedes Lewis early in the fourth quarter.

That made it 21-20 and, as the clock wore down in the fourth quarter, it appeared that score might stand and ruin the command the Steelers had shown most of the game.

Using short drops by Roethlisberger, quick passes, deep passes, maximum protection and an occasional run, the Steelers offense was aggressive early and dominated Jacksonville in the first half.

Roethlisberger threw three touchdown passes in the first half -- a 1-yarder to Heath Miller, 48 yards to Nate Washington, and the other 72 yards to Jacksonville cornerback Rashean Mathis on an interception.

It was Mathis' third interception return for a touchdown against the Steelers. The Jaguars also scored on Maurice Jones-Drew's 1-yard run in the first quarter. That gave them a 14-7 advantage.

The Steelers came back from that deficit to take a 20-14 halftime lead, but they had to think they wasted chances to go up by much more. They held a whopping 300-50 advantage in yards gained and a 21-4 edge in first downs. (The final tally was 415-213 in yards and 28-14 in first downs).

"I didn't feel we were stopped at all in the first half," Roethlisberger said.

The Jaguars, 10th in the NFL with 126.5 yards rushing per game, managed only 15 yards in the first half on the ground and finished with just 38.

The Steelers did not open the game with a pass. Instead they started in a big way on the ground when Moore ran 19 yards on the game's first play. A roughing penalty against Jacksonville tacked on another 15 and the Steelers had a first down at the Jacksonville 49.

Their next four plays were all passes -- one incomplete, one a sack for minus-8 yards and the next a touchdown ... for Jacksonville.

Santonio Holmes, the intended receiver, fell down as Roethlisberger cut loose and Mathis easily intercepted the pass. He returned it 72 yards for a touchdown, his third interception return for a score against the Steelers and two in his past five games against them.

When the Steelers got the ball after the kickoff, they mixed things up a little more between the run and the pass and gave the ball to three different running backs. Moore carried three times and caught a pass, Gary Russell carried three times and Najeh Davenport picked up a third-and-one with a 3-yard run.

Holmes caught a 16-yard pass on third-and-10 and Miller grabbed a 9-yard pass on third down to the 3. Two plays later, the Steelers lined up with four tight ends, including tackle Max Starks, packed into the offense and an I-formation. Roethlisberger faked a hand-off, rolled right and hit Miller on the 1-yard touchdown pass that tied it, 7-7.

Jacksonville's offense took the field for the first time with 5:12 to go in the first quarter and used two key third-down plays and a penalty to go back on top, 14-7.

Receiver Matt Jones was involved in all three. He caught a 15-yard pass on third-and-9, an 18-yard pass on third-and-10 and then was the victim of a 39-yard Ike Taylor pass interference penalty in the end zone that put the ball at the 1.

Maurice Jones-Drew drove up the middle for the 1-yard touchdown run for the Jaguars.

The Steelers scored again on the next drive that ended with Reed's 38-yard field goal early in the second quarter, cutting the Jaguars' lead to 14-10.

About now, the predictions of a low-scoring game were being trashed. Jacksonville became the first team to punt, in the second quarter, and the Steelers responded with another touchdown.

This one came quickly, too, after they started at their 18. Holmes caught the first pass for 19 yards and Washington the second for 14 yards.

The fourth play of the drive began from Jacksonville's 48. With an empty set, Roethlisberger took the snap in the shotgun, pump-faked and Washington sped past flat-footed cornerback Will James. Wide open, Washington caught the ball and stepped freely about 20 yards into the end zone.

Washington finished with 94 yards on six receptions, and Ward had 90 on seven.

Washington's score gave the Steelers their first lead of the night, 17-14. They extended it to 20-14 at the half when Reed kicked his second field goal, this one from 43 yards, with 45 seconds left.