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Rashard Mendenhall keys Pittsburgh Steelers' win

The Pittsburgh Steelers couldn't shake the injury bug in Week 5, but they finally started to look like the Steelers of old in a 16-14 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

Rashard Mendenhall gave the Steelers a running game again. He gained 101 yards from scrimmage and is already Pittsburgh's leading rusher for the season. Most importantly, he made defenders miss and ran aggressively throughout the game. Mendenhall picked up a lot of yardage that wasn't blocked. The Steelers look smart for not bringing him back too quickly from his torn anterior cruciate ligament.

James Harrison's return helped an improved pass rush. Harrison had three quarterback hits, and Lawrence Timmons was all over the field for Pittsburgh. The Steelers forced three Michael Vick fumbles, recovering two.

This was hardly a perfect game by Pittsburgh. Philadelphia came back from 10-0 halftime deficit to take a lead late. The Steelers had over 100 penalty yards. Troy Polamalu is hurt again, and LaMarr Woodley tweaked his hamstring.

With the game on the line, however, Ben Roethlisberger overcame a first-and-20 start to drive the Steelers 64 yards, setting up the game-winning field goal by Shaun Suisham with 3 seconds left.

This was a game that the Steelers, now 2-2, absolutely had to have. They showed that the Eagles aren't the only team allowed to win close, ugly games.

Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.

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