PITTSBURGH — The Chicago Bears rolled into Heinz Field Sunday on an eight-game winning streak to face a slumping Steelers squad that had lost three straight.

There had been much talk in the media and within the team itself that the Steelers' confidence had been shaken by the slide and by their precarious playoff position.

Instead, Pittsburgh bloodied the noses of the new Monsters of the Midway's top-ranked defense by driving 66 yards on five plays for a touchdown on its first possession of the game.

The Steelers' defense then stifled the Bears' inefficient offense for most of the contest as the offense dominated time of possession and scored two more touchdowns to get Pittsburgh back on the winning track with a 21-9 victory.

There were several factors that led to the Steelers' improved play Sunday over their efforts of the previous three weeks, including resurgence by the much-criticized offensive line that more than held its own with the celebrated Chicago defensive front.

The most drastic improvement, however, could be seen in third-down conversions. The Steelers' offense came into the game sporting a 32-percent conversion rate. The defense wasn't much better, surrendering a first down 42 percent of the time on third down.

Against Chicago, however, the Steelers turned in some of their best numbers in that category. The defense allowed the Bears only three first downs in 13 third-down situations for 23 percent.

The offense significantly bettered its season percentage, converting 7-of-14 chances for 50 percent.

Head coach Bill Cowher said the Steelers were aware they needed to do a better job on third down if they were going to have any chance of success against Chicago's speedy and talented defensive ends, Adewale Ogunleye and Alex Brown.

"I thought, offensively, the biggest thing we talked about coming in against this team was not getting into third-and-longs with penalties," he said. "The one thing (the Bears) have been doing a good job of is they get a lot of holding penalties against them because the ends are so quick and fast, and you just can't overcome that.

"I thought we got ourselves in a lot of third-and-manageable situations, a lot of third-and-3s, third-and-4s, third-and-5s, and we made some big throws and catches," he added.

Perhaps the biggest conversion came on that opening drive, when, with the Steelers in a third-and-2 situation at the Chicago 14, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hit wide receiver Hines Ward with a short pass to the left.

Ward then wended his way through the Bears' defense, spinning away from a hit, before dragging a couple of Chicago players into the end zone for a touchdown.

"That's big. … Third down was key for us," said Ward, who had two catches for 22 yards and the touchdown. "I think all the guys contributed and made some huge plays on third down."

Ward said he and the other receivers finally are getting back on the same page with Roethlisberger after the quarterback missed three games because of injury.

"I know we're probably in the bottom half of the league as far as third-down conversions, but it's just a matter of Ben and the receivers starting to get that rapport back, and we're converting some huge third downs to keep the drives going," he said.

The defense's superb effort of holding Chicago quarterback Kyle Orton and company to a measly three first downs on third-down situations helped the Steelers to control the contest. And it certainly didn't hurt that two of Pittsburgh's three sacks of Orton came on third down.

The remaining three games could prove whether or not Sunday's percentages are anomalies, but linebacker James Farrior, who led the Steelers with 11 tackles, prefers to see them as building blocks.

"We've been having a hard time all through the year with third down, but those games are behind us and we're just looking forward," he said.