PITTSBURGH - Just like the Patriots and Eagles before them, the New York Jets left Pittsburgh frustrated and confused after losing to perhaps the most surprising Steelers team in franchise history.

There was one difference: the Jets acted as if they wouldn't mind coming back.

Unlike their earlier routs of New England and Philadelphia, the Steelers (12-1) didn't overwhelm the Jets (9-4) during a tightly played 17-6 victory Sunday. It was a 3-all tie until early in the fourth quarter, when Jerome Bettis' running and passing - yes, passing - made the difference in Pittsburgh's team record-tying 11th consecutive victory.

Maybe that's why Curtis Martin is looking forward to a possible return visit to his hometown during the playoffs, even if an exasperating day filled with penalties and failed opportunities slowed the Jets' drive to the postseason.

"I hope we come back here. I hate losing, period, but I especially hate losing here," Martin said. "I'd love to have a second chance."

Bettis is making the most of his second chance with Pittsburgh. Demoted to the bench last season and rarely used early this season except during short-yardage situations, he carried the Steelers with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jerame Tuman and a 12-yard touchdown run.

On a day both Martin and Bettis surpassed the 13,000-yard career rushing mark, Martin said afterward, "I tip my hat to him" - and it wasn't because Bettis was wearing a brand-new AFC North championship cap.

Bettis is proving to be one of the Steelers' most valuable players. He had four consecutive 100-yard games while subbing for an injured Duce Staley, then replaced an ineffective Staley (16 carries, 51 yards) Sunday to lead Pittsburgh's decisive fourth quarter.

Bettis' day was so productive, he hardly minded that Martin outrushed him 72-57 to overtake him for fifth place in NFL career rushing. Martin has 13,046 yards to Bettis' 13,037. Only four others have reached 13,000 yards, and it was the first time in NFL history two did so in the same game.

"Really, Jerome won the game by himself," wide receiver Hines Ward said.

Chad Pennington blamed the loss on himself following a mistake-filled day in which he threw three interceptions - only one fewer than he had all season - and the Jets drew 12 penalties for 84 yards in the first half. They began the game as the NFL's second-least penalized team.

"We're going to go as far as I take the team, that's the way the NFL works," said Pennington, 17-of-31 for 189 yards. "I'm better than I played. There were just too many errant throws and bad reads. I didn't manage the game very well."

Steelers rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger could have said much the same thing, at least until the fourth quarter. He started 3-of-11, but completed six of his final eight throws to finish 9-of-19 for 144 yards.

"When the game was there in the fourth quarter, he never really fretted," coach Bill Cowher said.

If nothing else, that might explain how a Steelers team that is virtually unchanged from last season, except for adding Roethlisberger and Staley, is 12-1 - matching the best 13-game record in team history. They can become the first Steelers team to win 12 in a row if they beat the Giants (5-8) on Saturday.

"They made the plays, and that's what good teams do, what championship teams do," Jets coach Herman Edwards said. "Their guys played better than us in the fourth quarter."

Notes:

The Steelers are 7-0 at home. They have

had only one 8-0 regular season at home, in 1979. ... The Jets have scored only 12 points against Pittsburgh the last two seasons, all on field goals. The Jets won 6-0 last season during a snowstorm in East Rutherford. ... Cowher's eighth division title in 13 seasons is one short of Chuck Noll's club-record nine in 22 seasons. The difference is Noll won four Super Bowls; Cowher has won none. ... The Jets are 0-6 in Pittsburgh and 2-15 against the Steelers. ... Bettis is 3-for-6 as a passer during his career, with all three completions going for touchdowns. He threw TD passes in 2001 (also to Tuman) and 1999.