JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Ben Roethlisberger has practiced the same scenario nearly every day since training camp.

He has 1:47 remaining, no timeouts and needs a field goal to win.

No wonder he made it look so easy Sunday night.

The rookie quarterback engineered a drive that set up Jeff Reed's 37-yard field goal with 18 seconds to play that gave the Pittsburgh Steelers a 17-16 victory over Jacksonville and extended their winning streak to 10 games.

"It's something special what he's doing," guard Alan Faneca said. "Is a rookie quarterback supposed to win a game like that on the road in a hostile environment in prime time? Probably not. That says a lot about him. He's special."

The drive covered 56 yards in six plays after Josh Scobee made a 36-yard field goal with 1:55 left to put the Jags ahead.

Roethlisberger was 3-of-4 for 39 yards on the winning drive, and his only incompletion came on a spike after he calmly let the clock run down to leave the Jaguars with little time for a comeback.

"I want the ball in my hands," said Roethlisberger, who set a record for most wins by a rookie quarterback. "I want to have control of the outcome of the game."

He had plenty of help, too.

Lee Mays made two huge catches, Reed drilled the kick and coach Bill Cowher effectively managed the clock.

Cowher used all three timeouts before the 2-minute warning as Jacksonville was driving for the go-ahead field goal, preserving plenty of time for his offense.

Nonetheless, Roethlisberger got much of the credit.

"He did a phenomenal job standing in the pocket and staying composed," receiver Hines Ward. "That's one of his characteristics."

Roethlisberger was 14-of-17 for 221 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 40 yards after three rather sluggish games in an otherwise brilliant first season.

Jacksonville (6-6) had one last shot after a 19-yard completion from Byron Leftwich to Jimmy Smith, which gave Scobee a shot at a 60-yarder. It fell just short and wide right.

"I thought I had it, but it doesn't matter if you miss it by 100 feet or 1 foot," Scobee said.

The Steelers (10-1) are one win from clinching the AFC North and hold a tiebreaker for home-field advantage in the AFC over the New England Patriots. They also hold a four-game lead over Baltimore with four games left.

Jacksonville, which could have moved into a tie with Baltimore and Denver for the final AFC wild-card spot, lost its third in a row and remains a game behind those two. The Jaguars have had 11 of their 12 games decided in the final minute.

Pittsburgh scored touchdowns on its first two possessions, but was held without a point for the rest of the game until the final drive.

In the first three quarters, the Jags moved inside the Pittsburgh 15 three times, but came out with only six points - Scobee missed a 32-yard field-goal attempt in the second quarter and made two others.

"It was as tough a loss as we've had since the AFC championship game in 1999," said Smith, who has been with the Jaguars since their founding as an expansion team 10 seasons ago.

The Jaguars tied it at 7 when Leftwich connected with Troy Edwards for a 22-yard score.

Pittsburgh made it 14-7 on Roethlisberger's 26-yard pass to tight end Jay Riemersma to cap a 72-yard drive.

Jacksonville cut it to 14-10 on Scobee's 20-yard field goal early in the third, and Scobee's 29-yarder in the final seconds of the third quarter made it 14-13.

"It's frustrating that we didn't get the job done when we pulled ahead," Jags coach Jack Del Rio said. "There were a lot of different ways the game could have ended in our favor. It didn't happen. We didn't come in here to play close. We came in here to win."

Notes: The Jags have one TD in nine trips inside

the 20 in the last two games - both losses. ... Riemersma sprained an ankle on his touchdown catch and didn't return. ... Three former Steelers had good nights for the Jaguars - linebacker Jason Gildon had a sack, Edwards had five catches for 90 yards and the TD, and running back Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala picked up several first downs on short yardage.

AP-ES-12-06-04 0207EST