The San Francisco 49ers overcame Pittsburgh, and a pair of power outages which delayed the game for close to 35 minutes, beating the Steelers 20-3 in the NFL Monday. The 49ers' top-ranked run defense stifled the Steelers, and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger couldn't make up for it as he struggled playing on a sprained ankle. Vernon Davis caught a 1-yard touchdown pass for the 49ers (11-3) one play after a 21-yard reception from quarterback Alex Smith. Frank Gore ran for a 5-yard score and David Akers kicked field goals of 22 and 38 yards to overtake Hall of Famer Jerry Rice for San Francisco's single-season scoring record. The Steelers (10-4) missed a key chance to take sole possession of first place in the AFC North and gain the AFC's No. 1 playoff seed. Roethlisberger threw two early interceptions and another in the waning minutes. He still finished 25 for 44 for 330 yards, but was sacked three times. “We allowed them to put drives together,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “We better lick our wounds pretty quickly because we have a quick turnaround here.” San Francisco became the first team in NFL history to hold an opponent without a rushing touchdown through each of the first 14 games. “I also want to recognize our defense,” 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said. “NFL record for not allowing a rushing touchdown in 14 games. That is huge.” Carlos Rogers, Dashon Goldson and Tarell Brown made interceptions, while Rookie of the Year candidate Aldon Smith had 2½ sacks for San Francisco's stingy defense. The 49ers had to wait 20 minutes to get started after the power went out the first time. In the second quarter, everything went dark for a second time. Thousands of flashbulbs went off in the midst of the black, with a sellout crowd of 69,732 sitting in darkness. NFL security chief Jeff Miller said he witnessed a transformer blow up while he was monitoring a gate outside the stadium, where a shooting during the preseason already put a negative light on the venue. “It wasn't too bad. It was unusual,” Smith said. “You don't expect to have to deal with it, and it happened twice. But it was the same for both teams.”
