Ben Roethlisberger came out ahead in a clash with rookie sensation Robert Griffin III on Sunday, leading the Steelers to a 27-12 victory over the Redskins in Pittsburgh. (US Presswire)

The Steelers looked more like the Steelers on Sunday. They had a second consecutive 100-yard rushing performance for the first time in 68 games, harkening to the start of the 2008 season. They held rookie phenom QB Robert Griffin III to 177 yards passing and 185 yards total offense, his second-fewest yet in each category. And, in a see-your-breath chill and mist from Hurricane Sandy, the Steelers turned aside Washington, 27-12, at Heinz Field.

“It was Steelers weather today,” DE Brett Keisel said after the Steelers stacked their first back-to-back victories since late last season and moved into second place in the AFC North at 4-3.  “So you think ‘Steelers football.’ It felt like the way we got Steelers wins around here.”

RB Jonathan Dwyer rushed for 107 yards the week after a career-high 122 at Cincinnati. The last Steeler tailback to gain 100-plus yards in consecutive games? “Sweet-feet Willie Parker?” guessed veteran OT Max Starks, who was correct. That was in the opening two games of the 2008 season. “Sadly, I’ve been around that long,” Starks added.

The drought was surprisingly long for a traditional grind-it-out franchise. Parker (2004-08) had seven sets of back-to-back 100-yard games, and before him Jerome Bettis (1996-2004) had 15 -- along with four couplings of three-game streaks and one five-gamer. The longest previous dry spell without consecutive 100-yard games by a Steelers back? Some 43 games between 2001-04.

“I think he’s reading off the linebackers and how we’re flowing with our zone blocking,” Starks said of the two-game surge by Dwyer, who was inactive the week after fumbling in Oakland. These two performances were timely considering starter Rashard Mendenhall (Achilles) and backup Isaac Redman (ankle) are ailing. “A lot of guys cut back too soon and don’t set it up for us, and people go, ‘The offensive line is having a bad day.’”

Uniform malfunction: The Steelers’ 1934 throwback uniforms -- the bumble-bee, black-and-gold horizontal stripes on jersey and socks -- weren’t exactly a hit with players, even if they’re 1-0 in the duds. “Khaki pants,” mused Starks. “Felt like I was going to a golf course. in knickers.”

When the game turned: Early in the second quarter, after RGIII steered the Redskins (3-5) to a touchdown, Ben Roethlisberger was pinpoint sharp in completing passes of 14, 14, 18 and 10 yards to Emanuel Sanders, Antonio Brown, Brown and Mike Wallace, respectively. His scramble and end-zone throw to Heath Miller, tying Elbie Nickel for the franchise-high 37th TD by a tight end, gave the Steelers a 17-6 lead and presented the defense with the impetus it needed to chase RGIII.

Highlight reels: The prettiest play of the game was a flanker-reverse pass that Josh Morgan heaved downfield for RGIII. Beleaguered Steelers CB Ike Taylor ripped the ball from RGIII some 30 yards downfield, S Ryan Clark got in a good shot on the quarterback, and RGIII was called for offensive pass interference. It was also indicative of the LeBeau defense Sunday: The Redskins read man-to-man, but it turned out to be Steelers zone coverage that foiled a play that consistently ran for a TD in practice.

Back-pedaling: Brown’s 78-yard punt return ended in two penalties, the second (later declined) on him running the final 15 yards or so backwards and getting flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. “I had no idea that was a taunting flag,” Brown said. Receivers coach “Scottie Montgomery told me, ‘You can’t be doing those kind of stunts.’"

You’re outta here: Redskins CB DeAngelo Hall was ejected late in the fourth quarter after what amateur lip readers concluded was a profanity-laced confrontation with head linesman Dana McKenzie. Hall declined to address it later, saying only that he planned to meet with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to go over the game tape. But the NFL announced that its headquarters will be closed Monday at minimum because of Hurricane Sandy. “It’s hard to see,” WR Santana Moss said of the Hall incident. “You hope that you can contain yourself, but if not, that’s left up to the individual. As a team, you go through a lot, and sometimes it weighs on you personally.”

Top-shelf performances:

  • Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger -- 24 of 33 for 222 yards and 3 TDs. Three incompletions were drops.
     
  • RB Jonathan Dwyer -- 17 rushes, 107 yards, 34-yard long
     
  • P Drew Butler -- 3 punts for 50.7-yard average

  • Redskins LB London Fletcher -- 6 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 232nd consecutive game played

What they said about the Steelers defense vs. RGIII:

  • Steelers CB Keenan Lewis -- “They had some drops [10 by coach Mike Shanahan’s count], but I think we made some good plays, too.”

  • Redskins WR Leonard Hankerson -- “We couldn’t get a feel -- the ball was just real wet. We put a couple of balls on the ground.”
     
  • Steelers LB LaMarr Woodley -- “They have a good offense. We also have a great defense as well. We haven’t been playing up to that level [to this point]. We’re still a great defense.”

  • Steelers DE Keisel -- “Coach [Dick] LeBeau drew up a great game plan for them, and mostly it was checking through our base defense.”

Numbers you should know: LeBeau’s record as defensive coordinator against rookie QBs hiked to 15-1. ... Brown saw 76 yards and a touchdown on a punt return erased due to a block-in-the-back penalty. With the 85 yards nullified by four special-teams penalties a week earlier in Cincinnati, that brings the total to 161 yards of lost return yardage in the past two games. ... DE Ziggy Hood blocked Washington’s extra-point try, the first by the Steelers since 2003. ... For the fourth time this season, the Steelers’ offensive line allowed one sack or fewer -- and Sunday’s didn’t involve Roethlisberger but Sanders on a flanker-reverse pass play. ... Since 1992, the Steelers are 144-2-1 in the regular season whenever they take an 11-point lead. One of those losses came at Oakland last month.

Injury update: Redskins -- LB Perry Riley left the game in the third quarter with a hamstring strain. Steelers -- S Clark left in the third quarter with what was diagnosed as a concussion, and it could be an injury that sidelines him for one game or more. Will Allen already was starting for Troy Polamalu (calf), which means Ryan Mundy replaces Clark and the Steelers are starting their second-team safeties. Woodley left late in the game with a strain to the same right hamstring that scratched him from the Tennessee loss earlier, but he said afterward he was more tired than anything.

Going forward: Steelers -- It doesn’t get any easier now that they’ve stacked consecutive victories for the first time since the end of the 2011 regular season. The Steelers visit the Super Bowl champion New York Giants next Sunday evening. Eli Manning awaits two second-string safeties. After that game comes a potential season-turning stretch of the schedule: Say they’re 4-4. They have Kansas City at home followed by Baltimore, at Cleveland, and at Baltimore, the foundation of any possible North division run. Redskins --After losses in three of their past four games, and two of those defeats coming on the road, the Redskins return home for Carolina (1-6), a bye week and Philadelphia (3-4).

Follow Steelers reporter Chuck Finder on Twitter @CBSSteelers and @cfinder.

John Keim covers the Redskins for the Washington Examiner. Follow him on Twitter @CBSRedskins or @John_Keim.