Steelers 34, Ratbirds 15

[BPBlueSox]

Dominating performance by the Steelers.

The Ravens D is so overrated. :D

Tommy Gun needs to learn how to pump fake.

Jerome needs to be in more when we get a big lead.

Ray Lewis is a thug murderer.

The Ravens are a bunch of dirty mother f'ers.

Kyle Boller is overrated. Arm strength, my ass.

Farrior had a real nice afternoon.

Our secondary is still sketchy. Dewayne Washington looked iffy on his coverage all afternoon. That's the only reason the Ratbirds could ever even move the ball..

However, I feel pretty good going to KC next week. Should be a shootout...

[Blue56]

great game!!!!!

Pissed at the Pats!

[BPBlueSox]

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Pittsburgh Steelers were missing star linebacker Joey Porter, but that was nothing. The Baltimore Ravens were missing an offense.


Tommy Maddox threw three touchdowns passes, two to Hines Ward, and Pittsburgh's Porter-less defense roughed up Baltimore rookie quarterback Kyle Boller in his NFL debut, a 34-15 Steelers victory Sunday.

Maddox, making his first season-opening start 11 years after being Denver's first-round draft pick, was everything Boller wasn't -- sharp, accurate and effective in picking up coverage mistakes.

On Ward's second touchdown catch, a 28-yarder late in the third quarter that made it 27-0, Maddox noticed right away that Ward shed his coverage on a crossing pattern and hit him in stride with no defender in sight for a 28-yard score.

Before that, Maddox repeatedly found Plaxico Burress for big yardage, with completions of 19, 16, 47 and 18 yards setting up each of the Steelers' first three scores. The 47-yarder gave the Steelers a first down at the 8 late in the second quarter, and Ward made a 4-yard scoring catch two plays later to give Pittsburgh a 13-0 halftime lead.

Burress had six catches for 116 yards and Ward had nine for 91 yards.

Maddox also hit new starting tight end Jay Riemersma on a 20-yard touchdown pass play early in the third quarter, and the game was never in doubt after that. Maddox went 21-of-29 for 260 yards and no interceptions, something he did only once in 11 starts last season.

Even with the Steelers' best defensive player, Porter, out following last weekend's random shooting in Denver, Boller had a predictable performance in his NFL debut -- predictably bad.

He was intercepted on Baltimore's first possession, setting up the second of Jeff Reed's two field goals, and it didn't get much better from there. The former Cal star went 22-of-42 for 152 yards, almost all of it well after the outcome was decided.

The Ravens didn't move the ball inside the Pittsburgh 37 until late in the third quarter, when two lengthy pass interference penalties on cornerback Dewayne Washington led to Jamal Lewis' 14-yard scoring run. Boller didn't complete a pass on the 65-yard drive.

Boller did throw his first NFL touchdown pass, a 5-yarder to Travis Taylor late in the fourth quarter, after the Steelers' Verron Haynes fumbled at his own 2.

Boller's struggles weren't a surprise -- rookie quarterbacks are 3-6 since 1990 when starting the first game of their careers. Only two, Chris Weinke and Peyton Manning, threw for even 200 yards.

Still, Boller didn't get much help. Star tight end Todd Heap was limited to 55 yards on six catches -- he had 146 yards receiving in Pittsburgh's come-from-behind 34-31 victory on Dec. 29 -- and Lewis was held to 69 yards after running for 1,327 yards last season.

The Steelers won their opener for the first time since 1999 and only the fifth time since coach Bill Cowher was hired in 1992. They also have won five straight against the Ravens.

[BPBlueSox]

Heinz Field - Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh 34, Baltimore 15

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FINAL 1 2 3 4 T
Baltimore 0 0 7 8 15
Pittsburgh 6 7 14 7 34



Scoring Summary
First Quarter SCORE
PITTSBURGH FG JEFF REED 29 YD 4:41
Drive Info: 4:41, 10 plays, 69 yds
Key Plays:
- 15-yard personal foul on Raven's Hartwell to Pittsburgh 43
- Maddox 19-yard pass to Burress to Baltimore 38
- Zereoue 12-yard run to Baltimore 36
- Maddox 9-yard pass to Riemersma to Baltimore 14 PITTSBURGH 3-0
PITTSBURGH FG JEFF REED 31 YD 10:59
Drive Info: 3:21, 8 plays, 15 yds
Key Plays:
- Bell 42-yard interception return to Baltimore 38
- Maddox 16-yard pass to Burress to Baltimore 13 PITTSBURGH 6-0
Second Quarter SCORE
PITTSBURGH TD HINES WARD 4 YD PASS FROM TOMMY MADDOX (JEFF REED KICK) 12:03
Drive Info: 4:08, 8 plays, 90 yds
Key Plays:
- Bettis 11-yard run to Pittsburgh 28
- Maddox 13-yad pass to Randle El to Pittsburgh 45
- Maddox 47-yard pass to Burress to Baltimore 8 PITTSBURGH 13-0
Third Quarter SCORE
PITTSBURGH TD JAY RIEMERSMA 20 YD PASS FROM TOMMY MADDOX (JEFF REED KICK) 5:11
Drive Info: 3:28, 8 plays, 60 yds
Key Plays:
- Maddox 18-yard pass to Burress to Baltimore 41
- Zereoue 12-yard run on 4th-and-1 to Baltimore 20 PITTSBURGH 20-0
PITTSBURGH TD HINES WARD 28 YD PASS FROM TOMMY MADDOX (JEFF REED KICK) 11:06
Drive Info: :06, 1 plays, 28 yds
Key Plays:
- Gildon fumble recovery at Baltimore 28 PITTSBURGH 27-0
BALTIMORE TD JAMAL LEWIS 14 YD RUN (MATT STOVER KICK) 13:04
Drive Info: 1:58, 3 plays, 80 yds
Key Plays:
- 40-yard pass interference penalty on Steelers Washington to Pittsburgh 35
- 17-yard pass interference penalty on Steelers Washington to Pittsburgh 18 PITTSBURGH 27-7
Fourth Quarter SCORE
PITTSBURGH TD AMOS ZEREOUE 8 YD RUN (JEFF REED KICK) 5:59
Drive Info: 3:59, 9 plays, 48 yds
Key Plays:
- Maddox 10-yard pass on 3rd-and-8 to Ward to Baltimore 36
- Maddox 20-yard pass on 3rd-and-5 to Ward to Baltimore 11
- Ravens McAlister 6-yard unnecessary roughness penalty to Baltimore 5 PITTSBURGH 34-7
BALTIMORE TD TRAVIS TAYLOR 5 YD PASS FROM KYLE BOLLER (KYLE BOLLER PASS TO TODD HEAP FOR TWO-POINT CONVERSION) 10:38
Drive Info: 1:02, 3 plays, 2 yds
Key Plays:
- Gregg fumble recovery at Pittsburgh 2 PITTSBURGH 34-15

TEAM STATISTICS
BALTIMORE PITTSBURGH
FIRST DOWNS 17 21
Passing 9 13
Rushing 4 5
Penalty 4 3

3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY 5-16 7-15
4TH-DOWN EFFICIENCY 1-2 1-1

TOTAL NET YARDS 231 339
Total plays 68 65
Average gain 3.4 5.2

NET YARDS RUSHING 88 98
Rushes 23 33
Average per rush 3.8 3.0

NET YARDS PASSING 143 241
Completion-attempted 22-43 21-29
Yards per pass 3.2 7.5
Sacked-yards lost 2-9 3-19
Had intercepted 1 0

PUNTS-AVERAGE 6-37.7 5-46.2

RETURN-YARDAGE 22 51
Punts-returns 4-22 1-9
Kickoffs-returns 5-116 2-29
Interceptions-returns 0-0 1-42

PENALTIES-YARDS 10-81 9-138
FUMBLES-LOST 4-1 2-1
TIME OF POSSESSION 27:20 32:40

PASSING
CP/AT YDS AVG TD INT
Kyle Boller 22/43 152 3.53 1 1
Team 22/43 152 3.53 1 1
PASSING
CP/ATT YDS AVG TD INT
Tommy Maddox 21/29 260 8.97 3 0
Team 21/29 260 8.97 3 0



RUSHING
ATT YDS AVG LG TD
Jamal Lewis 15 69 4.6 14 1
Kyle Boller 5 14 2.8 4 0
Alan Ricard 2 6 3.0 6 0
Chester Taylor 1 -1 -1.0 0 0
Team 23 88 3.8 14 1
RUSHING
ATT YDS AVG LG TD
Amos Zereoue 15 56 3.7 12 1
Verron Haynes 11 18 1.6 7 0
Jerome Bettis 4 14 3.5 11 0
Dan Kreider 1 9 9.0 9 0
Antwaan Randle El 2 1 0.5 5 0
Team 33 98 3.0 14 1



RECEIVING
REC YDS AVG TD LG
Todd Heap 6 55 9.2 0 12
Travis Taylor 5 33 6.6 1 9
Terry Jones 3 21 7.0 0 8
Marcus Robinson 1 14 14.0 0 14
Ron Johnson 1 12 12.0 0 12
Chester Taylor 3 10 3.3 0 7
Jamal Lewis 2 4 2.0 0 4
Alan Ricard 1 3 3.0 0 3
Team 22 152 6.9 1 14
RECEIVING
REC YDS AVG TD LG
Plaxico Burress 6 116 19.3 0 47
Hines Ward 9 91 10.1 2 28
Jay Riemersma 2 29 14.5 1 20
Antwaan Randle El 1 13 13.0 0 13
Verron Haynes 1 9 9.0 0 9
Jerame Tuman 1 3 3.0 0 3
Amos Zereoue 1 -1 -1.0 0 0
Team 21 260 12.4 3 47



FUMBLES
Fum Fum Lst Rec Forced Own Rec.
Kyle Boller 2 0 0 0 2
Jamal Lewis 1 1 0 0 0
Chester Taylor 1 0 0 0 1
Marques Douglas 0 0 0 1 0
Kelly Gregg 0 0 1 0 0
Team 4 1 1 1 3
FUMBLES
Fum Fum Lst Rec Forced Own Rec.
Verron Haynes 1 1 0 0 0
Tommy Maddox 1 0 0 0 1
Kendrell Bell 0 0 0 1 0
Clark Haggans 0 0 0 1 0
Jason Gildon 0 0 1 0 0
Team 2 1 1 2 1



INTERCEPTIONS
Int Ret. Yds TD Ret.
No Team Interceptions.
INTERCEPTIONS
Int Ret. Yds TD Ret.
Kendrell Bell 1 42 0
Team 1 42 0



KICKING
FG PCT LNG XP PTS
Matt Stover 0/0 -- -- 1/1 1
Team 0/0 0.0 0 1/1 1
KICKING
FG PCT LNG XP PTS
Jeff Reed 2/2 100.0 31 4/4 10
Team 2/2 100.0 31 4/4 10



PUNTING
NO YDS AVG TB -20 LNG
Dave Zastudil 6 226 37.7 -- 2 55
Team 6 226 37.7 0 2 57
PUNTING
NO YDS AVG TB -20 LNG
Josh Miller 5 231 46.2 -- -- 57
Team 5 231 46.2 0 0 57



PUNT RETURNS
NO YDS AVG LNG TD
Lamont Brightful 4 22 5.5 14 --
Team 4 22 5.5 14 0
PUNT RETURNS
NO YDS AVG LNG TD
Antwaan Randle El 1 9 9.0 9 --
Team 1 9 9.0 9 0



KICKOFF RETURNS
NO YDS AVG LNG TD
Chester Taylor 5 116 23.2 29 --
Team 5 116 23.2 29 0
KICKOFF RETURNS
NO YDS AVG LNG TD
Ivan Taylor 2 29 14.5 16 --
Team 2 29 14.5 16 0



DEFENSE - Baltimore
TOT SOLO AST SCK YDS
Ed Reed 10 7 3 0.0 0
Edgerton Hartwell 10 6 4 0.0 0
Ray Lewis 9 4 5 0.0 0
Kelly Gregg 8 4 4 0.0 0
Chris McAlister 6 4 2 0.0 0
Marques Douglas 6 4 2 0.0 0
Gary Baxter 5 4 1 0.0 0
Peter Boulware 5 2 3 1.0 10
Corey Fuller 4 4 0 0.0 0
Will Demps 4 2 2 0.0 0
Jarret Johnson 2 1 1 0.0 0
Adalius Thomas 1 1 0 1.0 2
Terrell Suggs 1 1 0 1.0 7
Anthony Weaver 1 1 0 0.0 0
Chad Williams 1 0 1 0.0 0
Team 73 45 28 3.0 19

DEFENSE - Pittsburgh
TOT SOLO AST SCK YDS
James Farrior 13 6 7 0.0 0
Mike Logan 9 6 3 0.0 0
Clark Haggans 9 5 4 1.0 3
Dewayne Washington 7 7 0 0.0 0
Chad Scott 4 3 1 0.0 0
Brent Alexander 4 2 2 0.0 0
Aaron Smith 3 3 0 0.0 0
Casey Hampton 3 2 1 0.0 0
Jason Gildon 2 2 0 0.0 0
Kendrell Bell 2 1 1 0.0 0
Kimo Von Oelhoffen 1 1 0 1.0 6
Deshea Townsend 1 1 0 0.0 0
Rodney Bailey 1 1 0 0.0 0
Ivan Taylor 1 0 1 0.0 0
Team 60 40 20 2.0 9



GAME INFO
Officials
Referee: Ron Winter
Umpire: Jeff Rice
Head-Linesman: Sanford Rivers Line-Judge: Ron Marinucci
Field-Judge: Greg Gautreaux
Side-Judge: Michael Banks Back-Judge: Perry Paganelli
ATTENDANCE: 63,157 TIME OF GAME: 3:09




Data Source: STATS, Inc. Copyright 2003 STATS, Inc. Commercial distribution without the express written consent of STATS is prohibited.

[GiveHyzduashot]

The Stillers looked damn good today.

Sure is encouraging to A) Win an opener, and B) Win one the way they did today ... it was a dominant performance, no two ways about it.

We'll know a lot about the D next week vs. KC. I like our chances .. I doubt if Holmes runs for 100 yards.

[imgreat95]

I am so tired this morning of hearing the Ravens DBs saying that they lost the game... not that the Steelers won the game. What a bunch of crying wussy babies. You got beat. You sucked. Get over it. SHEESH!!!

[GiveHyzduashot]

Amen to that, Shawn.

Lewis is a punk, and Fuller is all talk.

The only reasonable thing I have been came form Baxter ... other than that, just about what I expected.

[BPBlueSox]

Lewis' gesture infuriates injured Porter, inspires Steelers' defense

Monday, September 08, 2003

By Gerry Dulac, Post-Gazette Sports Writer


Joey Porter stood on the sidelines, in T-shirt and black gym shorts. For all intents and purposes, he should have had no impact on the Steelers' season-opening victory against the Baltimore Ravens.

But there he was, shouting at Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis for what Porter perceived to be a disrespectful gesture in the first quarter, and inspiring the Steelers' defense in a 34-15 victory.

Porter, a Pro Bowl linebacker who did not play because he is recovering from a gunshot wound, became incensed when Lewis got up after stopping Amos Zereoue for no gain and kicked his right leg -- a Porter trademark after a big play.

"I thought he kind of disrespected me," Porter said. "He came out here, he's doing the boot and telling me this is his house. I think that's negative. You don't come and disrespect a man who's hurt. Why are you worried about me? I'm not even playing. Why are you imitating me? That let me know he doesn't care. There were times when he was in trouble with the law, his shoulder was hurt, and I went over there and shook his hand and said, 'Get through it.' Yet, he wants to make fun of me being hurt? I take that like a slap in the face. You never kick a man when he's down."

Porter was referring to Lewis' arrest in connection with a murder in Atlanta during Super Bowl week in 2000. Lewis, a five-time Pro Bowl selection, was acquitted when he agreed to testify against two friends who were charged with the murder.

"I talk a lot of trash, but when he went through the thing with the court and the murder and all that and his shoulder was hurt, I didn't make fun of him," Porter said. "That wasn't something you make fun of. You're just hoping a guy can get out of it and get back out there on the field. On the other hand, he wants to sit there and try to make fun of me. I'm like, why are you making fun of me? I'm not even playing. Don't make fun of someone who's hurt. By him doing that, it fired my team up. It definitely fired me up. I wanted to play right then. But I couldn't do nothing about it. I was happy to sit back and lick my wounds and remember what he did."

Lewis, who missed most of the 2002 season with a shoulder injury, finished with nine tackles against the Steelers, four of them solo. But he was not the disruptive force he usually is in the Ravens' defense, which yielded 339 yards.

"He didn't make a play all day," Porter said. "He caught himself doing the boot, he made one tackle. He's running around there, running his mouth, doing all that, but if you watch him on film and really look, where was Ray Lewis? He was nowhere to be found. I could have tackled the water boy and had as many tackles as him. He didn't do nothing today. He's all mouth. When you talk like that, that's what happens: You get hit in the mouth. He's over there crying now, thinking about what went wrong. You got your [rear end] whipped, that's what."

When told of Porter's comment, Lewis said, "Why would I argue with Joey Porter? He's done nothing in this league."

Lewis said he tried to shout encouragement to Porter before the game, telling him, "You're in my prayers," when the players came out on the field before the game. But Lewis said Porter began screaming at him from across the field.

"As soon as I said that, he yells out to me, 'This is my house,' " Lewis said. "I said 'Joey, you're in my prayers. I'm consoling you, you know?' You never want to see a player go down like that. And he yells back, 'I don't care, I don't care. This is my house.' ... Most people before they listen, they just want to blurt out. He's young, man. This guy ... he's been to one Pro Bowl? He knows it all now. Hey, I love Joey Porter. Do what you do. Get healthy. You're always going to stay in my prayers. But quit your challenging. We're not hatin' against each other."

Lewis was asked if he was mocking Porter when he kicked his right leg after tackling Zereoue.

"People have been kicking sand for years," Lewis said. "He ain't never started that. He just brought it back up."

Still, when Lewis did that, several Steelers, including Porter, were offended.

"When we're playing at home and one of our main guys goes down and you've got another player just mocking him, that's how we took it: He was mocking one of our good players," said inside linebacker James Farrior, who replaced Porter in the dime defense. "You don't kick a man when he's down, so we took it a little personal."

The Steelers do not have a clear timetable for Porter's return -- it could take anywhere from two to eight weeks after he was shot outside a Denver bar Aug. 31 -- but Porter has already started jogging and said he's ahead of schedule in his recovery.

He said the biggest problem is not the wound in his left buttock, which needs to heal so it doesn't become infected. Rather, it's his right thigh, which contained the bullet before it was removed and is still very sore.

"When the pain goes away there, and I can get to almost top speed, then I'll be ready to come back," Porter said. "I've got to try to see where I'm at each day, so I feel good about myself, so when I do go out there on the field I've got to know for myself I'm ready."

[00_Agent]

Fuller has never been any good. As for McCallister, who is good, it's no wonder he didn't talk to reporters after the game. How many times in a row is this that Burress has kicked his a$$?

Next week, I think that both teams (KC and Pittsburgh) are going to score in the 30's. No 100 yard rushing performances on either side. All air, all the time baby. Should be fun, but wish it was in Pittsburgh.

00