They have a new quarterback, a new training facility, a new boss, an admittedly renewed passion in the coach, a big, new, expensive wide receiver and a new season they approached with eagerness.
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| | QB Kent Graham under attack. (Matt Freed, Post-Gazette) |
Then, they showed up as the same old Steelers.
The Steelers opened the season yesterday the way they ended their past two, losing; this time to the Baltimore Ravens, 16-0.
It was their 16th loss in their past 22 games and their ninth loss in the past 11 in Three Rivers Stadium.
They were incompetent on offense, exhausted on defense and left wondering again what they must do to turn things around almost before they even began.
"This is starting to get to be the same thing every week," strong safety Lee Flowers said. "You might as well keep the same quotes from last year, man.
"It's hard to talk to you guys every week now going on three years about the same old thing. But we have to find some way to turn this thing around and win a game. It's gotten to the point where we can't win at home. It's disappointing to the crowd and the fans and stuff. They paid $40 a ticket, whatever, and we come out here and didn't do anything."
The Ravens, who finished a step ahead of the Steelers in third place last season in the AFC Central Division, scored all the points they needed in the first quarter.
Quarterback Tony Banks, who otherwise wasn't sharp, hit a wide-open Quadry Ismail against a blown defensive call for a 53-yard touchdown pass. Ismail finished with seven catches for 102 yards as the Steelers' defense allowed a 100-yard passer and a 100-yard rusher. Priest Holmes rushed for 119.
Matt Stover took care of the rest, kicking field goals of 23, 26 and 33 yards as the Ravens ran out to an insurmountable 10-0 lead in the first quarter and 13-0 at halftime.
After the first two quarters, the Steelers seemed hopelessly out of it. They were outgained, 217-39.
By the end, quarterback Kent Graham matched Banks' 199 yards passing, completing 17 of 38.
But just when the beleaguered Graham, under heavy pressure most of the day, had his best drive and best chance of putting the Steelers in the end zone, he was abruptly replaced in favor of Kordell Stewart.
Trailing 16-0, early in the fourth quarter, Graham moved the Steelers' offense at a fast pace, hitting two big third-down passes to Plaxico Burress for 22 yards and Bobby Shaw for 18.
Finally, when cornerback Robert Bailey was called for pass interference against wide receiver Hines Ward, the Steelers had a first down at the Baltimore 1. Graham had guided them 94 yards on that drive.
That's when Coach Bill Cowher sent Stewart in at quarterback.
Stewart handed off to Jerome Bettis, who lost a yard. He threw into the end zone for an incompletion. On third-and-2, he fumbled the snap from center. On fourth-and-2, Cowher sent Graham back in. His pass sailed over the head of Burress.
Cowher explained his decision to put Stewart into the game.
"We practiced it all week with Kordell working short yardage, and it's something we had done going in. There was nothing that was a game-time decision. That was the plan going in."
Baltimore Coach Brian Billick saw nothing wrong with the quarterback switch.
"I didn't think it was a bad move at all."
Cowher then explained why he switched back to Graham on fourth-and-2 after Stewart fumbled.
"Because it was regular down and distance," Cowher said, even though the distance had not changed since first down. "Kordell was doing all short-yardage and goal-line plays, so we went back to Kent for a fourth-down pass."
With 7:39 left, it was the one and only Steelers chance to get back into it. Kris Brown, their dependable kicker last season, missed his only field goal try wide left from 45 yards in the third quarter.
Graham was under heavy pressure from the start, but it didn't come so much from rookie right tackle Marvel Smith's spot as it did from the inside. The Ravens, catching the Steelers with inside stunts, sacked Graham just once, but he was hit often as he completed just six passes for 31 yards in the first half.
"We just couldn't control the tempo on the offensive line," said Burress, who led the Steelers in his first NFL game with four catches for 77 yards. "Kent was getting pressure all day. I think he got knocked down probably a hundred times."
And while the Steelers could not pass against the Ravens, their running game was worse. Jerome Bettis had more carries than yards -- nine times for 8 yards. Richard Huntley led them with 31 yards on seven carries. They finished with 30 yards rushing on 18 tries, including one end-around by Troy Edwards the Ravens snuffed out for a 9-yard loss.
"I can't get up there and block the defensive linemen or anything," Edwards said. "I thought the receivers, we got open. But we had a lot of pressure on the quarterback. Jerome and Richard were getting hit in the backfield a lot."
Defensive end Rob Burnett came loose inside past guard Rich Tylski to sack Graham at the Steelers' 20. He forced a fumble that teammate Sam Adams recovered at the 14 to give the Ravens their first scoring chance.
They settled for Stover's 23-yard field goal, but it set a tone for the hot, sticky afternoon.
The Ravens then scored the only touchdown they needed in the first quarter. Banks faked a handoff and threw down the right sideline to Ismail, who was far behind cornerback Chad Scott. He caught the ball at the 18 and stepped in for the 53-yard touchdown.
Free safety Brent Alexander should have provided deep help for Scott and did not.
"It was a blown coverage on our part," Scott said. "We made a mistake."
The way their offense has been playing going on three years, there is little room for the Steelers defense to make mistakes. Yesterday, they were on the field much too long in the sultry conditions. Baltimore had the ball for 35 minutes, seven seconds. The Steelers, 24:53.
Cowher noted that happened because the Steelers could not convert third downs -- they made just 4 of 14. But Baltimore did little better -- 5 of 16.
"It just so happens we didn't get any points," Scott said. "That's the offense's job and we don't have anything to do with that."
Neither did the offense. After two years of the same thing, after five weeks of training camp and five exhibition games, it did not get better for the Steelers yesterday.
They do not play next weekend, then they pick things back up in Cleveland Sept. 17.
"Thank God we got a bye week," Flowers said, "so guys can sit around and think about how bad it feels because we don't want to experience this again."
It's not as if it's something new.
New year, same old Steelers 
