LANDOVER, Md. -- As the preseason progresses, the Steelers' offense continues to regress on the field and in the trainer's room.

Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Jerome Bettis was forced to the sidelines early in the game with a strained right calf. Click photo for larger image. More Steelers news More game pictures in the Steelers photo journal NFL Notebook: Redskins, Arrington settle dispute

They lost their second starting halfback in the past three weeks when Jerome Bettis left the game last night against the Washington Redskins in the first quarter with a strained right calf, joining previously injured Duce Staley on the sideline.

And quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's passing attack slogged through another poor night and failed for the third game to produce a touchdown. Even reliable kicker Jeff Reed missed from 43 yards, his second hooked field-goal try in the past two games as the Steelers lost to the Redskins, 17-10.

At least there was Willie Parker.

The second-year back replaced Bettis and turned on the jets for a 51-yard run that was so impressive, coach Bill Cowher immediately yanked him out of the game. Cowher said he could not afford to have another back injured, and the way Parker has been running, he could become the Peter "Spider-Man" Parker of this offense, saving it from doom. Parker has 112 yards on 11 carries and looks every bit like a back ready for the big time.

"You might not see him again until Tennessee," Cowher said of the Sept. 11 opener.

Bettis was injured without being hit and will have an MRI this morning to determine the extent of the injury. Staley predicted his own return for the Sept. 11 opener, but Cowher said last week the Steelers want to bring Staley along more slowly after Aug. 8 surgery to repair his lateral meniscus.

They would like to put Roethlisberger and his first-team offense on a faster track.

Roethlisberger completed 6 of 15 passes for 57 yards and one interception for a 23.5 passer rating last night as both teams played their first units the entire first half. He is 14 of 30 for 121 yards and two interceptions in three preseason games with a 30.0 passer rating.

His receivers did not help him much, either, as they dropped passes and looked lethargic at times. Cowher said the offense was out of sync; it was more like out of offense. Hines Ward caught two short passes for 16 yards and was pulled from the game.

"Our passing game has not been in sync, really, this entire preseason and it showed very evidently tonight," Cowher said.

Good thing the Steelers remember how to play defense because safety Troy Polamalu staked them to a 7-0 lead.

The first-team offense might be struggling, but the Steelers' return game is not. Polamalu made it five returns for touchdowns in three preseason games when he took a Patrick Ramsey interception 34 yards for a score with 3:48 left in the first quarter.

Linebacker Clark Haggans forced the interception when he bore down on Ramsey and shoved him as he threw, taking any steam off the ball that lobbed to Polamalu, who then hit it out of the park.

Cowher, though, was not satisfied with his team's run defense. Starter Clinton Portis ran eight times for 48 yards against the Steelers.

"I thought we played OK on defense early," Cowher said, "but we gave up too many runs, we didn't adjust very well to what they were doing."

The Redskins, also dissatisfied with the production from their first-team offense this preseason, wanted to go deep on the Steelers last night. They tried once in the first quarter, but Ramsey's long pass to Santana Moss hit cornerback Deshea Townsend in the back.

Ramsey and Moss connected later in the period. It carried 40 yards, but it was not a particularly deep pass. Moss beat cornerback Willie Williams to the outside, caught the ball and then eluded Williams and ran to the Steelers' 19. Washington, though, had to settle for John Hall's 28-yard field goal and a 7-3 score.

Parker ignited the Steelers' offense early in the second quarter on the kind of run that put Barry Sanders in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

On second-and-1, he cut to his right as he ran through a hole on the left side, then quickly cut to his left and floored it. He ripped off 51 yards before cornerback Shawn Springs ran him out of bounds at the 20.

With Bettis hurt on top of Staley's injury, that was enough for Parker on the night. The rest of the offense, however, could not take it in, and Jeff Reed kicked a 24-yard field goal to give the Steelers a 10-3 lead.

Those three points are the only ones scored by the first-team offense this preseason.

The production problems of that offense were not all on Roethlisberger's shoulders, as was evident on the next series when two of his receivers failed him. Cedrick Wilson, who has looked good in practice all summer, let one pass on a crossing route clang off his hands. On the next play, Lee Mays ran a medium hook but did not come back for the ball and the pass was easily broken up.

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And on the final series for Roethlisberger and the first team, Antwaan Randle El got things going by dropping a pass on first down. Wilson caught an 18-yarder on third down, but, after the Steelers called a timeout with three seconds left, Roethlisberger dropped back and threw one high and deep, a ball fielded like a punt and intercepted by Pierson Prioleau of Washington.

Before that, the Redskins' first-team offense scored its second touchdown of the preseason when H-back Chris Cooley caught a 4-yard fade pass over safety Chris Hope for a score with 31 seconds left in the half to knot the score, 10-10.

The second teams for both clubs took the field to start the third quarter, and Washington took the opening kickoff and drove 85 yards for a touchdown to make it 17-10. Fullback Rock Cartwright looped 10 yards around the right side for the score.

With 11:28 left in the fourth quarter, Reed sailed his 43-yard field goal try wide to the left.