There's a right way to introduce a rookie quarterback into the National Football League and the other way. The way the Steelers did it and the way the Houston Texans did it.

Both played their rookie quarterbacks. The Steelers had not planned to do so until starter Tommy Maddox left the second game of 2004 with an elbow injury. Ben Roethlisberger thrived behind a great line, good receivers, the most prolific ground game in the AFC and the NFL's No. 1 defense.

David Carr got the Texas chili knocked out of him while starting all 16 games for an NFL expansion team in 2002.

Today, not much has changed for either quarterback as their teams line up for a 1 p.m. kickoff in Houston. Carr is still getting knocked around on a poor team and Roethlisberger prospers on a good one.

Carr, the most sacked quarterback in the NFL in two of the past three seasons, got off to a head-banging start Sunday when he was sacked five times, completed only 9 of 21 passes and had a 12.1 passer rating in the Texans' 22-7 loss at Buffalo.

Roethlisberger completed 9 of 11 passes, was not sacked and had a perfect 158.3 passer rating as the Steelers bopped Tennessee, 34-7.

Roethlisberger is 14-0 as a starter in the regular season. Carr, the first player chosen in the 2002 draft, also has 14 wins -- to go with his 30 losses.

"Not many players, young rookie quarterbacks do what Roethlisberger did last year," said Ron Hill, a personnel director and scout in the NFL for more than 25 years and the man who drafted Michael Vick in Atlanta. "The Steelers' offense is geared toward that. They have a running back who can take the heat off him. They have tight ends, receivers, an established offensive line. Plus, the Steelers' defense is outstanding."

Not so with Houston. Carr was sacked 76 times as a rookie and 49 times last season. He has not shown he is scarred by the experience and his passer rating climbed steadily over the past three seasons from 62.8 as a rookie to 83.5 last season. He missed four games and five starts with injuries in 2003, but started every game as a rookie and again last season.

This is considered a big season for Carr, however, and he is off to a poor start. If he fails, he would not be the first quarterback to start as a rookie and not make it. Joey Harrington, the third player taken in the 2002 draft, is still trying to turn the corner in Detroit. The fans in Baltimore are fed up with Kyle Boller. Tim Couch bombed in Cleveland. Akili Smith in Cincinnati. Ryan Leaf in San Diego. Heath Shuler in Washington. The list is long, if not meritorious.

There also were rookie starters on bad teams who went on to greatness, two of the most memorable Terry Bradshaw with the Steelers in 1970 and Troy Aikman with the 1-15 Cowboys of 1989.

The ideal scenario, though, is the one Roethlisberger found himself in last season and the one Dan Marino went through with the 1983 Dolphins. Each had plenty of good talent around him.

Even Carr believes there should be a time to play a rookie and a time not to.

"I think it depends on the kind of guys that you have around you, if you have an offensive line that can protect you," said Carr, who did not in 2003. "Kind of like Pittsburgh. They have a great offensive line and a great supporting cast. Ben has done a great job of jumping right in there and doing what he's asked to do to win football games. Obviously, without losing a regular-season football game, he's doing all right.

"Then there are situations where the team might not be ready. So, if you're not ready and the team's not ready, that's a bad combination."

Carr did not convey that to coach Dom Capers and management in Houston in 2002. Every quarterback wants to play.

"Selfishly, as a quarterback, you want to go through it," said the Steelers' Charlie Batch, who started his third game as a rookie in Detroit in 1998 and compiled an 83.5 passer rating that season.

"For every success story, you have a bad story. You have guys who are thrown into the mix who are not in the league anymore. At the same time, you take a guy like Steve McNair, who sat out his first year and he had success through his whole career. So it can go either way."

Batch said the experience in Detroit was good for him, although after four seasons as a Lions starter, he was released and became a backup with the Steelers. Perhaps that's why it's too early to judge quarterbacks such as Carr, Harrington or even Roethlisberger on their rookie seasons or their first few years in the league.

"You just don't know until the guy goes along in his career to see if it's beneficial or not," Batch said. "I think it's different for every situation."

David Carr, though, knows one thing for sure.

"If you're not ready and the team's not ready," Carr said, "that's a bad combination."

A TALE OF TWO QBS

A comparison of David Carr's rookie season in 2002 with the expansion Houston Texans and that of Ben Roethlisberger's in 2004 with the playoff-bound Steelers:

Carr.....Category.....Roethlisberger

4-12.....Team record.....15-1

16.....Games.....14

444.....Attempts.....295

233.....Completions.....196

52.5.....Percentage.....66.4

2,592.....Yards.....2,621

9.....Touchdowns.....17

15.....Interceptions.....11

62.8.....Passer rating.....98.1