Pittsburgh Spoils Peete’s NFL Debut With 23-3 Victory

Quarterback Bubby Brister and the Pittsburgh defense spoiled Rodney Peete’s NFL debut Sunday as the Steelers beat the Detroit Lions, 23-3.

Brister, completing a team-record 15 straight passes, finished 21 of 27 for 267 yards, including a 48-yard touchdown to Louis Lipps.

“We’re going to be a team to be reckoned with,” Brister said. “We just have to keep it together.”

Rodney Carter scored on a one-yard run and Ray Wallace on a two-yard run for Pittsburgh (2-2). The Lions (0-4) have yet to win either an exhibition or a regular season game with their new run-and-shoot offense.

Peete, a sixth-round draft pick out of USC, where he was runner-up in the Heisman Trophy balloting to Lion teammate Barry Sanders, completed 15 of 30 passes for 160 yards with one interception before being replaced late in the third quarter. It was Peete’s first start after recovering from a knee injury.

“It’s tough any time you lose a football game, and we haven’t won a game yet this season,” Peete said. “But you can’t throw in the towel. We have to believe we’re going to turn it around and go up to Minnesota next week and beat the Vikings. We’re not going to quit.”

The Steelers’ defense, which a week earlier had five sacks and two interceptions in an upset over the Minnesota Vikings, came up with three sacks, two interceptions and recovered both Detroit fumbles. Only 18 of Detroit’s 240 total yards came on rushing plays.

The Steelers had 315 total yards but all of their scores came off Detroit turnovers.

Detroit Coach Wayne Fontes said: “We played just lousy. We didn’t execute and we got beat by a good team. They whipped us in all phases.”

Detroit’s defense had seven sacks but little effect on Brister, who kept Pittsburgh in possession of the ball for 38 minutes 50 seconds.

The Lions, who were ahead 3-0 on Eddie Murray’s 37-yard first-quarter field goal, drove to the Steelers’ one-yard line with first-and-goal in the second quarter. But Sanders fumbled and Pittsburgh’s Carnell Lake, a former UCLA standout, recovered at the two.

Eight plays later, Lipps caught Brister’s pass between Bennie Blades and Terry Taylor in the end zone. After a lengthy replay delay to determine whether Lipps got both feet down before falling out of the end zone, the touchdown put the Steelers ahead, 7-3, with 2:15 remaining in the half. Brister was five for five in the 98-yard drive, including three completions to Lipps for 79 yards.