Steelers Get Luck of Greene : Pro football: Linebacker recovers two fumbles and records two sacks as Pittsburgh defense dominates Houston for 30-14 victory.

The Pittsburgh Steelers reversed a season-long succession of bad starts, turning Barry Foster’s 115 yards and the helpless Houston Oilers’ numerous mistakes into points on their first four possessions and a 30-14 romp Monday night.

Kevin Greene recovered two of four first-half fumbles by harried quarterbacks Cody Carlson and Bucky Richardson and the Steelers continued to excel on Monday, bolting to leads of 20-0 in the first quarter and 30-0 in the second half.

The Steelers (3-2), now 5-0 on Mondays under Coach Bill Cowher, were working on their third successive Monday night shutout at home until Richardson threw two touchdown passes in the final 9:11.

“We’re tough on Mondays--if we could play every game on Monday, we’d go to the Super Bowl,” wide receiver Andre Hastings said. “The defense was relentless and the offense didn’t mess around like we usually do.”

The Steelers had been outscored, 24-3, in the first quarter and trailed in all four games by at least 10 points, but this night Houston (1-4) never had a chance.

Foster had 100 yards by the first minute of the second half and Neil O’Donnell shrugged off his worst NFL start with a pair of big-play first-down passes in the Steelers’ fourth Monday night victory in the last two seasons.

“It looked like Houston wasn’t ready to play,” said Foster, the AFC’s leading rusher. “But getting some points early definitely pumped us up. When I’m getting so many yards untouched like I was, you know I’m getting some great blocking.”

The Steelers’ defense forced a beaten-up Carlson out of the game in the second quarter.

“He’s got a sore shoulder and a broken nose and was wearing a face shield, and we knew he’d be real cautious,” linebacker Greg Lloyd said.

A rattled Richardson wasn’t much better, fumbling two of his first three snaps, but it was already 20-0 by then and it hardly mattered. The Oilers didn’t score until Richardson pass plays of 76 yards to Ernest Givins and two yards to Haywood Jeffires, after Pittsburgh rookie Bam Morris’ one-yard touchdown run made it 30-0.

“It was probably a mistake to start (Carlson),” Oilers Coach Jack Pardee said. “Our protection wasn’t very good so I got him out of there.”

The free agent-depleted Oilers are 1-4 for the second consecutive season, but off Monday’s effort it’s not likely they’ll duplicate 1993 by winning their final 11.

“Our talent level is down from what it was last year. If we could do what we did last year, it would really be impressive,” safety Marcus Robertson said. “It’s not impossible, but it would take a miracle.”

But what saved the Steelers was O’Donnell didn’t replay his dreadful four-interception day in a 30-13 loss in Seattle. With Foster dragging Oilers defenders with him on a succession of big gains, O’Donnell passed sparingly but effectively, completing nine of 17 passes for 154 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions.