Steelers Do Just Enough

As inconceivable as it might seem, the Pittsburgh Steelers finally met an offense worse than theirs.

The Steelers barely moved the ball as an injured Jerome Bettis (sprained knee) didn’t play and Kordell Stewart stayed in his season-long slump. But the Baltimore Ravens’ dreadful offense was even worse in Pittsburgh’s 16-6 victory Sunday.

The Steelers (4-2) followed a season-long pattern--score just enough points to give one of the NFL’s best defenses a chance to win. The league’s second lowest-scoring team has only 66 points in its four victories and has scored no more than 20 points in any win.

“We got a win, but I don’t feel like we won,” said Charles Johnson, who scored the game’s only touchdown on a 55-yard catch. “I’m concerned about the holes in our offense. I’m not as happy as the other guys in here.”

But he was a lot happier than the Ravens (2-4), who led, 6-3, at halftime only to self-destruct.

They failed to score a touchdown for the second consecutive week--they lost, 12-8, to Tennessee last week--and had five turnovers. And Eric Zeier and Jim Harbaugh were sacked seven times.

“I knew it wasn’t going to be a 35-31 game. I just hoped we would execute and not beat ourselves, but that’s what we ended up doing,” Raven Coach Ted Marchibroda said. “We didn’t make crucial plays at crucial times and it seemed to steamroll and get worse.”

Baltimore was shut out, 13-0, in the second half, managing only 103 yards.

Stewart’s touchdown pass was his first in four games. Richard Huntley, replacing Bettis, had 52 yards in 21 carries.