Townsend and Burress Pace Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers had a tough time choosing the best part of their exhibition opener Sunday night: the performance of cornerback Deshea Townsend or rookie receiver Plaxico Burress.

For the Dallas Cowboys, the difficult part was finding anything that went right.

Townsend had two interceptions, returning one 22 yards for a touchdown, and Burress caught four passes for 60 yards and a touchdown and set up another as the Steelers drilled the Cowboys, 38-10, at Irving, Texas.

Pittsburgh led, 14-10, when both teams used frontline players, then the Steelers broke things open as soon as the second-teamers took over. They outscored Dallas, 31-3, in the second quarter, getting 24 of the points off four turnovers to ruin the debut of Coach Dave Campo. Neither team scored in the second half.

Townsend broke things open with an interception return that made the score 24-10 with 4:53 left until halftime. The Steelers added two more touchdowns before halftime on a 29-yard pass Kent Graham to Malcom Johnson and a two-yarder to Burress.

Burress, Pittsburgh’s top draft pick, came in on the second series and Kordell Stewart went to him on three of the next six snaps.

Dallas showed little of the new offense it’s breaking in, unless the new plan emphasizes linebacker-turned-fullback Robert Thomas. He caught three of Troy Aikman’s six completions for 21 yards and he ran once for three yards.

Aikman’s first possession ended when he lost a fumble on a blind-side sack caused by left tackle Flozell Adams missing a block.

Dimitrius Underwood had a decent performance for the Cowboys in his first game since last exhibition season with Miami.

The talented but troubled lineman had a sack and several pressures, but also was forced away from the action several times.

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Ty Detmer stole the spotlight from Courtney Brown’s NFL debut, throwing two touchdown passes as the Cleveland Browns defeated the Philadelphia Eagles, 33-22, in an exhibition at Cleveland.

Detmer completed 12 of 14 passes for 128 yards and directed three touchdown drives for Cleveland, all against Eagle reserves.

He capped a 53-yard drive late in the first half by throwing a two-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Mark Campbell that put Cleveland ahead 14-10 with 1:56 left.

The good news for Philadelphia was its starters outperformed their Cleveland counterparts.

The Eagle defense held the Browns to 25 yards of offense in the first quarter.

Brown, the first overall pick in the draft, started the game but had no tackles.

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One day after St. Louis scrimmaged the Tennessee Titans, Ram Coach Mike Martz had good news and bad news regarding his injured players.

On the bright side, defensive tackle D’Marco Farr will be ready for practice this week, along with defensive end Grant Wistrom, running back Derek Loville and starting left guard Tom Nutton.

However, punter Rick Tuten is out because of a muscle strain and will not punt at all this week, and Martz said the Rams are looking to bring in a veteran punter.

Running back Trung Canidate, the first-round draft pick who suffered a high ankle sprain Friday, was thought to be out for two weeks. Recovery time has been increased to four to six weeks, Martz said. That puts Canidate out of commission for the start of the regular season.

Rookie tackle and fourth-round pick Kaulana Noa, who dislocated his wrist Friday, appears to be out for three months, instead of six weeks as originally thought.

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New York Jet quarterback Vinny Testaverde was getting high marks a day after passing his first test. “I’ve seen this coming in practice as his game has gotten sharper,” Jet Coach Al Groh said Sunday after Saturday night’s 24-20 victory over New Orleans.

Testaverde, playing for the first time since returning from an Achilles’ tendon injury, completed five of nine passes for 131 yards.

“He gave me good reason to anticipate that kind of performance. I was pleased for him that this could be a source of real confidence to him.”

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The Jacksonville Jaguars’ ailing offensive line got more bad news when it was learned that right tackle Zach Wiegert strained a ligament in his left elbow during practice. . . . Linebacker Kivuusama Mays, a special teams standout, was waived by Green Bay. Mays was acquired by the Packers in mid-December after being waived by the Minnesota Vikings.