A Day of Spit and Polish

The Pittsburgh Steelers, fresh off upset victories over two previously unbeaten teams, were in prime position for a letdown. For that reason, a lot of people saw Sunday’s matchup against the underachieving Cleveland Browns as a dreaded “trap game.”

Turns out, it was.

The Browns opened their trap. The Steelers shut it for them.

“As far as all the comments that were made leading up to this game, we do our speaking on the field,” said Pittsburgh Coach Bill Cowher, whose team tightened its grip on first place in the AFC North with a 24-10 victory at Cleveland Browns Stadium. “We’ll just leave it at that.”

Almost four hours after kickoff, Cowher was still steaming about a pregame scuffle between the teams during warmups that led to the ejection of Cleveland running back William Green and Pittsburgh linebacker Joey Porter. The two exchanged words, then punches, before teammates stepped between them. Green left with a bloody mouth.

A rumor spread in the press box that Green started things by spitting on Porter.

“Nah,” said Pittsburgh receiver Hines Ward, who had an up-close view, “both of them were talking and spit came out of both their mouths. Then after that, the guy [Green] tried to head-butt him and the whole altercation started.”

Regardless of who was to blame, the Steelers (8-1) got the last laugh -- and another place in the record books for their sensational rookie quarterback. Ben Roethlisberger became the first rookie quarterback since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 to win his first seven starts.

Typically, Roethlisberger didn’t make a big deal of the record. He quickly deflected praise to his defense, offensive line and running back Jerome Bettis, who rushed for 103 yards in 29 carries, his second consecutive 100-yard game. Talking about himself isn’t Big Ben’s game.

That’s part humility on Roethlisberger’s part, and part common sense. In the week leading up to the game, he got a reminder of how brash words can backfire. Cleveland defensive tackle Gerard Warren had boasted he planned to hit Roethlisberger “across the head,” and espoused his heartwarming motto: “Kill the head, and the body’s dead.” League officials said they’d be watching Warren on every play, ready to suspend him at the first hint of malfeasance. The Steelers were silent -- almost as silent as Warren was during his one-tackle performance Sunday.

Cowher said his entire team was inspired by Warren’s taunt.

“I have a lot of respect for a lot of the people on their football team over there,” he said. “It’s just sad there’s a few players who give it a very poor reflection.”

Asked whether he thought Warren should have kept his mouth closed, Cleveland quarterback Jeff Garcia let the question sink in for a moment, then carefully chose his words.

“I don’t think it’s ever good to add fuel to the fire,” he said. “That’s all I have to say on that.”

Garcia, replaced by Kelly Holcomb in the fourth quarter, was far more talkative when it came to panning the offense of Cleveland (3-6), which mustered 228 total yards and converted only two of 10 third downs.

“Turnovers, penalties -- you name it, we do it -- unfortunately in the wrong way,” said Garcia, who was sacked four times and hurried at least 11 more. He completed seven of 16 passes for 110 yards with an interception, finishing with a woeful quarterback rating of 41.1. (But not as bad as his 0.0 rating against Dallas.)

“I don’t think we’ve done the best job we can do to best utilize the way I play the game,” said Garcia, 34, who signed a four-year, $25-million deal last spring.

The Steelers, meanwhile, seem to be reaching their potential each week. Before defeating the Browns, they had knocked off New England and Philadelphia to become the first team in league history to beat 6-0 teams in consecutive weeks.

The Steelers got off to a bumpy start against the Browns. Not only did they lose Porter, which figured to be much more painful to them than losing Green would be to Cleveland, but they surrendered a 74-yard return on the opening kickoff. The Steeler defense applied the clamps, though, and held the Browns to no first downs and a 31-yard field goal on their opening drive.

Then, on Roethlisberger’s first pass, he tried to hit Ward deep, but the receiver’s feet got tangled with those of cornerback Daylon McCutcheon. Ward fell, McCutcheon kept his balance and made the interception to give Cleveland the ball at their 27. Again, the Steeler defense came through, barely allowing the Browns to cross midfield.

The Steelers are getting the job done with talent and depth. Bettis is the backup to Duce Staley, who should be recovered enough from a hamstring injury to play Sunday at Cincinnati. And second-string linebacker James Harrison didn’t learn until 15 minutes before kickoff that he’d be starting in place of the ejected Porter. Harrison finished with a team-high six tackles, a sack and, Cowher said, “played a whale of a game.”

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Great Starts

Longest winning streaks for quarterbacks to begin career (since 1971, according to STATS Inc.):

*--* Quarterback Team Wins Years Mike Tomczak Chicago 10 1986-87 Ben Roethlisberger* Pittsburgh 7 2004 Daunte Culpepper Minnesota 7 2000 Dieter Brock** L.A. Rams 7 1985 Marc Bulger St. Louis 6 2002 Kurt Warner St. Louis 6 1999 Mike Kruczek* Pittsburgh 6 1976

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*Rookie; **Played in CFL before moving to NFL.