Steelers put 38-7 hurt on Ravens

PITTSBURGH -- On a night when the Pittsburgh Steelers brought back some of the greatest players in their 75-year history -- Terry Bradshaw, Lynn Swann, Joe Greene, Jerome Bettis and others -- the club also treated the Baltimore Ravens to another blast from the past.

The Ben Roethlisberger of old.

The same quarterback who accounted for five turnovers in his last two games against Baltimore threw a career-high five touchdown passes in the first half Monday to power the Steelers to a 38-7 victory at Heinz Field.

No player has bounced back from a forgettable 2006 like Roethlisberger, who has not only directed the Steelers (6-2) to the top of the AFC North but already has a career-best 20 touchdown passes. Only Tom Brady has more with 33.

A season removed from his league-leading 23 interceptions, Roethlisberger again has to be considered one of the NFL’s elite quarterbacks.

“He was spectacular, but at the same time, he did what he’s done this year,” Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin said. “He created things when plays broke down. He made great decisions. He threw accurate passes.”

There was no questioning that against the Ravens (4-4), when Roethlisberger shrugged off sporadic downpours -- and would-be tacklers -- and delivered touchdown after rapid-fire touchdown. He had some help in the form of four first-half turnovers by the Ravens. With the Terrible Towel-twirling crowd shaking the stadium to its pilings, the Steelers mounted short-field touchdown drives of 20, 28, 36, 50 and 44 yards.

Roethlisberger suffered an apparent hip pointer in the third quarter, but it is not regarded as a serious injury. He left for a series then returned the next -- “I came back for my offensive line,” he said -- before stepping aside for backup Charlie Batch.

Along the way, Pittsburgh handed out some old-fashioned pain. Hines Ward, arguably the best blocking receiver in football, blasted two of Baltimore’s toughest defenders, linebacker Bart Scott and safety Ed Reed, then was caught on camera laughing to himself.

“I had some good hits,” Ward said. “It felt good to hit some of the Baltimore Ravens. Because they won our division last year, and the championship of our division goes through them, and we were the more physical team today.”

That wasn’t the case last season, when Baltimore swept the series with victories of 27-0 and 31-7.

“The first game we played there, we couldn’t protect anybody,” Ward said. “Ben was black and blue after that game. So that’s all we kept thinking - 58-7, that was the total points of those games. So that’s what we stressed. It’s not about the talent or Xs and O’s, it’s about who’s more physical.”

No one was more physical than Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison, whose effort included nine tackles, 3 1/2 sacks, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and an interception.

The Ravens couldn’t get anything going on offense. Before being replaced by Kyle Boller in the fourth quarter, Steve McNair had completed 13 of 22 passes for 63 yards with an interception and two fumbles, and had been sacked five times.

Baltimore’s Willis McGahee led all rushers with 50 yards in 12 carries but was knocked out of the game with an undisclosed injury in the second half.

In a brief news conference, Coach Brian Billick said he would tell his players “just not to try to dwell on it” and move on.

“There’s not much you can do,” he said. “You just have days like that. I won’t try to justify it, I won’t try to explain it. You saw the game. We can’t do the kind of things that we did.”

Likewise, not many defensive players can do what Harrison did. Asked if he has ever coached a linebacker who has had that kind of game, Tomlin said, “I’d be hard pressed to say that I have.”

Harrison helped Pittsburgh improve to 12-0 on Monday night at home.

So what was the motivation?

“Hey,” Tomlin said, “it’s a football game, it’s Monday Night Football, we had the 75th anniversary, the all-time team here. Pick one.”

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sam.farmer@latimes.com