1998

Bills 13
Pittsburgh 24

Attendance: 51,315

PITTSBURGH (AP) Jahine Arnold's return to the Pittsburgh Steelers proved much more successful than Doug Flutie's return to the NFL.

Arnold, not assured of making the season-opening roster, set up the Steelers' first three scores with two long kickoff returns and a reception in a 24-13 exhibition victory over the Buffalo Bills on Saturday night.

Buffalo's regulars played evenly with Pittsburgh's in Wade Phillips' return as an NFL head coach, gaining a 10-all halftime tie as $25 million quarterback Rob Johnson hit his first seven passes.

Johnson, who played the entire half because he is still learning Phillips' system, was 8-of-13 for 75 yards.

``To play your first game in nine months and come out and do something right away makes you feel good,'' said Johnson, who started only one game at Jacksonville before signing with the Bills.

But the Bills' offense shut down in the second half as Flutie took over, managing only three points as fourth-team Steelers quarterback Pete Gonzalez was leading consecutive touchdown drives.

Flutie, the 36-year-old Heisman Trophy winner from Boston College who has spent most of the 1990s playing in Canada, was frequently flushed out of the pocket to deliver hurried passes while going 6-of-12 for 44 yards.

Flutie had to scramble on his first snap, rolling out nearly 20 yards to his right to throw incomplete as he was nearly sacked for a huge loss. Most of his completions were to his running backs for short gains.

``I felt very comfortable the whole time,'' said Flutie, who holds many CFL career passing records. ``My worst nightmare came true because the headsets went out. I'm out there with no headsets and an offense I'm not totally comfortable with.''

Phillips wasn't critical of Flutie, saying, ``He showed some good things, he moved around and made some plays. That's what we expect from Doug.''

Still, Gonzalez, whose 30 touchdown passes last season for Pitt rank second in school history to Dan Marino's 37, was far more effective as he continued to press for a roster spot.

He was 6-of-11 for 116 yards and a 9-yard touchdown pass to rookie Hines Ward in the third quarter that put the Steelers ahead 24-10.

``I didn't even think I had a chance at the NFL until last year,'' said Gonzalez, who started only one season at Pitt. ``It's still hard for me to believe I'm playing for one of the best teams in the league.''

On the Steelers' first possession after halftime, Gonzalez found Arnold for 26 yards and again for 44 yards to set up George Jones' go-ahead 4-yard touchdown run with only 2:58 gone in the third quarter.

Arnold also had kickoff returns of 51 and 44 yards to give the Steelers excellent field position, leading to Jerome Bettis' 3-yard TD run with 1:07 left in the first quarter and Norm Johnson's 29-yard field goal.

``I was pleased to get the opportunity to get back in there and show what I can do,'' said Arnold, who sat out last season with a knee injury. ``I'm just glad to be back. The bottom line is making plays. This is a good opportunity for me.''

Henry Bailey, expected to compete with Arnold to be the kickoff returner, broke an ankle last week against Tampa Bay and is out for the season.

``There's a lot of depth here, especially at wide receiver,'' Arnold said. ``I'm just trying to get a spot anywhere. I don't care if it's wide receiver, kickoff returner, whatever, I'll take it.''

The long kickoff returns were a turnabout for the Pittsburgh's special teams, which ranked near the bottom in every return category last season even as the Steelers reached the AFC championship game.

``I figured Pittsburgh would be ahead of us, especially on special teams, because because we played all of our rookies there,'' Phillips said. ``That hurt us in the first half.''

The Steelers' offensive starters played better but not much longer than they did in last week's 30-6 loss to Tampa Bay, with Kordell Stewart going 2-of-4 for 12 yards in his only series. Bettis had six carries for 18 yards.

``They teased us, then they got us out of there,'' Stewart said.

Mike Quinn, an NFL Europe star competing with Mike Tomczak to back up Stewart, followed Stewart and was 5-of-8 for 53 yards. Tomczak again sat out with a hamstring injury.

Phillips, the former Denver Broncos' coach, was the Bills' defensive coordinator before succeeding the retired Marv Levy, who watched as the analyst for Buffalo's preseason TV network.

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