2001

Bills 0
Pittsburgh 20

Attendance:   

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The officials were hardly noticed. It was the Buffalo Bills who looked like they needed replacements.  

An Alabama-dominated officiating crew headed by Ron Baynes, the NFL's assistant supervisor of officials, and referee Randal Beesley drew the fans' attention only when the Bills' Travis Brown was sacked for a 9-yard loss by Myron Bell in the third quarter and appeared to fumble.

The officials called Brown down by contact, drawing some noticeable boos and a nasty look from Steelers coach Bill Cowher, who felt the whistle was blown too quickly. But the Bills stalled after that, just as they did for most of the game, and wound up punting.

Just before that, the public-address system played "Sweet Home Alabama" -- an apparent salute to a replacement crew that featured five graduates of Alabama colleges.

"To be honest, I found myself forgetting they were out there," Steelers tight end Mark Bruener said. "They were probably more nervous than we were. I thought they were fine."

David Hettema, the umpire, was hit flush on the left side of his face by an Alex Van Pelt pass in the second quarter, but didn't appear to be shaken up.

The same can't be said of a Bills' offense that has stalled much of the preseason as it switches to a West Coast-style system. The Bills didn't cross midfield until the Steelers couldn't convert a fake punt attempt and turned the ball over at their 37 in the third quarter.

"I thought they (the officials) did a good job," Bills coach Gregg Williams said. "I was more concerned about what we were doing on the field."

That wasn't much. The Bills finally threatened when Curtis Alexander's 39-yard run early in the fourth quarter moved them inside the 10, but struggling kickerSteve Christie's 22-yard field goal attempt clanged off the right upright.

Christie later missed from the 40, this time going wide right, and finished the preseason by missing 7 of 11 attempts. His struggles could prompt the Bills to begin searching for a replacement kicker.

"We have to look at these things hard," Williams said.

Rob Johnson, still not completely comfortable with the new offense, was 2-of-4 for 23 yards and an interception. Van Pelt was 2-of-4 for 25 yards before Brown went 11-of-21 for 85 yards.

Still, Johnson said, "I felt really good out there. I think we're ready to go."

The Steelers' starters had two scoring drives that ended with Kris Brown field goals of 21 and 29 yards, and they even showed off a no-huddle offense on six or seven plays.

"But we need to get more than six (points) when we control the ball that long," offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey said. "We can get better."

Steelers quarterback Kordell Stewart was nearly as good as he was in going 12-of-15 on Saturday in a 20-7 victory over Detroit. He went 9 of 14 passes for 105 yards, including a 36-yarder to Bobby Shaw that led to Brown's first field goal.

Unlike a year ago, when Stewart was benched for Kent Graham before the opener, he completed 64 percent of his passes as the Steelers went 3-1 in the preseason. Buffalo went 2-2.

"This is the best I've felt, the most confident ... since 1997, when we got the offense going and we carried it over into the season," Stewart said. "And we got to within one game of the big game (the Super Bowl) that year."

Edwards' punt return score up the Steelers' sideline came at 8:34 of the second quarter and was one of the few highlights the last two seasons for the 1999 first-round draft pick, who will likely start the season as Plaxico Burress' backup at split end.

"He (Brian Moorman) didn't punt where wanted him to," Williams said. "We had everything set up on the other side of the field and we had a couple of missed tackles."

Tee Martin replaced Stewart and played the final three quarters, a sign the Steelers intend to cut Graham and his $1.4 million salary.

Martin, playing almost entirely with backups and players competing for roster spots, found fullback Ron Janes on an 8-yard scoring pass play late in the fourth quarter.

It was Buffalo's first preseason shutout loss since losing to Kansas City 35-0 in 1992. The Steelers shut out Carolina a year ago, and took a shutout into the final minute last week against Detroit before allowing a touchdown.

Copyright ©2001 WGBB