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Sterling Steelers Pittsburgh rolls to 38-10 preseason victory against Dallas
IRVING, Texas (AP) -- For their first two quarters of the preseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers showed what they hope will be midseason form. Rookie receiver Plaxico Burress made several big plays as the Steelers scored on five of eight first-half drives and got a touchdown from cornerback Deshea Townsend to beat the Dallas Cowboys 38-10 on Sunday night. Pittsburgh led 14-10 when both teams used frontline players, then broke things open as soon as the second-teamers took over. Pittsburgh outscored Dallas 31-3 in the second quarter, with 24 of the points coming off four turnovers. Neither team scored in the second half. "We took advantage of some things Dallas gave us," Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher said. "We had some big plays. We had no turnovers and few penalties. Those were the things that were most pleasing to me." The blowout spoiled the debut of Cowboys coach Dave Campo. His consolation is that he still has five weeks to prepare for the debut that counts. "I'm not concerned," Campo said. "I'm not happy with the score, but it's not the No. 1 goal. There's going to be individual performances that were good." Both teams suffered serious injuries. Pittsburgh's Destry White dislocated his right ankle and broke his right leg, likely ending his season. Dallas lost tight end Mike Lucky to a knee injury, safety Sean Key broke two bones in his right leg and cornerback Kareem Larrimore broke his right hand. Burress, Pittsburgh's top pick, was impressive from the start. He caught four passes for 60 yards and a touchdown and drew another 37 in penalties, most of them setting up another touchdown. Burress showed he can take advantage of his 6-foot-5 frame, reaching over smaller cornerbacks for two catches -- including a 2-yarder in the end zone. Cowher was most impressed by a short pass Burress turned into a 24-yard gain by running over Dallas' top pick, cornerback Dwayne Goodrich. "That one catch was a great catch," Cowher said. "He caught it and then he did some nice running after it. He did some good things. He was a factor out there." Burress, though, also showed some of his cocky side. He followed his touchdown by spiking the ball near the cornerback he beat, drawing a 15-yard penalty for taunting. Townsend first made himself noticed with a jarring hit on Randall Cunningham that helped force him to the bench after one series. Townsend then intercepted third-stringer Paul Justin twice, returning the first 22 yards for a score. 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 3 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. His second drive was more typical of Dallas' offseason changes: 25-yard pass to newly acquired Joey Galloway, 23-yarder to Raghib Ismail, 5-yard dump to Thomas and a 1-yard touchdown run by Chris Warren, filling in for the injured Emmitt Smith. That made it 14-10 and sent the regulars to the bench. "We moved the ball well and put it in the end zone," Aikman said. "With a limited number of snaps, you have to be happy with that. We used an offensive game plan that was scaled back, but I feel we executed well for the most part." Aikman finished 6-of-7 for 83 yards. Cunningham played only one series and went 1-of-4 for 7 yards, but scrambled for 21 yards. Justin, signed to be the backup before Cunningham became available, played five series and had three interceptions, a fumbled handoff and a three-and-out series. Second-year receivers Wane McGarity and Chris Brazzell both had several drops and didn't make plays that could've avoided interceptions. Rookie cornerbacks Mario Edwards and Goodrich were beat several times -- mainly by Burress. "Those guys have to see things and be under pressure," Campo said. "That's something we have to build on." Kordell Stewart was 5-of-9 for 101 yards, including a screen that Amos Zereoue turned into a 31-yard touchdown. Kent Graham threw two touchdowns, including a 29-yarder to Malcolm Johnson. Dallas made it 14-10 on a 48-yard field goal by Tim Seder, who left his job as a high school teacher to try making the NFL. Pittsburgh's Kris Brown, who grew up a few miles from Texas Stadium, answered with a 44-yarder that made it 17-10.
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