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Steelers stop Saints in Tomlin's debut

CANTON, Ohio (Aug. 5, 2007) -- Moments before Mike Tomlin's debut as Steelers coach, wind-blown rain was pelting the field. Suddenly, the skies cleared, the rain ceased and the stands filled.

Less than three minutes into the game, the Steelers made it feel like a warm, sunny summer afternoon for the man replacing the retired Bill Cowher.

A dominant first half made Tomlin a winner, 20-7 over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday night in the preseason opener. Just the third head coach in the last 38 years in Pittsburgh, Tomlin had to be thrilled about his team's quick getaway in the Hall of Fame game.

Ben Roethlisberger was sharp in his only series, completing two of his three throws for 73 yards to Cedrick Wilson. On a 55-yard play, Wilson got behind safety Kevin Kaesviharn, then he beat New Orleans' top cornerback, Mike McKenzie, on an 18-yard crossing pattern.

"He came up to me at practice," Wilson said of Roethlisberger, "and told me he was going to be looking for me. I appreciate that and can be thankful for that. I just want to go out and make plays for him and make sure he is one of the best quarterbacks in the league."

Najeh Davenport, starting for 1,400-yard rusher Willie Parker, bulled in from the 4 for a 7-0 lead.

Pittsburgh's first-stringers were, by far, more efficient than New Orleans' starters, who missed blocks and dropped passes on offense and couldn't handle Roethlisberger or Charlie Batch when they threw. And that was just in the first quarter.

In the first half, Pittsburgh outgained New Orleans 305-56, including 205-32 in the air.

"This is how we want to play all season," linebacker Larry Foote said of stymieing the Saints, who didn't use starting running back Deuce McAllister and gave Reggie Bush only two carries for 8 yards. "We want to be dominating this year."

The Steelers kept making big plays, particularly on passes in a more wide-open offense designed by new coordinator Bruce Arians. They made the Saints look inept in coverage at times, an unfortunate carry-over from last season for New Orleans, which allowed 16 plays of more than 40 yards in 2006 - a league high.

Along with Wilson's big gainer on the game's second play were a 38-yard screen pass to Carey Davis and a 41-yard completion from Brian St. Pierre to Santonio Holmes. St. Pierre hit Holmes on a 3-yard fade for a 14-0 edge.

That grew to 17-0 on Jeff Reed's 28-yard field goal set up by Davis' 58-yard run.

"In the first preseason game, you are finally getting a chance to go against someone else, and see where you have progressed," Saints quarterback Drew Brees said after going 1-for-6 for 6 yards. "Obviously, we still have some work to do."

But the Saints' third-stringers staged a 16-play, 72-yard drive capped by a fourth-down, 1-yard TD pass from Jason Fife to Kevin Dudley to open the second half. Pittsburgh's subs answered with a 13-play, 44-yard march to Reed's 39-yard field goal, taking up the remainder of the third period.

On hand were five of the six men inducted into the Hall of Fame on Saturday: Michael Irvin, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Matthews, Roger Wehrli and Charlie Sanders. The ailing Gene Hickerson was not in attendance.


_________NO PIT
1st Downs 13 21
Rushing 5 8
Passing 8 12
Penalty 0 1
3rd-Down Conversions 3-13 6-13
4th-Down Conversions 2-2 0-0
Punts-Average 8-45.2 4-40.5
Return Yards 101 68
Punts-Returns 2-20 4-31
Kickoffs-Returns 4-81 1-31
Int.-Returns 0-0 1-6
Penalties-Yards 5-29 3-25
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Time Of Pos. 24:03 35:57
Total Net Yards 214 413
Total Plays 54 65
Average Gain 4.0 6.4
Net Yards Rushing 82 173
Rushes 24 37
Avg. Per Rush 3.4 4.7
Net Yards Passing 132 240
Comp.-Att. 13-30 14-25
Yards Per Pass 4.4 8.6
Sacked-Yards Lost 0-0 3-13
Had Intercepted 1 0
Touchdowns 1 2
Rushing 0 1
Passing 1 1
Other 0 0
Extra Points 1-1 2-2
Field Goals 0-0 2-3
Red Zone Efficiency 1-1-100% 2-5-40%
Goal To Go Efficiency 1-1-100% 2-2-100%
Safeties 0 0

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