My Hines Ward Blog

The Pittsburgh Steelers started the 2007 season off properly defeating Cleveland 34-7. The Steelers dominated Cleveland in every aspect of this game. The Browns never really had a chance.

Pittsburgh scored early and often against the Browns. Cleveland went 3 and out on their first possession. Cleveland looked as Brownesque as ever on a 4th down punt in which 4 penalties were called against Cleveland on a single play. The Steelers first possession began on Cleveland's 32 yard line. A couple of plays later Big Ben found Hines Ward in the corner of the end zone. Ward made an acrobatic catch to give The Burgh an early 7-0 lead. Cleveland's next possession didn't go any better for them. Deshea Townsend intercepted Charlie Frye and returned the pick 21 yards to the Cleveland 17 yard line. The Steelers had to settle for 3 this time, as Jeff Reed converted on his first field goal of the season to make it 10-0 Steelers.

The Steelers weren't content with 10 first quarter points. The first play after recovering a Jamal Lewis fumble, Big Ben found a Santonio Holmes wide open on a play action pass. Roethlisberger and Holmes connected for a 40-yard score. At the end of the 1st quarter it was 17-0 Steelers.

Both offenses struggled for the majority of the 2nd quarter. Pittsburgh was plagued by dropped pass syndrome. Fortunately Cleveland didn't do any better. Charlie Frye was benched after starting the game 4/10 for 34 yards with 1 int. His replacement Derek Anderson looked equally baffled by the Steelers D. By the 2nd quarter the Steeler Defense had already recorded 6 sacks by 6 different players. At half-time the score was still 17-0 Steelers.

The Steelers got their offense back on track early in the 3rd quarter. After a 23 yard completion to Ward, and a 23 yard Willie Parker Run; Roethlisberger found Matt Spaeth in the end zone to make it 24-0 Steelers. Cleveland was able to gain some momentum on their next possession. After a couple of Kellen Winslow receptions, Anderson found fullback Lawrence Vickers for a 1 yd touchdown pass. Cleveland finally got on the scoreboard making it 24-7 Pittsburgh.

The Steelers retaliated quickly though. Roethlisberger found Ward wide open across the middle of the field for a 22 yard gain. A couple of plays later, Cleveland got embarrassed by Najeh Davenport. Davenport caught a dump pass on 3rd down, and he was wrapped up well before the first-down marker; however Najeh was on a mission breaking 4 tackles en route to another Steeler first down. Roethlisberger then found Heath Miller for a 23 yard touchdown pass making it 31-7 Steelers. Jeff Reed tacked on one more field goal to make it 34-7 Steelers. Game Over.

Roethlisberger finished the game 12 of 23 for 161 yards and 4 touchdown passes. Roethlisberger set a career record with 4 TD passes. Fast Willie rushed for 109 yards on 27 carries. Hines Ward hauled in 3 passes for 51 yards. The Steeler defense smothered the Browns. Neither Frye nor Anderson looked comfortable against Pittsburgh. Brady Quinn looked visibly nervous on the sideline holding a clip board as well. Pittsburgh soundly defeated Cleveland in week 1.

Chris Cullinan writes for the Steeler Maniacs blog at http://www.SteelerManiacs.com Steeler Maniacs is a fansite for die-hard Steeler Fans.