STEELERS For first time, Maddox begins season as starting quarterback

Pittsburgh's offensive leader is the NFL's least-experienced veteran.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Tommy Maddox has taken perhaps the most peculiar and circuitous route to an NFL quarterback's job ever, a journey through seven teams, three leagues and two decades that finally wound up in Pittsburgh.
Today, the league's most inexperienced 32-year-old veteran will be no different than the 22-year-old kid quarterback, Kyle Boller, standing in the rival Baltimore Ravens' huddle.
Each will start an NFL opener for the first time. Each will lead a team that envisions owning the AFC North championship when the Ravens and Steelers meet again to close the season Dec. 28.
Maddox can relate to Boller and has a good idea what is whirling through his mind -- all those confusing thoughts about checkoffs and corner blitzes and cover-2s. Eleven years ago, Maddox also was a whiz-kid, first-round QB who played extensively in Denver when John Elway was hurt. He knows how overwhelming everything can be to a rookie.
Increased speed
"The opening weekend of the NFL, even for guys who have been playing for a long time, the speed of the game picks up," Maddox said. "Everybody's going to be excited and flying around. Those are the things you're going to have to deal with and overcome."
When the teams met in final week of last season, a come-from-behind 36-33 Steelers victory in Pittsburgh, the Ravens were without injured star linebacker Ray Lewis.
Now, the Steelers are trying to get by without their best defensive player, Joey Porter, who was shot last weekend and won't return for several weeks.
The Ravens weren't quite the same last year after Lewis went down early with an injured shoulder, finishing 7-9, their first losing record under coach Brian Billick.
The Steelers feel comfortable plugging in their most skilled backup, Clark Haggans, to replace Porter at linebacker, but Billick cautioned there's nothing like the real thing.
"You just don't pull an outstanding player out of the lineup and say it's business as usual," Billick said.
Quarterback rotation
Still, it's apparently all right with Billick to pull the quarterback with regularity. Boller is Baltimore's ninth starting quarterback under Billick and the fifth in five seasons to start the opener.
Billick understands he's taking a huge risk. Of the 59 quarterbacks drafted in the first round since 1970, only one -- Dan Marino with the 1983 Dolphins -- led his team to the playoffs as a rookie starter.
Elway guided the Broncos to a 14-10 victory in Pittsburgh in his first game exactly 20 years ago this week, but Steve DeBerg was Denver's starter when the playoffs arrived.
"The biggest challenge will be staying calm and composed," said Boller, the former Cal star who beat out Chris Redman during training camp. "There's always going to be adversity. They're going to blitz me, so I have to be prepared for all situations. ... But I still have to take snaps, read defenses. It's still football."
If it's a Ravens-Steelers game, that means a lot of jabbering -- even if Pittsburgh's most prolific trash talker, Porter, is sidelined. There were the usual back-and-forth verbal exchanges before the game, and even Billick got into the act.
Billick's boast
Last month, the Ravens' Web site reported Billick told 700 fans at an Aug. 13 benefit dinner his team would win the division by beating the Steelers in the final game of the season. Not surprisingly, the story was picked up by the Pittsburgh media.
Billick took exception to that, saying, "I can say stupid enough [stuff] on my own. I don't need you guys to make stuff up."
His actual comments, he said, were it would be great if the two teams closed the season by playing for the title.
No matter the locale, the Ravens have trouble beating the Steelers, losing four straight over the last two seasons. Steelers receiver Plaxico Burress had much to do with that, making 20 catches for 327 yards and four touchdowns in the four games.
Still, even though Burress and Hines Ward were among the NFL's top five receivers last season, Ravens cornerback Chris McAlister said, "Not to insult their receiving corps, but I don't think they're the best we'll face all year."
The Steelers weren't quite as talkative before the game, perhaps because their opening day record is nothing to shout about. They've been outscored 67-17 while losing their last three openers and have won only three of their last 10 openers under coach Bill Cowher.