NFL EXHIBITION Steelers roll to first win routing Houston, 38-3

Tommy Maddox and Ben Roethlisberger each had two scoring drives.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
PITTSBURGH -- The third-year Houston Texans offered little resistance in Saturday's NFL exhibition game at Heinz Field.
Quarterbacks Tommy Maddox and Ben Roethlisberger each engineered two scoring drives in the first half as the Steelers cruised to a 38-3 victory over the NFL's most-recent addition.
Maddox completed four of the seven passes for 80 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Hines Ward halfway through the first quarter.
Led 24-3 at intermission
Touchdown runs by Jerome Bettis (1 yard) and Verron Haynes (2 yards) plus a 28-yard field goal by Jeff Reed put the Steelers (1-1) comfortably ahead 24-3 at intermission.
"I am very disappointed in the way we played in the first half," Texans (1-1) coach Dom Capers said. "The Steelers were more ready to play than us. The disappointing thing to me is we played really well last week."
The Steelers' top defenders limited the Texans to 8 yards rushing in the first half.
Got plenty of work
Roethlisberger, who played deep into the third quarter, completed 8 of 14 passes for 132 yards.
The first-round draft pick out of Miami University also threw a third-quarter interception, then led the Steelers to a 67-yard scoring drive capped by Dante Brown's 1-yard touchdown for a 31-3 lead.
On the Steelers' first series, Maddox hit Ward for a 21-yard pickup on a third-and-6 play, but the drive stalled at midfield.
The Steelers' starting defense held the Texans to 0 yards gained on their first three plays (two Tony Hollings runs and an incomplete David Carr pass).
On the Steelers' second possession, the Texans couldn't handle the Maddox and Ward combination. Ward's 29-yard reception to the Houston 9 set up Maddox's touchdown toss for a 7-0 lead.
The Texans fared worse on their second possession, with two penalties pushing them back to the 8. Two runs and a Carr pass to Jarrod Baxter netted 2 lost yards.
"[On] the first two drives, we had bad field positions and we made some mental mistakes," said Carr, the NFL's top draft pick in 2002. "These are things we can fix. We still need to mature a little as an offense."
Bettis impressive
The Steelers quickly pounced for a 14-0 lead. Following Maddox's 26-yard pass to wide receiver Plaxico Burress, Bettis ripped off gains of 14, 10 and 5 yards to set up his touchdown.
Carr produced Houston's only success early in the second quarter, moving the ball 78 yards to set up former Steelers kicker Kris Brown's 23-yard field goal.
Thanks to a heads-up play by wide receiver Antwaan Randle El, Roethlisberger produced a 77-yard scoring drive in his Heinz Field debut.
Randel El makes big play
His first pass was a desperation heave way short of its intended target, but Randle El held up his pattern to knock the ball into the air. He then pulled it in as Texans strong safety Eric Brown tackled his legs for a 38-yard pickup at the Houston 8.
Three plays later, Haynes cut sharply to the right for a 2-yard touchdown and 21-3 lead.
Roethlisberger marched the Steelers 70 yards to another score, Reed's field goal as the first half expired.
Bettis finished with 48 yards on 10 carries. Ward caught three passes for 54 yards. Randle El also had three receptions for 62 yards.
In the first half, the Steelers limited Hollings to 10 yards on eight carries. Carr completed 7 of 10 passes for 67 yards.
Texans backup quarterback Tony Banks completed six of seven tosses for 30 yards.
williams@vindy.com