Steelers rescued by Reed's field goal

Pittsburgh was on its way toward a blowout in its season opener before the Raiders rallied.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
PITTSBURGH -- Despite an early 14-point lead and several opportunities to create a rout, the Pittsburgh Steelers found themselves in danger of blowing their season opener against the Oakland Raiders.
To the rescue in the final moments came quarterback Tommy Maddox, wide receiver Hines Ward and placekicker Jeff Reed.
Minutes after the Raiders tied the score on quarterback Rich Gannon's 38-yard touchdown pass to Alvis Whitted, the Steelers engineered a 10-play, 54-yard drive, capped by Reed's 42-yard field goal with seven seconds remaining for a 24-21 victory before 60,147 fans at Heinz Field.
"I knew it was good as soon as I hit it," Reed said of the game-winner. "That was probably one of the better kicks of my career -- obviously the most important of my career."
Offense delivers
Maddox and the offense shook off the impending sense of doom created by being outscored 21-7 from the first half two-minute warning through late in the fourth quarter.
"That was the exciting thing about it," Maddox said. "I'll take an ugly win over a pretty loss any day."
The Raiders agreed after Rich Gannon's 305-yard passing day.
"He made big plays, he gave us a chance to win," Raiders coach Norv Turner said of his 38-year-old quarterback who completed 20-of-37.
On the final drive, Maddox hit Ward for an 11-yard pickup, tight end Jay Riemersma for 12 yards and Ward again for 15 to set up Reed's kick.
"It wasn't pretty," Steelers coach Bill Cowher said. "We have a lot of growing to do."
Maddox completed 13-of-22 for 142 yards.
"Regardless of what [kind of] day he had, [Maddox] had a big drive on the last drive and that's where it counts," Ward said. "You can't ask more of our quarterback."
Poised for blowout
The Steelers appeared poised for a blowout after the first 20 minutes.
On their first possession, the Steelers ran 14 plays and overcame two successful replay challenges to set up the first of Jerome Bettis' three 1-yard touchdown runs.
"A problem for us was on third downs [defensively]," Turner said. "In the first drive, they went four-for-four on third downs."
Early in the second quarter, Steelers linebacker Clark Haggans knocked the ball from Gannon's grasp. Defensive end Aaron Smith scooped up the football and ran 49 yards to the Oakland 20.
"I turned the corner and ran," Smith said. "Unfortunately I didn't get to score but the biggest thing was not giving the ball back."
Five plays later, Bettis scored for a 14-0 lead.
Raiders came to life
Just after the two-minute warning, the Raiders came to life.
Steelers safety Troy Polamalu bit on Doug Gabriel's fake and the Oakland receiver raced unguarded to the Pittsburgh 5 where he hauled in Gannon's pass for a 58-yard touchdown.
Sebastian Janikowski's 28-yard field goal capped the Raiders' first possession of the second half to cut the Steelers' lead to 14-10.
After Oakland punted on its next series, Maddox hit Ward for 39 yards to the Oakland 20.
Plaxico Burress' 13-yard reception set up Bettis' final touchdown for an 11-point lead.
But Janikowski's 38-yard field goal with 10:32 brought Oakland to within 21-13 and with 5:05 remaining, Gannon's bomb plus a conversion pass to Whitted made it 21-all.
williams@vindy.com