Steelers pummel Texans, 38-17
He took the handoff with about four minutes to go in the third quarter and encountered a Houston Texans player at the line of scrimmage.
Willie Parker, looking spry as ever, did a couple of jukes and left Fred Bennett standing flat-footed as he flashed past the Texans' cornerback on the way to a 32-yard run.
No play better summed up how bad the Steelers made the Texans look on a resplendent day at Heinz Field.
Parker rushed for 138 yards and a career-high three touchdowns, and a suffocating defense powered them to a 38-17 win in front of an announced crowd of 64,001.
The Steelers were so dominant in winning their sixth consecutive season opener that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger traded in his football helmet for a baseball cap prior to the start of the fourth quarter.
Roethlisberger completed 13-of-14 passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns before giving way to backup Byron Leftwich. Among the many positives to come out of the game for the Steelers: they didn't delve too deeply into their playbook and didn't show much to the rival Browns, whom they play next Sunday in Cleveland.
"We still have a lot of things we could have used," Roethlisberger said.
The play-calling may have been the only area in which the Steelers held back Sunday.
They sacked Matt Schaub fives times and intercepted the Texans' quarterback twice. Pro Bowl linebacker James Harrison sacked Schaub three times, and LaMarr Woodley, who lines up opposite Harrison, had a unique hat trick.
Making his first career start, Woodley recorded a sack, recovered a fumble and made an interception that set up a Steelers' touchdown in the second quarter.
Woodley, a converted defensive end, knocked down a Schaub pass with his left forearm and then caught the ball and returned it 6 yards.
He had good reason to keep the ball -- it was his first interception at any level.
It was the kind of day for the Steelers -- and for the Texans, who left Heinz Field in a daze.
"Any time you lose and the other team is taking out their starters in the fourth quarter, it's embarrassing," Texans defensive tackle Travis Johnson said.
The turning point in the game came early enough that late-arriving fans may have missed it.
After Houston opened the game by stringing together a couple of first downs, Texans coach Gary Kubiak opted to go for it on fourth down and less than a yard from the Steelers' 48.
The Steelers stopped Schaub inches short of the first-down marker on a quarterback sneak. Eight plays later, Parker scored the Steelers' first touchdown of the season on a 7-yard scamper.
"After that, it just snowballed," defensive end Aaron Smith said. "This is a game of momentum."
The Steelers held an emotional tribute to Myron Cope, Ernie Holmes and Dwight White before the game, and it included fans holding up Terrible Towels during a moment of silence for the two former players and iconic broadcaster.
The Steelers gave fans plenty of reasons to wave their towels during the game, as they dominated the Texans in every phase and were anything but overmatched along the offensive line.
The line allowed Parker, who showed no lingering effects from the broken leg that ended his 2007 season, to gash the Texans for 5.5 yards a carry and for Roethlisberger to turn in a passer rating that exceeded 100 for the 25th time in his career.
"The only team that can beat us is us, and that's how we feel. It's the confidence we have in our offense," said wide receiver Hines Ward, who caught both of Roethlisberger's touchdown passes. "If we get all 11 guys on the same page, we feel like we can go out there and play with anybody."
