Steelers Rediscover Their Sense of Self

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers did have something to play for in an otherwise meaningless game--themselves.

Troy Edwards scored on a 32-yard fumble return to start the second half and the Steelers, wrapping up their best regular season in 23 years, regained some pre-playoff momentum by beating the Cleveland Browns, 28-7, Sunday.

In a game that meant little to the Steelers except that it was against their biggest rival, most starters played only a half, and some--Pro Bowl picks Jerome Bettis and Alan Faneca among them--didn’t play because of injuries.

But the Steelers (13-3), already guaranteed home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs and a bye next weekend, clearly didn’t want to go into the postseason off consecutive losses to Cincinnati and Cleveland. And they played that way, dominating the Browns (7-9) even with their reserves.

Bettis’ backups, Chris Fuamatu-Ma’afala and R.J. Bowers, each ran for a touchdown behind an offensive line filled with backups. Backup quarterback Tommy Maddox, who has played little since the XFL’s one and only season, connected with Bobby Shaw on a 40-yard scoring pass after replacing Kordell Stewart in the second half.

It was a major turnaround from the week before, when the Steelers’ league-leading defense yielded 544 yards in a 26-23 overtime loss at Cincinnati.

“We didn’t want people talking about that for the next two weeks,” wide receiver Plaxico Burress said. “Now we can go into the playoffs on a high note.”

And with one of the best records in team history. The Steelers won 13 games in the regular season for only the second time. They were 14-2 in 1978.

“It’s hard to win 13 games in this league,” offensive tackle Wayne Gandy said. “But that’s the way this team was all season--all this team needed was a challenge, somebody telling us we couldn’t do something.”