STEELERS SHUT OUT BUFFALO IN BIG BEN’S RETURN

Ben Roethlisberger looked sharp in his return to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ lineup from injury, while the Buffalo Bills offense continued to sputter as the Steelers topped the visiting Bills 17-0 in NFL preseason action.  Roethlisberger finished with 168 yards on 15 for 19 passing as Pittsburgh put 17 points on the board for the shutout.  The victory improved Pittsburgh’s NFL preseason record to 2-1, while Buffalo dropped to 1-3 and hardly looked like a team that has had the benefit of an extra preseason contest.

NFL football betting enthusiasts who backed the Steelers cashed their tickets as Pittsburgh covered the -6 price as home favorites.  The Steelers are now 2-1 against the number in the NFL preseason, while Buffalo dropped to 1-2-1 ATS.  The 17 points went UNDER the total of 36 and represented the Steelers’ third UNDER in three games.  Oddly enough for a team that’s had trouble producing on offense, the game was the Bills first UNDER verdict of the preseason against three OVERs. 

Roethlisberger was pleased with his performance based on his postgame comments:

"I was really proud of the way the guys were able to move the ball and ... change some plays at the line of scrimmage. We made some mistakes early, but then we drove down the field."

Bills’ coach Dick Jauron was less pleased with the showing of his troops:

"We've got a lot of issues that we've got to solve. We've got to solve them very quickly."

Buffalo QB Trent Edwards credited the stout Pittsburgh defense which has yet to give up a touchdown in three NFL preseason games:

"That's a great defense. They're very talented. On our side, we didn't get the job done. We left our defense on the field too long. ... It is frustrating, but the thing is we have a lot to learn. We're still fighting and it's still early."

The Bills were without their star free agent wide receiver Terrell Owens who missed his third straight game with a sprained toe.  The team has already announced that “TO” won’t play in their final preseason contest.  With their receiver corps depleted due to injury, Josh Reed shared much of his QB’s frustration:

"Frustrating. I feel like we're a much better offense than we showed tonight. It's still the preseason, but we still want to come out and give a better effort than it felt like we gave tonight."

Still, Reed wasn’t about to say his team was in a state of panic:

"I'll say we have more of a sense of urgency than panic. We've got to make sure everyone's still on the same page and nobody's down. We've got to keep everybody up and keep pushing."

Buffalo will conclude their NFL preseason by hosting the Detroit Lions on Thursday night.  Pittsburgh will travel to Charlotte, NC for a game against the Carolina Panthers on the same evening.  The Bills will open the NFL regular season on Monday night, September 14th in Foxboro, Massachusetts against the New England Patriots.  The Steelers will get their 2009 NFL regular season underway several days earlier, hosting the Tennessee Titans on Thursday, September 10th.