NEW YORK, 16 November 2004 — Ben Roethlisberger became the first rookie quarterback in 34 years to start a season with seven straight wins and Jerome Bettis got two touchdowns as the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cleveland Browns 24-10 on Sunday.
Pittsburgh (8-1) won the latest battle in the fierce AFC North Division rivalry that saw linebacker Joey Porter fighting with Browns running back William Green during pre-game drills. The two players were ejected before the game began.
After the 104th game between the rivals the Steelers remain the NFL’s hottest team with Bettis scoring on TD runs of one and five yards as he gained 103 yards on 29 carries.
He was starting in place of injured Duce Staley for the second straight week.
Safety Russell Stuvaints ran a Jeff Garcia fumbled in from 24 yards for the other Pittsburgh TD and Jeff Reed kicked a 20-yard field goal, while Roethlisberger went 10-of-16 for 134 yards and also rushed 41 yards.
Garcia went 7-for-16 for 110 yards, was sacked four times and threw an interception before Kelly Holcomb replaced him with nine minutes left and the Steelers up by three touchdowns.
Holcomb then threw Cleveland’s lone TD with a 7-yard pass to Aaron Shea.
In the night game, Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes and Adam Vinatieri kicked five field goals to lead the New England Patriots to an easy 29-6 win over the Buffalo Bills.
Brady was 19-for-35 for 233 yards and Corey Dillon rushed for 151 yards as the defending NFL champions Patriots improved to 8-1 while winning for the 23rd time in the last 24 games. Former Patriot Drew Bledsoe was just 8-for-19 for 76 yards with three interceptions and was sacked twice.
The Bills slipped to 3-6 with the loss and were never in the game, trailing 20-0 at the half.
In St. Louis, Jeff Wilkins kicked three field goals, including a 47-yard marker in the third quarter, to help the Rams to a 23-12 win over the Seahawks.
Marshall Faulk ran for 139 yards and Isaac Bruce hauled in seven receptions for 104 yards to help the Rams improve to 5-4.
In Jacksonville, Jimmy Smith caught a 36-yard pass to cap an 11 play drive in overtime to give the Jaguars a 23-17 win over the Detroit Lions.
David Garrard threw for 198 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Jaguars, who gave up a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter.
New Orleans beat Kansas City 27-20, Indianapolis trounced Houston 49-14, Atlanta defeated Tampa Bay 24-14, Chicago edged Tennessee 19-17 in overtime and Baltimore downed the New York Jets 20-17 in overtime.
In the late afternoon games, Rudi Johnson rushed for 102 yards and scored a touchdown to push Cincinnati past Washington 17-10, Emmitt Smith ran for a pair of touchdowns to lead Arizona to a 17-14 win over the New York Giants, Muhsin Muhammad scored three touchdowns to help Carolina rally to a 37-27 win over San Francisco and Green Bay edged Minnesota 34-31.
