AP News, December 8th, 2006
Ben Roethlisberger's 49-yard touchdown pass to Nate Washington helped pace the Pittsburgh Steelers a 10-0 halftime lead over the Cleveland Browns Thursday night at chilly Heinz Field.
Roethlisberger's pass with 3:18 to play in the first quarter capped a 97-yard drive for Pittsburgh, the defending Super Bowl champion that has won three of its last four since starting 2-6.
The Steelers' Willie Parker ran for 114 yards on 18 carries.
Jeff Reed kicked a 23-yard field goal with 9:15 to play in the second quarter to extend the lead to 10-0. He also had a 35-yard attempt blocked with 3:18 left in the half.
Cleveland's best chance to score was when Phil Dawson missed a 40-yard field goal with three seconds left in the half.
Parker, who fumbled at the end of a 20-yard run midway through the second quarter, eclipsed 1,000 yards on the season on his fifth carry _ the second consecutive season he accomplished that. He is the first Steeler to do that since Jerome Bettis, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards each year from 1996-01.
He has five 100-yard rushing game this season _ all coming at Heinz Field.
Roethlisberger was 7-for-17 for 138 yards and the touchdown.
The Steelers had a 256-160 advantage in total yardage.
Cleveland's Derek Anderson was 14-for-24 for 147 yards in his first career start. Anderson started in place of Charlie Frye, sidelined by a right wrist injury.
The Browns had 13 yards of net rushing.
Pittsburgh played without both starting wide receivers (Hines Ward and Cedrick Wilson) and both starting safeties (Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark).
The gametime temperature was 20 degrees with a wind chill of 7.
The Steelers and Browns have met more than any two AFC teams, and the Steelers have never been tied in the season series since they first met in 1950. Including playoffs, Cleveland leads the series, 55-54.
The two teams met three weeks ago in Cleveland with the Steelers scoring three touchdowns in the fourth quarter for a come-from-behind 24-20 win. Pittsburgh has won 12 of the past 13 and 19 of the past 22 meetings and is 20-5 against the Browns since Bill Cowher became head coach in 1992.
