PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Total domination.
Qadry Ismail scored the game's lone touchdown and the Baltimore Ravens' defense spoiled Opening Day at Three Rivers Stadium by manhandling the Pittsburgh Steelers from start to finish en route to an embarrassingly easy 16-0 victory.
Owners of the second-best defense in the NFL a year ago, the Ravens spent their offseason re-loading a suspect offense. But Baltimore found out very quickly that it would not need many points to offset a floundering Steelers' attack.
Pittsburgh quarterback Kent Graham beat out Kordell Stewart for the starting job in training camp but probably wished he had not after being chased, harassed and pounded by Baltimore's ferocious defense all day.
Defensive end Rob Burnett forced Graham to fumble at his own 14-yard line with 8:21 remaining in the opening quarter. Tackle Sam Adams made the recovery and three plays later, Matt Stover booted a 23-yard field goal to put Baltimore in front to stay. Things only got worse for the Steelers thereafter.
"I think we've played better," Burnett said. "Today our offense was able to control the ball, eat up the clock and it made it easier for (the defense) to be fresh when we were out there."
Ismail, who burned the Steelers for a career-best 252 receiving yards and three touchdowns here last season, wasted little time exposing Pittsburgh's secondary again. He ran past a lame bump attempt by cornerback Chad Scott and caught Tony Banks' sideline pass in stride before racing 53 yards for a 10-0 lead with 3:58 remaining in the opening period.
Ismail finished with seven receptions for 102 yards.
Stover's 26-yard field goal at the halftime gun gave Baltimore a 13-0 advantage and mercifully ended Pittsburgh's pitiful first-half showing. The Ravens outgained the Steelers, 217-39, over the first 30 minutes and 109-2 in the first period.
"Today we flew to the ball," Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis said. "We did what we had to do on defense. It's important to get started. I think our guys did a great job on defense today."
Stover made a 33-yarder just over three minutes into the second half, giving the Ravens a 16-point cushion and extending his personal streak to 21 field goals without a miss.
The Steelers had not been shut out at home since 1989 when the old Cleveland Browns (currently the Ravens) pounded them 51-0. Pittsburgh had a golden opportunity to avert the blanking in the fourth quarter but failed to cash in on a 1st-and-goal opportunity from the Ravens' 1.
Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher installed Stewart to run the goal-line offense, but Baltimore's defense stuffed the next three plays before Graham fired an incompletion in the end zone on 4th-and-goal.
"Very disappointing performance," Cowher said. "Offensively, we could not convert third downs. Defensively, we were out there a long time. It was a sluggish game offensively. We couldn't make a play and we were a little inconsistent on defense."
"It didn't surprise me that Kordell was sent in in that situation," Graham said. "He practiced all the short yardage situations."
Banks completed 18-of-32 passes for 199 yards and handed the ball to Priest Holmes 27 times for 119 yards. The Ravens are the only NFL team to play five of their first seven games on the road but had no trouble silencing the 55,049 fans in Pittsburgh.
"This is the kind of thing you want to do. To get a shutout on the road, that's big," Baltimore coach Brian Billick said. "I look at the scoreboard and there aren't any other teams that have done that. Our defensive line showed their depth today. I can't remember when you've seen a shutout on the road.
"I hate to see Three Rivers Stadium come down. I haven't lost here. If they want, I'll chip in a couple of bucks to keep it up," Billick joked.
Graham was 17-of-38 for 199 yards and found first-round draft pick Plaxico Burress four times for 77 yards.
"Early on in the game, I never got into a rhythm," Graham said. "I thought we did some things. I have a lot of confidence in the guys that we have here. Obviously, I'm disappointed. I'm going to take it with a grain of salt."
After going three-and-out on their opening possession, Pittsburgh got just one play on its second chance. Graham dropped back on 1st-and-10 from his own 20 and was immediately run over by Burnett as the ball dropped to the turf. Adams recovered but Pittsburgh's defense stiffened, forcing the Ravens to settle for Stover's field goal with 6:50 remaining in the first quarter.
Another anemic possession by Pittsburgh ended in Josh Miller's 47-yard punt that gave the Ravens the ball at the Steelers' 48. Two plays later, Banks found Ismail all along down the right sideline for a 10-0 lead. Ismail and Banks combined for three scores during the Ravens' first-ever win here last December 12.
"The win was important. We were efficient," Banks said. "I'm glad I don't play against our defense. Our offense helped today most by keeping the defense off the field."
"The one touchdown was a miscommunication on defense," Cowher said.
The Steelers failed to make it past midfield in the first half and watched Banks find Ismail with a 21-yard strike that helped set up Stover's 26-yarder as the first half expired.
Holmes carried three times for 31 yards as the Ravens took the second-half kickoff and marched to the Pittsburgh 16, setting up Stover's third field goal, capping the scoring.
Starting at their own 13 with 14:47 to play, the Steelers finally got some offense going with an impressive 18-play drive that fell one yard shy of a score. A pass interference call in the end zone on cornerback Robert Bailey set the Steelers up with a first-and-goal from the 1.
But Jerome Bettis was stuffed for a one-yard loss, Stewart threw an incompletion and mishandled a snap before Graham's fade pass to Burress sailed out of bounds, ending Pittsburgh's lone threat midway through the fourth quarter.
"You expect to win a home game," Steelers running back Richard Huntley said. "Things just didn't work out for us. We have to regroup and be ready to go."
"It's just the first game of the season," Pittsburgh linebacker Earl Holmes added. "Things happened. Things that you wanted to happen didn't happen. It's one of those things where you can only get better."
