PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- A week after coach Bill Callahan called his players the "dumbest team in America", the Oakland Raiders cut down on their mistakes but lost yet another road game.
Jerome Bettis registered his first 100-yard rushing game in over a year and Antwaan Randle El burned the Raiders with big plays as the Pittsburgh Steelers rolled to a 27-7 victory.
Callahan unleashed a verbal assault on the Raiders (3-10) after they committed three turnovers, failed to reach the end zone and were penalized 11 times for 89 yards in last week's 22-8 loss to the Denver Broncos.
The Raiders committed three turnovers again on Sunday, including a pair of interceptions by Rick Mirer, but at least they reached the end zone and reduced their penalties to five for 50 yards. However, it still resulted in a loss, the seventh in as many road games for the Raiders.
Tyrone Wheatley ran for a 22-yard TD run with 3:29 remaining in the first quarter to give Oakland the lead. But behind Bettis and Randle El, the Steelers (5-8) scored 27 unanswered points en route to their most lopsided victory of the season.
Randle El helped Pittsburgh take the lead for good as his 24-yard catch moved the Steelers to the Oakland 11, allowing Bettis to score his sixth touchdown of the season.
Bettis finished with 106 yards on 27 carries for his first 100-yard effort since October 13, 2002 at Cincinnati. He also passed Thurman Thomas to move into ninth place on the NFL's all-time rushing list.
"He's been the heart and soul of this team," Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher said of Bettis. "I think everyone recognizes what he brings to the table every week. You can do nothing but respect that. I think everyone who plays in the league can understand what type of feat that is."
Randle El, one of the most versatile players in college at Indiana, had the best game of his two-year career. He had a career-high 225 total yards, including 166 on returns.
The Steelers (5-8) won for just the second time in 10 games and also got a big game from Tommy Maddox and its defense. Maddox completed 19-of-28 passes for 266 yards while the defense sacked Mirer four times.
Maddox connected with Plaxico Burress on 14-yard TD late in the first half and fullback Dan Kreider scored on a one-yard run midway through the third quarter for Pittsburgh.
Mirer completed just 10-of-25 passes for 68 yards as Oakland totaled just 161 yards.
"Every team that comes out there is putting it down on us," said Raiders tackle Barry Sims said. "It could have been different today, but we didn't keep their offense off the field."
