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BOX SCORE
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Pittsburgh Steelers know how to say
goodbye, even if the Washington Redskins don't.
|  | | The Steelers played their last game in Three Rivers on Saturday, ending the stadium's 30-year run. |
The Steelers, playing the final game in the stadium where they
dominated pro football in the 1970s, took advantage of numerous
Washington breakdowns and five turnovers to usher out Three Rivers
Stadium with a 24-3 victory Saturday.
Afterward, the Steelers celebrated as if they had just won a
championship. They hugged, snapped locker room pictures of each
other, then took a victory lap during an elaborate postgame
ceremony.
Fifty former Steelers -- Hall of Famer Franco Harris stood a few
yards away from where he made his famed Immaculate Reception in
1972 -- looked on, giving the team an emotional lift in a game that
had little significance other than the stadium closing.
"To me, it was like the last playoff game at Three Rivers,"
linebacker Levon Kirkland said. "This was an opportunity to add to
the history of this stadium, and I'm real proud of it."
Rookie Hank Poteat highlighted a 17-point second quarter with a
53-yard punt return touchdown, and Richard Huntley, who had scored
only once previously this season, had two touchdowns as the
Steelers (8-7) maintained their very faint playoff hopes.
Two months before Three Rivers is imploded, the Redskins (7-8)
did. They lost their sixth in seven games in a dispirited
performance that eliminated them from the postseason and couldn't
have helped interim coach Terry Robiskie's chances of returning.
The Redskins have been outscored 56-16 by the Cowboys and
Steelers since Robiskie replaced Norv Turner, and didn't mount the
semblance of an offense on a rain-soaked field Saturday.
"This team is in disarray," defensive lineman Dan Wilkinson
said. "It's sad, very sad. It's like an avalanche, and it keeps
piling on and getting bigger and bigger."
Even when the Redskins apparently got into the end zone, on
backup quarterback Brad Johnson's 30-yard completion to Stephen
Alexander in the fourth quarter, they couldn't score. Alexander
fumbled just before he crossed the goal line and the ball went out
of bounds for a touchback.
Poteat had earlier given the Steelers a 10-3 lead, fielding
Tommy Barnhardt's punt on the run and streaking to his right on a
53-yard return score at 3:35 of the second quarter.
"It was designed to be open in the middle, but I saw an opening
to the right and I took it," Poteat said. "I almost got tripped
up but once I got by that, I knew I was off."
It was the Steelers' first punt-return touchdown in five years
but the second against the Redskins' low-rated special teams this
season. Washington has a $100 million roster loaded with former Pro
Bowl players, yet has allowed three kick return scores.
"Obviously, we still have problems with special teams,"
Robiskie said. "They're killing us."
On the Redskins' next possession, Jeff George -- owner Daniel
Snyder's hand-picked choice to start -- threw his second
interception of the quarter as Chad Scott wrestled the ball away
from receiver Albert Connell.
"This is pretty sad, considering the potential this team had,"
defensive end Nolan Harrison said.
Huntley, who had 56 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries,
then scored on a 3-yard run 28 seconds before halftime. Jerome
Bettis ran for 104 yards as the Steelers outrushed Washington
190-64.
"We knew if we kept pounding it at those guys, it would wear on
them," Huntley said. "We kept pounding it play after play."
The Redskins, down 17-3, had a chance to get back into the game
early in the third quarter when Steelers punter Josh Miller dropped
a wet ball and was tackled for an 18-yard loss at the Steelers' 19.
But Stephen Davis fumbled on the next play, and Washington didn't
seriously threaten again.
The Steelers finished 182-73 in their 31 seasons in Three
Rivers, where they fielded four Super Bowl champions in the
stadium's first decade of existence. They had only one losing
record there, going 2-6 last year.
Game notes
Extra security was on hand, and there were no problems
with fans trying to take home any stadium souvenirs. ... The steady
rain held the crowd to 58,183, or 1,417 below capacity. ... Davis,
a 1,000-yard rusher, was held to 39 yards and has 125 yards in his
last three games. ... Bettis has 1,290 yards rushing, the
fourth-best season in Steelers history. ... Fox's Dick Stockton was
the play-by-play announcer for the first and last games in Three
Rivers. He called a 1970 Giants-Steelers exhibition for
Pittsburgh's KDKA-TV.
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ALSO SEE
NFL Scoreboard
Washington Clubhouse
Pittsburgh Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 ESPN's Mark Malone sits down with former Steelers greats to pay tribute to Three Rivers Stadium.
RealVideo: | 28.8
 Bill Cowher felt a buzz in the air in the Steelers' last game at Three Rivers Stadium.
wav: 207 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Dermontti Dawson sensed a playoff atmosphere in the Steelers' win over the Redskins.
wav: 95 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Terry Robiskie cannot believe how far the Redskins have fallen.
wav: 150 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Jerome Bettis remembers the Steelers' greats of the past.
wav: 57 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Brad Johnson Official Site
Bruce Smith Official Site
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