(Sports Network) - You'll have to forgive the legendarily passionate fan base of the Pittsburgh Steelers if they're not getting all giddy over this one.
A town that has seen five Super Bowl titles has come to expect a certain level of greatness from its team, and a win over the Cleveland Browns, even if it comes on the road in a decisive 34-7 fashion, doesn't quite qualify as greatness.
The Browns are the Steelers' version of the Washington Generals, laying down 21 of the last 24 times the teams have met, including the last seven times in Cleveland.
So the fact that the first game of the Mike Tomlin era ended with yet another walkover of the hapless Browns is a signal not that a page has been turned, but that the status quo has been maintained.
Even Tomlin, perhaps ignoring the significance of the first game for just the third Steelers head coach since Jimi Hendrix was still touring, sounded nonplussed after the win.
"I was trying to keep my emotions in check today," said Tomlin. "This is not my story; this is the story of the 2007 Steelers. That's what I want it to be. Today's victory will allow it to be our story. We have a lot of men in there working."
Tomlin's men got to work quickly on Sunday.
After forcing a three-and-out on Cleveland's first drive, the Steelers needed all of 2:01 to punch in their first touchdown of the season, a five-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Hines Ward.
Two plays into the Browns' next drive, cornerback Deshea Townsend picked off a Charlie Frye pass, which the Steelers converted into a field goal that made the score 10-0 at the 8:53 mark of the first quarter and gave Tomlin's troops all the points they would need.
By the end of the first, when Roethlisberger hit Santonio Holmes with a 40- yard touchdown pass to put Pittsburgh up by 17, the game had become yet another Steelers-Browns laugher.
Everything Pittsburgh could have dreamed of going right did go right. Roethlisberger, plagued by injuries and inconsistency last year, looked to be in midseason 2005 form. The quarterback completed 12-of-23 passes for 161 yards and four touchdowns, taking just one sack and not turning the ball over all day.
After a bit of a sluggish start, the running game got going too, with Willie Parker ending up with 109 of Pittsburgh's 206 rushing yards on the day.
Defensively, the Steelers racked up six sacks and forced five turnovers in their first meaningful game since releasing linebacker Joey Porter in the offseason.
All in all, very much a Pittsburgh-like performance from a team that does what it does, no matter who is working the sideline.
"We have pretty much the same philosophy and mentality," said defensive end Brett Keisel. "There are some changes in the coaching staff and in some of the things we do but it's pretty much the same team."
Indeed. Just ask the Browns.
NEW FACES
Following the theme of continuity a bit further, the Steelers featured only two players among Sunday's starting 22 who were new to the lineup.
Center Sean Mahan, who came over from the Buccaneers in the offseason following the retirement of Pro Bowler Jeff Hartings, started for a unit that controlled the Cleveland front seven all day.
And first-year fullback Carey Davis (Illinois) also earned a start, following up a strong preseason by blocking for Parker and rushing three times for five yards in his own right.
On special teams, rookie punter Daniel Sepulveda (Baylor) averaged 37.2 yards on six punts, and recently acquired return man Allen Rossum handled a total of four punt and kickoff returns without breaking one of notable distance.
Newcomers off the bench included four of the team's 2007 Draft picks: linebackers Lawrence Timmons (1st Round, Florida State) and LaMarr Woodley (2nd Round, Michigan), tight end Matt Spaeth (3rd Round, Minnesota), and cornerback William Gay (5th Round, Louisville).
Spaeth made his first NFL catch count for a five-yard touchdown in the third quarter, while Gay contributed a fumble recovery and a pass deflection to the proceedings.
The only veteran newcomer to play off the bench for the Steelers was ex-Browns defensive end Nick Eason, who recorded a pair of tackles against his former team.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
The four-touchdown effort by Roethlisberger was a career-best, surpassing his previous high of three, recorded four times...Roethlisberger's 114.3 passer rating on Sunday was his best since a Nov. 12th win over New Orleans last season, when he logged a 127.7...Parker's 109-yard outing marked his fourth 100-yard day in his last five games, dating back to last season...Parker is averaging 127 yards per game in his last four meetings with Cleveland...Ward's touchdown was his first since last Nov. 12th against the Saints, and marked only his second score since a three-touchdown game against Atlanta in Week 7 of 2006...Pittsburgh's six sacks were recorded by six different players, with linebackers James Farrior, Clark Haggans, and James Harrison notching one each.
NEXT UP
Tomlin's formal Heinz Field debut will come against a Bills team that is dealing with the aftermath of a catastrophic spinal injury to reserve tight end Kevin Everett, suffered in a loss to Denver last week. Everett remained in intensive care in a Buffalo-area hospital as of Tuesday, and is not expected to regain full range of motion.
Pittsburgh has a 10-8 lead in the all-time regular season series with Buffalo, including a 29-24 road win when the teams last met, in Week 17 of the 2004 season. The Steelers have won the last five meetings played between the teams in Pittsburgh, with the most recent coming in 1996, and Buffalo's only regular season win in the Steel City all-time came in 1975. The Bills' most recent win of any kind over Pittsburgh came at Ralph Wilson Stadium in 1999.
In addition to their regular season advantage, the Steelers hold a 2-1 edge in the postseason series between the teams. Pittsburgh defeated Buffalo in AFC Divisional Playoff contests in 1974 and 1995, and the Bills were a 24-3 road winner in a 1992 AFC Divisional Playoff.
