What started out as a promising evening for the Bills and their fans turned into a 38-7 rout at the hands of the Steelers. Buffalo's starting units showed some signs of life, but Pittsburgh's backups dominated the Bills' second and third-teamers in the second half.

Mario Wiliams and the Bills' defense got off to a good start, holding the Steelers offense to a pair of three-and-outs to start the game. Buffalo's prized free agent addition picked up the first of his two sacks on the evening, dropping Roethlisberger for a loss of two yards. Buffalo opened the scoring on a Fred Jackson one-yard touchdown plunge, capping off a 49-yard drive.

After looking sharp early, Fitzpatrick began to struggle with accuracy as the first half wore on. Missed passes stalled several Buffalo drives that started inside Pittsburgh territory and the quarterback finished 7 of 18 for 89 yards. It was a Bills turnover that led to the Steelers' first points of the game. C.J. Spiller fumbled at the Buffalo 18 and four plays later, Isaac Redman found the end zone to tie the game. The Steelers took a 14-7 lead late in the first half when Roethlisberger finished off a 98-yard drive by finding Antonio Brown from six yards out.

The Steelers continued to swarm early in the second half. Troy Polamalu picked off a deep Vince Young pass along the far sideline on the first play of the third quarter. Moments later, Pittsburgh backup QB Byron Leftwich floated a 39-yard touchdown pass into the end zone for Brown, making it 21-7. Pittsburgh upped its lead following another Young interception when Derrick Williams hauled in a 10-yard Leftwich scoring strike. The Steelers added a field goal and a 41-yard Chris Rainey touchdown run late in the final quarter.

The Bills close out the preseason Thursday evening at Detroit. Hear the call with John Murphy and Mark Kelso on WGR 550 and the Buffalo Bills Radio Network.

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Buffalo
Passing
R. Fitzpatrick - 8/17, 89 yds.
V. Young - 12/26, 103 yds., 2 INT

Rushing
T. Choice - 7 car., 50 yds.
F. Jackson - 7 car., 34 yds., 1 TD
C. Spiller - 4 car., 10 yds.

Receiving
S. Johnson - 3 rec., 36 yds.
T. Graham - 3 rec., 28 yds.
N. Roosevelt - 2 rec., 21 yds.

Pittsburgh
Passing
B. Roethlisberger - 17/24, 169 yds., 1 TD
B. Leftwich - 5/8, 105 yds., 2 TD

Rushing
C. Rainey - 3 car., 41 yds.
B. Batch - 7 car., 33 yds.
I. Redman - 12 car., 24 yds., 1 TD

Receiving
A. Brown - 7 rec., 108 yds., 2 TD
J. Dwyer - 3 rec., 48 yds.


TEAM STATS

Buffalo
First Downs - 17
Total Yards - 286
Passing Yards - 190
Rushing Yards - 96
Penalties (Yds) - 4 (44)
Turnovers - 3
Time of Poss. - 30:05

Pittsburgh
First Downs - 20
Total Yards - 378
Passing Yards - 269
Rushing Yards - 109
Penalties (Yds) - 2 (11)
Turnovers - 0
Time of Poss. - 29:55