Steelers back in form

The Pittsburgh Steelers gave the Kansas City Chiefs and the rest of the NFL a not very subtle reminder that Super Bowls aren’t won, or lost, in the first few weeks of a season.

The Steelers revived everything they displayed in winning the championship as Ben Roethlisberger threw his first two touchdown passes since the AFC championship game in a 45-7 rout of the Chiefs on Sunday in Pittsburgh.

Despite being without three injured regulars the Steelers never resembled the team that could barely gain a first down in a 9-0 loss to Jacksonville, or ran only 18 plays in the second half of last week’s 23-13 loss at San Diego.

Roethlisberger was among the NFL’s lowest-rated quarterbacks with no touchdown passes and seven interceptions until Sunday, while Kansas City’s Damon Huard was among the highest rated. It changed in a momentum-shifting few hours in which Roethlisberger could again do little wrong and Huard, a longtime backup, could do little right while completing only 16 of 32 passes for 162 yards and an interception.

Roethlisberger had a different kind of day, going 16 of 19 for 238 yards and TDs of 47 yards to Nate Washington and 13 yards to Hines Ward.

Panthers 23, Ravens 21: At Baltimore, Jake Delhomme threw for a career-high 365 yards and two touchdowns, and Carolina slipped past Baltimore for its fourth straight win.

Steve Smith had eight catches for 189 yards and a touchdown, and John Kasay kicked three field goals for Carolina. The Panthers limited Baltimore to 80 yards rushing – the fourth straight game they held the opposition under 100 yards on the ground.

Giants 27, Falcons 14: At Atlanta, Tiki Barber outplayed the NFL’s best ground team by running for 185 yards, Jeremy Shockey caught a couple of touchdown passes and New York rallied past the Falcons in the second half.

The Giants fell behind 14-3 when Warrick Dunn broke off a 90-yard touchdown on Atlanta’s first offensive play of the second half – the longest run in team history.

But New York dominated the Falcons the rest of the way, going ahead with touchdown drives of 84 and 91 yards.

Lions 20, Bills 17: At Detroit, Roy Williams had 10 receptions for 161 yards – both career highs – and scored a touchdown while Kevin Jones ran for a season-high 127 yards and a score to lead the Lions to the victory over Buffalo. Detroit’s Jon Kitna was 24 of 36 for 278 yards with a TD and an interception.

Titans 25, Redskins 22: At Landover, Md., Vince Young rallied Tennessee from an 11-point first-half deficit, leading his previously winless team to an upset of Washington.

Rob Bironas kicked three field goals, including a 30-yarder with 5:11 to play that decided the game. Travis Henry ran for a career-high 178 yards on 32 carries with one touchdown, Casey Cramer blocked a punt in the second half to give his team a safety, and Young threw for 161 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions.

Cowboys 34, Texans 6: At Irving, Texas, Terrell Owens caught two third-quarter touchdown passes and another in the fourth, turning a tight game against Houston into an easy victory – helping the Cowboys avenge an embarrassing loss to their in-state rivals four years ago and reminding everyone why owner Jerry Jones signed the volatile receiver.

Chargers 48, 49ers 19: At San Francisco, LaDainian Tomlinson set a franchise scoring record with a career-best four touchdowns rushing, and Philip Rivers passed for a career-high 334 yards and two more scores in the Chargers’ victory.

Antonio Gates and Vincent Jackson caught scoring passes from Rivers, who was practically perfect as the Chargers rolled to their first 4-1 start since 2002.

Jets 20, Dolphins 17: At East Rutherford, N.J., Laveranues Coles caught two touchdown passes and Mike Nugent kicked a pair of 33-yard field goals to help New York hold on for the win.

Miami had a chance to tie, but Olindo Mare came up short on a 51-yard field goal.

After taking a 20-3 lead, the Jets had to sweat this one out as Joey Harrington led the Dolphins on two long scoring drives in the fourth quarter to make things interesting.

Broncos 13, Raiders 3: At Denver, the Denver Broncos once again found barely enough offense to go with their suffocating defense.

Jason Elam kicked two field goals, Tatum Bell ran for a short touchdown and Champ Bailey picked off another key pass as the Broncos defeated the winless Oakland Raiders.