post-match press conference but absolved Canterbu

LANDOVER, Md. -- Ben Roethlisberger knew the retired Heath Miller, suspended teammates LeVeon Bell and Martavis Bryant and the injured Markus Wheaton werent walking through that door. So he put the Pittsburgh Steelers young, largely untested offense on his shoulders.Roethlisberger threw for three touchdowns to lead the Steelers to a 38-16 rout of the Washington Redskins on Monday night. After telling his teammates he believed in not just All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown but Eli Rogers, Sammie Coates and others, Roethlisberger recovered a fumble at a pivotal moment and completed 27 of 37 passes for 300 yards in the season-opening victory.He threw two touchdowns to Brown and another to Rogers. Often playing on the opposite side from Josh Norman and tormenting cornerback Bashaud Breeland, Brown made eight catches for 126 yards.Starting in place of Bell, DeAngelo Williams ran for 143 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries.Were confident in that group, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. I know we were missing some pieces tonight, but we had `7. And when you got `7 you got the chance to put together performances like that.Washington led 6-0 and appeared to have another scoring opportunity late in the first quarter when linebacker Ryan Kerrigan sacked and stripped Roethlisberger deep in Pittsburgh territory. Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey knocked the ball out of Kerrigans hands, and Roethlisberger dived on it at his own 13-yard line.The ball was on the ground and Pounce was kind of laying on it and I was trying to tell Pouncey it was right under his leg, Roethlisberger said. Any time you can get those balls back, its huge.Roethlisberger then guided Pittsburgh 87 yards down the field, finishing the drive with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Brown on a gutsy fourth-and-1 call from the Washington 29.We knew it was coming; I knew it was coming, Breeland said. Thats why I played it the way I played it. It was just a freak play, and he made the play. Thats all I can say.The next time he got the ball, Big Ben took the Steelers 67 yards on 14 plays to make it 14-6.Pittsburghs passing attack got clicking, but Kirk Cousins and the Redskins couldnt keep up. With Matt Jones and the running game grounded and tight end Jordan Reed taken out of the picture, Cousins finished 30 of 43 for 329 yards and two interceptions.Washington got it as close as 24-16 on Chris Thompsons fourth-quarter touchdown. Then Roethlisberger was at it again, taking the Steelers 77 yards as Williams put the game away with a 15-yard touchdown run to break the 30-point mark.PRIME TIME READY: Tomlin improved to 11-2 on Monday night, including 6-2 on the road and 2-0 at Washington. Pittsburgh is 4-1 when opening the season on Monday night, and the Steelers 44-24 record on MNF is third-best in the NFL behind Seattle (23-6) and San Francisco (47-25).The Redskins have lost 15 of their past 16 Monday Night home games.HOPPING HOPKINS: Washington kicker Dustin Hopkins made all three of his field-goal attempts, connecting from 31, 40 and 34 yards. Hopkins was the Redskins entire offensive production until Thompsons touchdown.PINBALL ROGERS: Rogers first career touchdown catch in his NFL debut was a pinball special. Roethlisbergers pass from the 3-yard line hit receiver Sammie Coates and then Rogers facemask before he finished the grab.SHAZIER, PLAYMAKER: The play after forcing a fumble that the Redskins recovered, Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier picked off Cousins to set up Browns 26-yard TD catch in the third quarter. Shazier left the game with a right knee injury and was being evaluated after the game. Tomlin said hed have more information Tuesday.RUNNING ON EMPTY: Jones was in the starting lineup after separating his left shoulder on Aug. 19, but he lost 4 yards on his first two carries and finished with 24 yards on seven carries. Washington totaled 55 yards rushing, including just 28 in the first half.REED OPTION: Reed caught three passes for 39 yards on the Redskins opening drive and was a nonfactor with four catches for 25 yards the rest of the way.QUOTABLETomlin on why he called a pass to the end zone on fourth-and-1: We play to win.Norman: They took us behind the woodshed today and wore our tail out. It was a good, old-fashioned butt whooping.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Chris Carson Womens Jersey . Vokoun departed practice on Saturday morning after discovering swelling in his thigh. He was taken to a local hospital where the clot was revealed. The club announced the surgery following a 5-3 exhibition loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Cortez Kennedy Youth Jersey . Ronaldo produced a spectacular individual performance on Tuesday, scoring all three goals and guiding Portugal into the next years World Cup in Brazil with a 3-2 victory in Sweden. The Real Madrid forward has scored 66 goals in 2013, but the last three may be the boost he needs to upstage Messi after FIFA unexpectedly extended the voting period for the Ballon dOr to Nov. http://www.seahawksfansofficial.com/shaun-alexander-jersey/ . The Barrie Colts defenceman, who impressed many with his play for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship, is the top-ranked skater in the February rankings. He has 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points in 45 games with the Colts this season. L.J. Collier Seahawks Jersey . Detroit and Boston are deadlocked, 1-1, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland could be forgiven if he was caught rationalizing instead of dissecting how his club could blow a 5-1 lead late in Game 2. Richard Sherman Youth Jersey . The defence is doing its part, too. Drew Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first half and the guys on the other side made sure that was enough, sending the Saints to a 17-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. Sam Thaidays Four Nations campaign is almost certainly over after the veteran Kangaroos and Queensland forward suffering a suspected fractured eye socket.Thaiday was taken to hospital midway through the second half after being caught by the head of Englands James Graham in Australias 38-16 win at the London Stadium early on Monday (AEDT).It is the second time Grahams head has caused a serious injury to an opponent with England teammate Sam Burgess suffering the same injury during the 2014 NRL grand finalCoach Mal Meninga confirmed the news in his post-match press conference but absolved Canterbury skipper Graham of any blame.Unfortunately it will probably put him out of the game next week, Meninga said of Thaiday.I think it was accidental.Cooper Cronk, who was named man of the match, said Thaiday knew immediately that he had a serious problem and said the injury had taken some of the shine off a commprehensive win.ddddddddddddHe knew about it as soon as it happened and our fingers, toes and every hair follicle is crossed for him that its a positive scan result, Cronk said.There is no doubt that he will be part of our team in the final whether hes playing or not.Cronk also believes the squad - who have already lost Josh Mansour to a serious knee injury - is filled with enough quality to cope and claimed its the strongest hes been involved with since debuting in 2009.With no disrespect to the other squads weve had previously but we go deep into the 24-man roster, he said.Mal has stated he picked his best team tonight, and there will probably be changes through injury but as a senior player I am super confident you can bring in anyone in this squad they can do a job. 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