Ben Roethlisberger's home debut has to wait another couple of weeks — at least — and Byron Leftwich's return to the Steelers lasted a little longer than he may have anticipated.
Roethlisberger dressed for Saturday's preseason opener against Detroit at very wet Heinz Field, but did not play.
It didn't matter.
The Steelers got solid efforts from young guys Dennis Dixon (6 of 7 for 128 yards and 158.3 passer rating), Isaac Redman (15-60) and Antonio Brown (68-yard touchdown catch) and three field goals from Jeff Reed in a 23-7 victory over the Detroit Lions.
The game was marred by a 73-minute lightning delay at the end of the first half.
"With the number of snaps that we anticipated running with the first team tonight, it just wasn't appropriate to play him," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said about his decision to sit Roethlisberger. "He wanted to play, he was ready to play. We are going to continue to do what we plan to do. It wasn't in cards for him tonight." (Tribune)
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