Testaverde Won’t Be Raven About This Effort Either

PITTSBURGH — It doesn’t matter if he wears orange and brown or purple and black--put Vinny Testaverde in Pittsburgh and bad things happen.

Testaverde, weakened by flu and frustrated by Pittsburgh’s ever-changing defense, threw interceptions on Baltimore’s first three possessions and backup Eric Zeier also had three turnovers, allowing the Pittsburgh Steelers to cruise to a 37-0 victory Sunday night.

“They beat us, and they beat us good,” Testaverde said. “We played terrible, and the score showed it. I feel embarrassed by the way we played.”

Baltimore (4-6), which had seven turnovers, couldn’t beat the Steelers on Oct. 5 despite opening a 21-0 lead in the first quarter after Kordell Stewart threw three interceptions.

So the Ravens weren’t about to win Sunday after falling behind 20-0 in a first half in which Testaverde and Zeier threw three interceptions in a span of three passes.

How bad was it for Baltimore?

When Zeier finally found an open man downfield, he threw a pass off the head of umpire Bob Wagner.

Another time, Pittsburgh kicker Norm Johnson, of all people, forced a fumble on a kickoff.

“Some games you’ll see a [defensive] player catch a freak pass and you’ll say, ‘Why can’t that happen to us?’ Tonight, it all happened for us,” defensive end Kevin Henry said. “Everything went our way.”

It was the eighth consecutive loss in Three Rivers Stadium for the team formerly known as the Cleveland Browns--and yet another dismal performance there for Testaverde, who has won in Pittsburgh only once since entering the NFL in 1987.

Despite being bothered by sore ribs and weakened by flu--he lost six pounds while sitting out practice Friday and Saturday--Testaverde tried to play. That proved to be a mistake.

Testaverde, who has thrown 15 interceptions in his last eight games against Pittsburgh, was intercepted by Steven Conley, Chris Oldham and Carnell Lake on the Ravens’ first three possessions, leading to Jerome Bettis’ one-yard touchdown run and the first of three Johnson field goals.

Asked if the Steelers (7-3) were that good or Testaverde that bad, linebacker Earl Holmes said, “If it was him, I can say only, ‘Thanks a lot.’ ”

By winning, the Steelers stayed in a first-place tie with Jacksonville in the AFC Central.

Bettis, who reached 1,000 yards this season faster than any back in Steeler history, finished with 114 yards--his second 100-yard game against the Ravens and his seventh this season.

Even when Testaverde went to the bench early in the second quarter, the mistakes didn’t stop. Zeier, who lost a 1995 start in Pittsburgh with the Browns, had Darren Perry intercept his first pass and return it to the Raven 1, where Stewart scored on a dive for a 17-0 Pittsburgh lead with 13:22 still remaining in the first half.

“We heard some of their players were saying they weren’t impressed with us Monday,” Steven Conley said, referring to a 13-10 loss in Kansas City that halted a Pittsburgh winning streak at five games. “Maybe they’re impressed now.”