PITTSBURGH - Jerry Rice and Jerome Bettis are two of the NFL's best-known players, easily recognizable personalities with statistics rivaled by few in the league's history.

So both found it disconcerting to be on the bench during the second half of the Raiders-Steelers game Sunday, mere spectators amid a setting in which they are accustomed to starring.

The difference was that Bettis contributed despite his lack of playing time and carries. All Rice got out of the Steelers' 24-21 victory - on Jeff Reed's 42-yard field goal with seven seconds remaining - was a long plane ride home.

Bettis, the NFL's No. 6 career rusher, barely played behind new starter Duce Staley, who ran for 91 yards in his Pittsburgh debut. But Bettis had one of the most unique statistical lines in league history - five carries for 1 yard and three touchdowns - as the Steelers squandered a 21-10 lead in the fourth quarter before rallying to win.

"It's one of those things when you are in a role and you have to do what they ask you to do," Bettis said. "If they want me to come in and stick it in (the end zone), I have to come in and stick it in."

The Raiders' offseason overhaul following a turmoil-filled 4-12 season included new coach Norv Turner's hiring, but the first half was largely a replay of last year. The offense did little except turn the ball over and the defense fought to get off the field on third downs as the Steelers opened a 14-0 lead.

About then, Turner began shifting his personnel, including using some of his younger receivers. Rice's replacement, Doug Gabriel, got the comeback going with a 58-yard touchdown reception late in the first half, and Rich Gannon's 38-yard touchdown pass to Alvis Whitted with 4½ minutes remaining in the fourth quarter tied it.

From the sidelines, Rice could only cheer.

"I played enough," said Rice, who made two catches for 22 yards. "I'm not going to get into how much playing time I'm getting. It's just a waste of time. If you would have asked me this, in my second or third year in the NFL, you probably would have gotten some curse words. But I'm a little more mature."

The Steelers (1-0) are younger, but that didn't keep them from adopting an old look.

Coach Bill Cowher was determined to get back to the Steelers' traditional strengths, their running game and a big-play defense, after experimenting during last year's 6-10 season with a pass-heavy offense and a passive defense designed to allow few big plays.

For much of the game, it worked. The Steelers again looked to run first and pass second, and a defense that created only 25 turnovers last season forced four turnovers, three by Gannon.

"We played at times like we have some new starters," Cowher said. "But we got some turnovers, we got some pressure, we got some big plays."

They almost got a loss, too, until quarterback Tommy Maddox drove them down the field for Reed's game-winner. It was the Steelers' first sustained drive since they used up the opening 8½ minutes of the game on a 67-yard possession finished off by Bettis' first touchdown.

"We were good at times, shaky at times, but we still did what we had to and won," Maddox said.

The Raiders took enough out of the loss to be encouraged that they can turn it around. A defense fortified by linemen Warren Sapp and Ted Washington and defensive back Ray Buchanan controlled the game during the middle quarters and held Maddox to 142 yards passing.

"It's only the first game," Whitted said. "We're new in all three phases. We're going to get better. We're going to be a team to be reckoned with."

The Steelers are equally hopeful that a defense with four new starters can again create the pressure and the turnovers that were missing last season. Clark Haggans, making only his fifth career start at outside linebacker, had two sacks and forced two fumbles.

"We grew a lot, but we have a long way to go," Cowher said.

Notes: Most of the Steelers' 237 yards came from Staley and Hines Ward (seven catches for 99 yards). ... Former Steelers RB Amos Zereoue was scratched by Oakland. ... Sapp had four tackles and no sacks; Washington, signed away from New England, had one tackle. ... Gannon, the 2002 NFL MVP, is 2-6 in his last eight starts. ... The Raiders lost their 10th straight road game dating to Dec. 8, 2002.