BGI Play of the Game
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
SAN DIEGO - For the longest time, on a night when the city of San Diego acted as though it were receiving congressional honor rather than making its first appearance in nine years on Monday Night Football, the Steelers had the look of a team ready to commit professional suicide, special-teams style, again.
Then, whenever they needed him most, the Steelers began to lean on quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who, despite his tender age, has the calm demeanor of a cookie salesman but the tenacious qualities of a Doberman.
But, when it really mattered most last night, at the moment the Governator and Phil Mickelson and Ray Romano nudged to their edge of their seats in Qualcomm Stadium, the Steelers summoned the kind of big plays that deflate an opponent's spirit.
The kind that don't look like much on paper but matter so much to the people who rely on them.
When they do that, they turn to one person:
Steelers running back Jerome Bettis was effective even when the San Diego Chargers had nine and 10 men on the line of scrimmage in a vain attempt to stop the run. "People keep saying I'm done," Bettis said after the game. "This proves I'm not." Jerome Bettis.
"That's the kind of guy he is," coach Bill Cowher said. "That's what you want him for."
Bettis made his first appearance of the regular season a significant one, lifting the team on his shoulders and carrying them - and a few Chargers defenders - to a 24-22 comeback victory in San Diego.
And he did it by carrying seven times for 21 yards on the winning drive that resulted in Jeff Reed's 40-yard field goal with :06 remaining, a kick that stretched the team's road winning streak to nine games, tying a club record.
Included in the stretch were a pair of third-and-1 situations he converted in typical Bettis style, pounding his 255-pound frame into the defensive line when everyone from the Chargers' front seven to the wine drinkers in La Jolla knew he was going to get the ball.
"They had nine or 10 guys up at the line of scrimmage," Cowher said. "You're not going to be able to block them all. You put one of them on him and he starts going downhill like that.
"Those are the types of plays in the fourth quarter that you like to get a guy like him back there doing. It was good."
It was more than good. It was necessary. It was significant.
It was the deciding factor in what was a big Monday night in San Diego.
The second of the opportunities came at the San Diego 42 and Bettis gained four yards, running behind the left side of the offensive line where three Pro Bowl players reside - Marvel Smith, Alan Faneca and Jeff Hartings.
From there, after a 9-yard pass to Antwaan Randle El on the play on which Ben Roethlisberger was injured, Bettis carried three more times, for 2, 2 and 3 tough yards, to put Reed on the field.
Bettis finished with 54 yards on 17 carries. The numbers don't look like much on paper. But they meant plenty on the field.
"People keep saying I'm done," Bettis said. "That proves I'm not."
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