Monday, October 17, 2005
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
It's rather obvious, isn't it, that one man was almost solely responsible for the Steelers' 23-17 overtime loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars yesterday?
The team would have been better off if he had slept in and missed the game.
And I'm not talking about Tommy Maddox.
Bill Cowher.
Ordinarily, it's hard to find much fault with the man. He proved long ago he's a terrific coach. Well, at least he is in the regular season.
But Cowher had a rotten day at the office.
It's funny, it didn't start that way. Cowher made the right call by not playing Ben Roethlisberger and Hines Ward even though it's safe to assume both begged him to play. It's better to sit them out one week than risk losing them for a month or more. The Steelers can overcome this loss to the Jaguars. They can't overcome losing Roethlisberger or Ward for the long haul.
But after that, Cowher's day went straight to hell.
You can nitpick the little things, if you like. Why didn't the Steelers stick with the running game more on a day when Maddox struggled because of the windy conditions and because of his ineptitude? And why didn't they use tight end Heath Miller more when Maddox did throw?
I'm not one of those people who moan about the tight end being underused in the Steelers' offense. They were 18-2 in their previous 20 regular-season games before yesterday. What Cowher has been doing isn't all bad.
But on a day when Ward is out with his bad hamstring, why not scratch those four-wide receiver sets? Wouldn't three wides and a tight end who has wonderful receiving skills work just as well? Let me put that another way. Would you rather see Maddox throwing to Miller or Nate Washington? The Jaguars had a hard time matching up with Miller, who had four catches for 72 yards and a touchdown.
But those are minor beefs.
Here are my big two:
Why didn't Cowher bench Maddox at halftime or in the third quarter and try Charlie Batch? I mean, could Batch have been any worse?
And where was Jerome Bettis in the fourth quarter and especially in overtime after Quincy Morgan's 74-yard kickoff return to the Jaguars' 26? If the Steelers can't use Bettis in those situations, why keep him on the team?
Sure, it's easy to second-guess after this kind of loss. It's especially easy to question Cowher's handling of his quarterbacks after Maddox lost a fumble in overtime and, moments later, threw the interception that cornerback Rashean Mathis returned for the winning touchdown. Even Cowher acknowledged he thought of trying Batch.
It's just a shame Cowher didn't give it more thought.
We're not talking about benching Big Ben after a bad half. This was Maddox, a journeyman at this point. He clearly didn't have it yesterday. "I think that's an obvious statement," Cowher said, tersely. So why not see what Batch could do? Not giving him a chance was a foolish decision by Cowher.
But not using Bettis was worse.
The Steelers had a first down at the Jaguars' 15 early in the fourth quarter, gave the ball twice to Willie Parker and once to Verron Haynes and kicked a field goal. They later had a first down at the Jaguars' 29, ran Parker twice for a total of 3 yards and then watched as Maddox took a sack on third down, right before Jeff Reed missed a 46-yard field-goal try. Then, they had that first down at the Jaguars' 26 in overtime. Parker fumbled on first down and was lucky to recover and gained 2 yards on second down before Maddox lost his fumble.
"In the second half, I thought Willie was running pretty well with what holes he had," Cowher said. "That's why we stayed the way we were."
Nonsense.
All of those situations screamed for Bettis, especially in overtime when three Bettis carries for a total of maybe 5 yards would have set up Reed for a winning field goal.
Bettis was huge in the Steelers' win at San Diego last Monday night because Cowher used him almost extensively in similar spots.
Don't give me the argument that it's tough to run inside against the Jaguars because of stout defensive tackles Marcus Stroud and John Henderson and that Bettis doesn't have the speed to run outside. It's not as if Parker was tearing it up outside.
And don't try telling me Bettis was cold late in the game. "I was ready to go," he said. "I'm a role player. I have to be ready."
Bettis took the high road after the game.
"I'm disappointed that we didn't win. As far as me not playing, that's a coach's decision. I can live with that."
But that won't stop Bettis from knocking on Cowher's door this morning and asking him what's up. Cowher owes him, of all people -- the unquestioned team leader and a future Hall of Famer -- an explanation.
Actually, Cowher owes the whole team an explanation.
And an apology.
(Post-Gazette sports columnist Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1525.)
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