Ron Cook: Two-Back Attack Wears Out Bengals

Monday, October 24, 2005
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

CINCINNATI -- Jerome Bettis was talking a little baseball yesterday in the Steelers' locker room, which only seemed right considering it's World Series time and he's a big fan even if his beloved New York Yankees are home watching.

"Willie definitely is our home-run hitter," Bettis said.

That would be running back Willie Parker.

"You can call me our bunter or our sacrifice-fly guy," Bettis said, all but giggling.

Actually, there was a better word to describe Parker and Bettis on this damp, raw day.

Winners.

There were a lot of stars in the Steelers' telling 27-13 win against the Cincinnati Bengals, but Parker and Bettis were at the top of the list.

"This is the way it's supposed to be," Bettis said. "We give you different looks when we're in there. You've got to defend outside and you've got to defend inside."

The Bengals did a lousy job defending anything as Parker and Bettis combined for 31 carries and 187 yards. The Steelers got back to the two-back plan that was so successful in their win Oct. 10 at San Diego. They inexplicably had abandoned it in their home loss Oct. 16 to Jacksonville when Bettis wasn't used in the second half or overtime, a mistake that long will haunt Bill Cowher if it ends up costing the Steelers a division championship or home-field advantage in the postseason or even a playoff spot.

Parker hit his home run midway through the third quarter on a 37-yard touchdown run around right end that bumped the Steelers' lead to 17-6. The Bengals were no match for his speed, not to mention the dynamite blocks of fullback Dan Kreider and wide receiver Hines Ward. That play was the biggest part of his 18-carry, 131-yard day.

"It felt good to get in the end zone again," Parker said.

He had scored in each of the first two games when he had a total of 47 carries for 272 yards and looked a little like Walter Payton. He didn't score in the next three games when his numbers weren't much -- 48 carries for 136 yards -- and he looked a lot like Walter Abercrombie.

Give Bettis a little credit for Parker's big day.

You might say his sacrifice put Parker in scoring position.

Bettis gave up his body, the way he always does, wearing down the Bengals' defense with each assault into the line. "That's what I do," he said, shrugging. "They put me in to get the tough yard. I pound. I move the pile."

There's no doubt the game turned when Bettis stepped onto the field for the first play of the second quarter. The Bengals, painfully aware he had lit them up for 11 100-yard and five multi-touchdown games in his career, had to respect quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's play-action fake to him on first down at the Bengals' 40. That led to a 20-yard pass to tight end Heath Miller.

The Bengals probably wished Roethlisberger had kept throwing. They clearly wanted no part of the painful experience of tackling Bettis. He had runs of 3, 10 and 5 yards on his first three carries. He finished with 13 carries for 56 yards and helped the Steelers to a sizable edge in possession time, 35:29 to 24:31. They're going to win most games when they have that statistic on their side.

Bettis' most impressive run went for just 4 yards. It was a third-and-3 play from the Bengals' 25 late in the third quarter. The Bengals stopped him initially, then gave up on the play when he landed on a pile of bodies. Bettis, knowing he wasn't down, kept fighting and made the first down.

"My best run," he said.

"It's not often they call a running play on third-and-3. To have that trust in me ... I knew I had to get that first down."

Roethlisberger completed that drive with another play-action fake to Bettis, this time throwing to Ward for a 4-yard touchdown and a 24-6 lead. That's another benefit the Steelers enjoy when they're able to run the ball so effectively. It opens up their play-action passing game. Earlier, Roethlisberger threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Miller after faking a handoff to Bettis.

All of it was enough to make Ward do a funky little end zone dance after his touchdown. He said he was just having a little fun, mimicking Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson, who is known for his flamboyant theatrics after his touchdowns.

But Ward also was sending a message to the Bengals and their long-suffering fans. All of Cincinnati had looked at this game as the Bengals' chance to finally take charge of the AFC North Division.

It was a message that Bettis later put into words.

"They want to be champions? They've still got to go through us."

On a day Bettis delivered nothing but hard blows, that might have been the roughest.

(Post-Gazette sports columnist Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1525.)