Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
This one had a horrible feel to it from the start and quickly got worse. It was so bad into the fourth quarter that it was fair to wonder if Myron's Terrible Towels were going to be enough to save the Steelers.
They were, barely.
Maybe the Baltimore Ravens came into Heinz Field ticked that no one gave them a prayer of winning. Or maybe the Steelers -- a whopping 11-point favorite -- thought the Ravens had no chance. The reason really doesn't matter. The Steelers' 20-19 victory on Myron Cope Night was much more difficult than anyone could have imagined.
Not that your favorite team was complaining.
"I'll take a one-point win against those guys any day, all day, including holidays," Jerome Bettis said.
Well, it was Halloween.
The bottom line is the Steelers got a win that bumped their record to 5-2. That didn't just keep them breathing heavy on the Cincinnati Bengals (6-2) in the AFC North Division. It set them up for a big stretch run with a schedule that, at this point, looks ridiculously easy.
Not that the Steelers want to hear about easy games this morning.
"Nothing is easy about the National Football League," coach Bill Cowher said, fairly growling.
The Steelers certainly were thrilled to say goodbye to the Ravens.
In the NFL, games that are supposed to be pushovers almost always turn out to be hair-pulls. On paper, the Ravens were badly overmatched. They didn't just come in with a 2-4 record. They were without six starters, including quarterback Kyle Boller, linebacker Ray Lewis and safety Ed Reed.
So what were the Ravens doing with a 19-17 lead with 2 minutes to go?
Blame the Steelers. Hines Ward had talked about their need to bring their "A" game to play the wounded, prideful Ravens, their most hated rival. As it turned out, they showed up with their "D+" game.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was magnificent on the Steelers' opening drive, ending it with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Heath Miller. After that, he was mostly mediocre, at least until the final, winning drive.
The Steelers never really got their running game going against that shell of a Baltimore defense. "Eight men in the box," center Jeff Hartings said, shrugging.
Then, there were the many mistakes, almost too many to count.
A holding penalty by cornerback Deshea Townsend on a third-down incompletion kept alive a Ravens' drive that ended in a touchdown.
The Steelers wasted a 59-yard kickoff return by Quincy Morgan when a sack of Roethlisberger took them out of field-goal range.
The Steelers wasted an Ike Taylor fumble recovery at the Ravens' 12 when Roethlisberger took another sack, forcing them to settle for a Jeff Reed field goal.
Roethlisberger set up a Ravens' field goal by throwing an interception to defensive end Adalus Thomas.
Ricardo Colclough fumbled on a kickoff return at the Steelers' 29. The Steelers got lucky soon after when Matt Stover's 43-yard field goal attempt hit the right upright.
Then, there was what should have been the worst mistake. Punt snapper Greg Warren clanged the ball off upback Sean Morey's leg, giving the Ravens possession at the Steelers' 45 with 5:48 left. That set up Stover's 47-yard field goal for that 19-17 lead.
"At that point, I was thinking, 'If we're as good as we think we are, we'll pull this thing out,' " Hartings said. "Good teams find a way to survive."
And so the Steelers did.
Roethlisberger completed a 14-yard pass to Antwaan Randle El and a 23-yard throw to Morgan. After that, it was time for Reed, who kicked the winning 37-yard field goal with 1:36 left.
That sound you heard early this morning was the big Heinz Field crowd finally exhaling.
Or maybe it was Cowher.
The game at Green Bay Sunday against the Packers (1-6) and over-the-hill Brett Favre can't possibly be so excruciating, although don't try telling that to Cowher. "It'll be another dogfight," he all but promised. "That team has its back against the wall and the quarterback is one of the best of all time."
Six of the Steelers' remaining nine games are against teams with losing records. There are two against the woeful Cleveland Browns. There's another against the Minnesota Vikings, whose season has sunk along with their Love Boat. The road game at Indianapolis looks tough, but the rematch against the Bengals will be at Heinz Field Dec. 4.
It almost looks too easy for the Steelers.
Except for that game at Baltimore Nov. 20, of course.
(Post-Gazette sports columnist Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1525.)
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