By Gene Collier, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger celebrates his second touchdown against the Ravens in the first quarter.
Two distinctly unrelated events, three minutes apart, as far removed from each other on any dynamic scale you could construct, somehow combined in the drenched North Side darkness to ignite a Monday Night party of momentous proportions.
The first came at precisely 6:57 p.m., a deafening atmospheric mystery in the form of a November thunder clap. It chased Ben Roethlisberger from the downpour in which he had been forced to perform his rhythmic pregame throwing ritual, and Big Ben went back to the Steelers locker room without accomplishing the full scope of his game night preparation.
The second came officially a 7 p.m., 90 minutes before game time, when the list of inactive players landed on press box countertops in whispering swishes, but with even more thunderous implications.
Essentially, the Baltimore Ravens, about to slug it out with the Steelers for first place in the AFC North, would stand in this downpour, as suspected, without either of their starting cornerbacks and without their All Pro tight end.
Somehow, Roethlisberger came out perfect, the Ravens the perfect victim, a 38-7 victim.
Without going all hyper-analytical on you, I'm guessing it was not a good situation for the Ravens when, at the two-minute warning of the first half, the Steelers had scored half as many touchdowns in 28 minutes (five) as Baltimore had managed all season (10).
Wide receiver Nate Washington celebrates after scoring off a seven-yard pass from Roethlisberger in the second quarter.
For all of Baltimore's celebrated defensive prowess -- the Ravens had the best defense in the NFL outside of Pittsburgh's city limits -- there was simply no place to hide second-year cornerback Derrick Martin, who started instead of the redoubtable Chris McAlister, for whom not even an open week could correct a wounded knee. The more versatile and experienced Corey Ivy started for Samari Rolle at the other corner, but Martin was a burn victim waiting the flames.
"You've got to be perfect the first time out in this game," said Martin, who was making his first start. "Ben had a nice game, and I didn't. He played real well. It wasn't so much a matter of me not understanding what was going on, it was more one of those game where the quarterback was scrambling, the receivers were breaking off their routes, and sometimes when that happens, you're gonna get beat."
That's the way Martin got beat on the touchdown pass Roethlisberger smoked 30 yards down the middle to Nate Washington that made it 21-0; Roethlisberger scrambled free to his right, and Martin didn't adjust. But there was an ominous simplicity to the way Santonio Holmes beat him down the sideline on the 35-yard play that made it 28-0. When Washington beat Martin with a simple 7-yard out pattern that piled the embarrassment to 35-0 not four minutes later, Martin's baptism by fire was a close to literal as you could get.
"I've just got to stay with it," Martin said, assuming Ravens coach Brian Billick allows him to get close to a starting assignment again anytime soon. "We'll get to play them again in Baltimore, and we've got to start building up momentum toward the end of the season."
As they slipped to 4-4, the Raven also collapsed to 0-3 in the division, and left it a difficult sell that they'd be a factor in this race the next time these teams meet on New Year's Eve Eve. In retrospect, I guess it was more significant than we'd presented that Baltimore's four wins have come against teams with a combined record of 6-24.
"I wouldn't begin to know how to characterize that, so I'll let it to you all," said Billick, whose teams had been 6-2 coming off an open week. "We'll try not to dwell on it. You're just going to have days like that. I won't try to justify it. I won't try to explain it."
No, that would be potentially helpful, and Billick's not going to go anywhere near that. His entire postgame interview lasted 1 minute, 49 seconds, and shed none of his alleged blinding cerebral candlepower. He did allow as to how Roethlisberger played pretty well -- what with the five touchdown passes in the first half -- but put a stranglehold on the obvious by pointing out that Ben had a short field to work with often as not, with James Harrison putting one opportunity after another on Ben's silver platter.
"You can't turn the ball over," said Ravens wideout Derrick Mason, meaning the way the Ravens did four times in the first seven possessions.
"As a competitor, you're embarrassed, yeah, but it's more of a disappointment."
Well, that's a good word for it, but I wouldn't rule out arson.
Gene Collier can be reached at gcollier@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1283.
First published on November 6, 2007 at 1:54 am
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