By Gene Collier, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Ghosts of Tennessee spooked the Steelers from their five-game win streak yesterday, and the bloodied AFC North champions described it from a kind of altered consciousness, like someone trying to patch the holes in a nightmare.
Peter Diana/Post-Gazette
Ben Roethlisberger dives for the Titans' Michael Griffin after he intercepted a pass late in the fourth quarter yesterday at LP Field in Nashville, Tenn.
Larry Foote couldn't recall the details of any of the critical fourth-down plays the Tennessee Titans converted behind graybeard-in-chief Kerry Collins.
Lawrence Timmons remembered that he had been on the field for a third-and-20 play that preceded a fourth-and-1, but not whether he had been present for the next play.
Aaron Smith was fairly certain Chris Hoke had been pinched for the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on fourth-and-1 at the 4, but wasn't sure what Hoke had done to offend.
It was the Fright Before Christmas, and it was haunted by sour Steelers karma from one end of the Music City lawn to the other.
At one end lay the ignominious spot where Dwayne Washington ran into kicker Joe Nedney to allow the re-kick that ended their 2002 season here in playoff overtime. At the other lay James Harrison after a terrifying lunge that temporarily removed him from the starting lineup. Somewhere in the middle, Ben Roethlisberger sidestepped a Mr. Nick Harper to gain one of the Steelers' exiguous three rushing first downs. Had this same Mr. Harper sidestepped Big Ben in an Indianapolis Dome three years ago come January, Mike Tomlin would be walking past only four Lombardi Trophies when he comes to work each day.
"We've got to sharpen our sword, no doubt," Foote said after watching as many opponent touchdowns in four quarters as the Steelers had allowed in the previous five weeks. "When we went 15-1 [in 2004], our sword wasn't that sharp when we got to the playoffs."
These 2008 Steelers open the playoffs in three weeks, and it might take every hour of the interim to sharpen their sword and their self-image back to full luster after a 31-14 whipping that left little room to misinterpret who the boss is in this AFC.
Tomlin can start the workweek by re-examining three plays that confirmed this suspicion: If it's a bad day for the defense when you can't get off the field on third down, it's an even worse day when you can't get off the field on fourth down.
The stats-afflicted knew well that the Steelers were the worst team in the league on fourth down before yesterday, but that was just the offense. Who knew the defense could match those guys faux pas for pas faux?
"They converted some big plays on us, that's for sure," Smith said. "That's a good team."
The Titans are 13-2 this morning, but might not be without the highly improbable results of three fourth downs, the first coming after Collins found Justin McCareins tiptoeing at the sideline for 19 yards on the aforementioned third-and-20, the one Timmons did remember.
"Was he inbounds?" Timmons asked.
Oh yeah.
On fourth-and-inches then from the the Steelers' 21, with the Steelers ahead 14-10, Collins faked a handoff to something called a fullback moving to his right, but then flipped the ball back to tailback Chris Johnson, who was headed in the opposite direction. Ike Taylor flashed into the Titans backfield, but fell at the 24. By the time Johnson burst into the secondary, this so-called fullback, Ahmard Hall, reversed direction and put a quasi-legal block on Ryan Clark to spring Johnson for a touchdown.
"It's feast or famine on that one," Collins said. "You really take your chances pitching it back like that. We had a pretty good idea we'd get C.J. one-on-one with the corner [Taylor], and he made him miss."
NASHVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 21: LenDale White #25 of the Tennessee Titans runs for a touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers during their game on December 21, 2008 at LP Field in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
Just one Steelers turnover later, the Titans contemplated fourth-and-3 from the Steelers' 30, and Collins hit his other big wideout, the 6-4 Justin Gage, floating between the corner and the safety on the opposite sideline for 17 yards.
"Usually on that, the corner will run with the receiver," Collins said, "but on that one the corner came off with [tight end] Bo [Scaife]."
That put Tennessee at the 13, and Scaife caught another Collins bullet at the 4 to set up another fourth-and-inches. This time, Jeff Fisher sent Rob Bironas off the sideline for a 21-yard field-goal try into a tricky wind, but before the snap, the Steelers were called for unsportsmanlike conduct.
"I guess someone from our front simulated a cadence of some kind," said Tomlin, whose general characterization of yesterday's performance was "below the line."
Chris Hoke got called for it, but Steelers kicker Jeff Reed said that was bogus.
"People bark at me all the time out there," said the Steelers kicker. "It's never an issue. It is a penalty, but it's never called."
That moved the ball inside the 2, from where LenDale White obliged with the fourth-quarter touchdown that erected a 10-point lead that was fairly substantial on an occasion when the offense was producing twice as many turnovers as touchdowns.
So the Steelers left Dixie with the same No. 2 seed with which they arrived, leaving only next week's dress rehearsal against the Browns between themselves and their destiny.
"I look forward to Cleveland," Tomlin said.
I'm sure that has been said out loud before, but it's funny when you hear it.
Gene Collier can be reached at gcollier@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1283.
First published on December 22, 2008 at 12:00 am
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