 
|
|||||||||||||
              
|
Wednesday, October 28, 1998 By Ron Cook, Post-Gazette Sports Columnist
Say what you will about Kordell Stewart, the lousy offense that still hasn't produced more than 20 points in a game, the great special teams, the better defense, the 5-2 record and the first-place tie with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The remainder of the Steelers' season comes down to this:
Can Jerome Bettis hold up getting the ball 30 times a game?
That's the Steelers' only real chance to go deep into the playoffs. You know it, I know it and Bettis knows it. So does Bill Cowher. He practically said as much after Bettis had 33 carries in their 20-13 victory in Kansas City Monday night. "We're not going to play pretty games. This is how we're going to win football games from here on out."
With defense.
With special teams.
With no turnovers by Stewart.
And, most of all, with Bettis.
This has to be the Steelers' way: Keep the game close into the fourth quarter and let The Bus win it.
There's no question Bettis can handle that pressure, at least mentally. He proved it when he and pal Tim Lester showed up at Arrowhead Stadium in military fatigues and dog tags. It was his idea. He paid $120 for the camouflage. ("Jerome always buys everything," Lester said, grinning). He didn't mean to suggest to anybody else that a football game is even remotely comparable to a battlefield. He just wanted to send a message to his teammates.
"We wanted to let the guys know this game was going to be a war and we were going to lead 'em on the front line," Bettis said.
That they did.
Give Cowher and Ray Sherman credit. Their strategy was superb. They didn't make the largely ineffective Stewart, who threw for fewer than 100 yards for the second time this season, beat the Chiefs. They mixed in the occasional gadget play such as Hines Ward's wonderful 17-yard pass to Stewart, who, with that one catch, showed he might be the Steelers' best receiver. But mostly, they asked Bettis, running behind Lester's blocking, to win the game.
A year ago on a Monday night in Kansas City, Bettis had 10 carries for 68 yards in the first quarter and the Steelers led, 10-0. Mysteriously, Cowher and/or Chan Gailey, then the offensive coordinator, gave him only seven carries for 35 yards in the next three quarters, and the Steelers lost, 13-10.
There were no such play-calling blunders this time.
"I told Jerome last week I was buying a ticket on the bus and going for a ride," Sherman said.
Only twice in Bettis' 21/2 seasons in Pittsburgh has he been asked to carry the ball more.
He was especially inspired because this was a big game, with loads of playoff implications, on a Monday night. It's why he shrugged off the lingering effects of a sprained left knee that forced him to miss the Baltimore game eight days earlier. "Jerome is always ready to play on Monday night," Lester said. By finishing with 119 yards, Bettis achieved an NFL first - a sixth consecutive 100-yard game on Monday night.
It also helped that Lester, fully healed after shoulder and knee surgeries, was back in the starting lineup at fullback for the first time since January. "Being a little banged up, I was a little apprehensive going in," Bettis said. "Having him back kind of eased my fear."
Bettis said his knee caused him no problems. Certainly, he was in better physical shape after the game than many of the Chiefs. Thirty-three collisions with a bus are 33 too many.
"A few times I closed my eyes and was able to hang on," safety Reggie Tongue said. "It's kill or be killed with him. He's strong. He can move. If you don't come, he's going to embarrass you. If you don't come hard, don't come at all."
Bettis might have given out more than he received on this night, but will he be able to endure another beating from the Tennessee Oilers Sunday? And from the Green Bay Packers on the following Monday night? And on down the line, right into January?
It seemed like a fair question to ask as the big man strapped on his expensive gold necklace, pulled on the cheap metal dog tags over it and climbed gingerly into his Army pants.
There was no hesitation in Bettis' response.
"I don't see why not."
If you can't believe a man in uniform, who can you believe?
|
||||||||||||
