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Tuesday, December 12, 2000

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Although the Steelers' playoff hopes remain as alive as Three Rivers Stadium, their defense long ago gave up the ghost.

	Tiki Barber of the Giants scores on a 3-yard run Sunday. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette)

The defense that kept opponents out of the end zone for 21 consecutive quarters, that for a time allowed the fewest points in the AFC, that ranked No. 3 in the NFL at midseason and that lived off interceptions, no longer resembles the one that's been on the field the past five games.

The Steelers' defense has slipped to No. 11 overall in yards allowed, has made few big plays and has allowed a startling amount of points.

The Steelers defense is merely following a pattern from last season, when it played so well through the first 10 games and collapsed down the stretch.

Here are some striking examples of the contrast:

Through the first nine games, the Steelers allowed an average of 10.3 points a game. Over the past five, they have yielded 27.6 points a game.

In the first half of the season, they had 12 interceptions. In the past six games, they have gotten two.

Rookie Ainsley Battles, a backup safety, had the Steelers' only sack against the Giants Sunday. It was his first of the season but gives him as many as starting inside linebackers Earl Holmes (one) and Levon Kirkland (none) combined. Battles has more sacks the past two games than the entire linebacking corps, which has none.

The Steelers have just 30 sacks and are on pace to have their fewest since they had 32 in 1990.

Their run defense ranks 17th in the NFL.

Kerry Collins had plenty of time to set up and throw Sunday, and he completed 24 of 35 passes for 333 yards, the most against the Steelers this season. He had two touchdowns and no interceptions.

"From a passing standpoint, we wanted to keep everything inside and in front of us. We wanted to take away the big plays," Coach Bill Cowher said.

The Giants, though, gouged them for many big plays. They included receptions of 59 yards by Ike Hilliard, 45 and 28 yards by Amani Toomer and a 28-yard reverse by Toomer. Hilliard's reception was the third-longest against the Steelers this season, Toomer's was the fifth longest, and Toomer's run was the sixth-longest.

Two of the three came in the second half.

	More Steelers Coverage: Steelers Report: 12/12/00

"Because of the situation, we took some more chances in an effort to try to get the ball back," Cowher said. "They beat us on a fade route, we missed a couple of tackles, and they hit a couple of big passes against us."

Cowher continued to harp yesterday on the third-down plays in which the Giants converted 64 percent (9 of 14), the highest percentage against the Steelers this season. Previously, they had allowed a high of 50 percent by Tennessee in the third game.

"We had situations on third downs where we had individual guys get beat. And it wasn't just third-and-short; twice in their second drive it was third-and-10, and they were able to convert. You have to be able to get off the field in that situation."

The Steelers rank 10th in the league on stopping offenses on third downs even after the Giants' success, so it might have been an aberration.

"Give them some credit for executing," Cowher said. "It wasn't anything that we weren't prepared to do. They just beat us a couple of times physically, and I give credit to them for that. We have to start winning the third-and-long situations now, because we worked so hard to get them in those situations."

The Steelers did not play well on offense, either, but Kordell Stewart's passer rating climbed, from 75.7 to 75.8. He completed 20 of 34 for 224 yards, his first game of more than 200 yards in 14 months.

Bobby Shaw led the Steelers with 88 yards on six receptions, but if he had not dropped two others in scoring territory, he would have had the first 100-yard receiving game by a Steelers player this season.

"I thought we hit some deep balls," Cowher said. "We dropped a couple that were very catchable."

His team still, barely, has a shot at the playoffs because the Jets lost to Oakland Sunday night. Had the Jets won, the Steelers would have been eliminated.

Since five AFC teams have 10 victories and only six teams make the playoffs, there's room for one more, the third and final wild-card playoff spot. Ties are broken within the division first. The Steelers would win a tiebreaker with the Jets at 9-7 because they beat them. But there are still too many other scenarios that could take place.

The Steelers' chances are so slim, the NFL did not even acknowledge them in a detailed list of playoff scenarios the league issued for each team yesterday.

"We are still with an opportunity," Cowher said. "We have to come out with a tremendous sense of urgency and seize the opportunity we have. Playing this last game at Three Rivers Stadium is very special, and we need to feed off that."

One thing is for sure, no matter what happens, the Steelers cannot have a playoff game at Three Rivers Stadium because the only thing possible is the sixth seed, and that team cannot have a home game. Saturday's game against Washington will be the final football game at Three Rivers Stadium.