The south end zone at Heinz Field presents a gorgeous view for fans looking toward the city. On a blazing autumn day, they could turn and see the picturesque fountain at the Point.
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Kris Brown walks off the field after missing a 35-yard field goal attempt that could have sent the game into overtime. It was Brown's fourth miss of the day. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette) |
Yesterday, Kris Brown took aim toward the Point three times and they turned into No Points.
Thus, after the Steelers kicked the defending Super Bowl champions around Heinz Field all game, Brown's inability to kick a football cost them a victory.
One of the most reliable place-kickers in the NFL missed three field goals and had another deflected as the Baltimore Ravens pulled out a 13-10 victory they had no business winning.
"We played well," quarterback Kordell Stewart said. "We moved the ball down the field the way we wanted to. The defense did a good job ... sometimes you just come up short."
It wasn't short, but wide right. Three times, Brown's field-goal attempts sailed right of the uprights on the open, south end of Heinz Field, the last one from just 35 yards away with eight seconds left that would have sent the game into overtime.
According to a quick check by the Elias Sports Bureau last night, kickers have missed four field goals in a game at least 10 times since 1980, the last by Cole Ford of the Raiders in 1997. The NFL's official statistics bureau could find no league record for most misses in a game.
Brown made his first, from 38 yards, then missed from 41, had one tipped away from 33 and missed two others of 48 and 35. His teammates came to his support afterward, but the dozen lost points were too precious against one of the NFL's great defenses.
"The reason we lost this game was my fault," Brown told wave after wave of reporters. "Our defense played tremendously and our offense played well. It just came down to me today, and I didn't get the job done. That, for me, is the hardest part about this loss. It came down to me, and I didn't perform."
The Steelers might have supported him, but they did not argue his point after they fell to 5-2. They did remain alone in first place in the AFC Central Division, a half-game ahead of Baltimore (5-3).
"If you didn't look at the score," safety Lee Flowers said, "if you looked at the stats, you'd say, oh, Pittsburgh won this game."
The statistics weren't even close.
The Steelers outgained the Ravens, 348 yards to 183. They had 21 first down to the Ravens' 10. They converted five third downs to their one. Both teams had one turnover and 25 yards each in penalties.
Each had a touchdown pass -- the Ravens on Shannon Sharpe's 13-yard catch from ancient Randall Cunningham, and Plaxico Burress' first NFL touchdown, a 21-yarder from Stewart for the Steelers. Jerome Bettis did not get 100 yards but did manage 91 against a defense that has not allowed a 100-yard rusher in the past 45 games, including playoffs.
But Matt Stover made his field goal kicks, each in the fourth quarter, from 25 yards and 39, the final the winner with 1:49 left, to provide the difference.
"I think that's why they're champions," Flowers said, "because they find a way to win."
Trailing 10-7, the Ravens did just that. They turned the Steelers' only turnover into an opportunity when Troy Edwards, fighting for extra yards after a 10-yard reception, fumbled and Baltimore safety Corey Harris recovered at the Ravens' 35.
The Steelers thought they had the Ravens stopped when Cunningham's third-down pass fell incomplete. But defensive end Aaron Smith was caught grabbing Cunningham's facemask after the throw, and the 15-yard penalty put them in position for Stover to tie the score with his 25-yard kick on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Brown's miss from 48 yards with 4:22 left gave Baltimore a chance to win it. Getting the ball at their 38 because of the miss, the Ravens moved quickly into Stover's range when Cunningham completed a 26-yard pass to Sharpe on the first play.
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Bill Cowher throws the challenge flag onto the field after the Ravens kick a field goal on the final play of the third quarter. Cowher claimed the clock ran out before the kick - and the replay proved that he was right. The Ravens kicked the field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter. (Matt Freed, Post-Gazette) | |
They maneuvered 16 more yards on the next five plays, and Stover struck from 39 to give the Ravens a 13-10 lead.
"If you want to blame anybody, blame it on our defense," Flowers said. "We had a chance to stop them on our 40."
But the Steelers' offense still had a chance to bail them out, and they appeared up to the task. Stewart, having his second consecutive successful game at home, snapped off three pass completions in a row to put the ball at Baltimore's 35 with 1:03 to go. After a short Chris Fauamatu-Ma'afala run and a pass to him that lost a yard, Stewart rifled a 17-yard pass to Bobby Shaw to the 17, then spiked the ball to stop the clock with 22 seconds left.
Twice, he threw incomplete, and on fourth down, Brown came onto the field. Baltimore Coach Brian Billick called time out to ice him.
"I warmed up and I was ready to go on the field," said Brown, who made adjustments because of his previous two misses on that end. "I tried to aim a little left. Obviously I didn't because it went right."
Brown, who limped off the field with a bruised knee when Chris McAlister blocked his early kick, said his knee did not bother him when he lined up for his final two attempts.
"I thought he was fine," Coach Bill Cowher said. "He just missed them. Kris Brown is a good kicker. I have not lost any confidence in him. He had one of those days."
So did other parts of the Steelers' special teams.
"I was not happy with them at all today," Cowher said. "We had too many breakdowns."
After Brown's only successful kick, Baltimore got good field position when Jermaine Lewis returned the kickoff 53 yards to the Steelers' 38. Four plays later, linebacker Earl Holmes allowed Sharpe to get behind him, and Sharpe caught Cunningham's 13-yard pass in the back of the end zone for a 7-3 Baltimore lead.
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Joey Porter sacks Ravens quarterback Randall Cunningham despite the efforts of running back Obafemi Ayanbadejo. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette) |
"He kind of hit the weak spot of the defense, and the quarterback just made a great play and got a touchdown on us," Holmes said. "After that, we started playing Steelers defense."
There was no doubt that the Steelers, ranked first in the NFL on defense in yards and points, outplayed the more ballyhooed Ravens defense.
They swarmed all over Cunningham, who completed 14 of 22 for 158 yards and was sacked three times, twice by Joey Porter. They held the Ravens to 41 yards rushing on 26 carries.
In the meantime, their own offense was moving against a defense that set the NFL's 16-game record by allowing just 165 points last season.
Stewart, despite missing left tackle Wayne Gandy because of a hamstring injury, did not come under a heavy rush. He completed 22 of 37 passes for 236 yards and was sacked twice.
When he threw the 21-yard touchdown pass to Burress with 15 seconds left in the half, it seemed as if the Steelers were on their way.
But the blocked 33-yard field goal attempt midway through the third quarter was not a good sign.
"When the offense came out and put together a 10, 12 play drive, I thought we were going to put them away," Holmes said. "We ended up getting the field goal blocked and we lost a little momentum.'
"It was one of those games where we never quite kept them down. We kept them hanging around. We had them down; we should have stepped on them and stepped on them."
Instead, they let one slip away against the defending Super Bowl champions, a division foe, and at home.
"They still have the confidence and swagger that they're the top defense in the league," Bettis said. "We didn't do what we should have done and quieted them up."
The Steelers were so angry about that they could have kicked themselves. But what would have been the use to try on this day?
