On a day in which Jerome Bettis did not play, the Steelers scored just one touchdown, missed two field goal tries and an extra point, did not get a sack or an interception on defense -- and won going away.
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Safety Lee Flowers celebrates after stopping Jets running back Curtis Martin in the third quarter. Martin was limited to 58 yards rushing. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette) |
Winning has become such a habit that that the Steelers turned their attention to their next foe five minutes after they dominated the New York Jets, 18-7, at Heinz Field.
"Next week is Baltimore," said tackle Wayne Gandy.
The Steelers have won five in row since they lost to Baltimore, 13-10, Nov. 4 and have taken a two-game lead on the Ravens in the Central Division at 10-2, a record that leads the AFC. Beating the Jets yesterday allowed them breathing room and virtually assured them of a playoff berth with four to go.
"There's a sense of accomplishment but not satisfaction, no matter how many wins we have," Gandy said. "Nobody around here is hollering or talking about champagne. It's like, 'Who's next?' "
That could be the cry for a kicker if Kris Brown does not shape up. They lost to Baltimore because he missed three field goals and had another blocked. Last week, he missed one from 40 yards. Yesterday, he missed two field goals from 40 and 44 yards, shanked an extra-point try, kicked off poorly and was booed heavily at home.
Brown did kick field goals of 26, 33, 38 and 20 yards but that was more a function of the offense's inability to score touchdowns. Coach Bill Cowher is clearly losing patience with his kicker, who has missed 11 field goals in 36 tries.
"Well, it's not like we have a lot of options," Cowher said. "That's a concern, I'm not going to sugarcoat it."
In the past six games, Brown has made 14 field goals and missed nine.
"The bottom line is, the ball's not going through the uprights," Brown said. "It's not the stadium, it's not the lights, it's not the grass, it's me."
His problems kicking and the Steelers' inability to get into the end zone aside, they crushed the Jets, who fell to 7-5 overall this season and 1-14 lifetime against the Steelers.
Curtis Martin, the NFL's leading rusher, managed 58 yards on 18 carries, the worst of his four games against his hometown team. Vinny Testaverde ran his personal record against the Steelers to 2-9. Even though he escaped without an interception, his 141 yards passing were rarely a factor.
Martin was the Jets' most dangerous passer, throwing an 18-yard touchdown pass to Wayne Chrebet in the second quarter.
Without the injured Bettis, the Steelers' running game was blase with Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala managing only 50 yards on 21 carries, although he did score a 1-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
Quarterback Kordell Stewart and wide receiver Hines Ward were the show on offense yesterday. Stewart had his fifth 200-yard game of the season, throwing for 214 yards, and Ward caught a career-high 10 for 124 yards.
"The best thing about our passing game that I love is that if it is third-and-10 or third-and-11, the guys in the huddle really feel like it is just third-and-1," Gandy said. "We can still get the first down."
They made a habit of that yesterday. At one point in the second quarter they had converted seven of their eight third-down tries. Stewart completed 20 of 36 with no touchdowns or interceptions and was sacked once. He ran another seven times for 36 yards that included downing the ball twice at the end to run out the clock.
"He's throwing the ball very accurately," Cowher said. "He's throwing the ball with confidence. There's no indecision ... he was right on the money on a couple of throws, a couple of big third-down throws."
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The Jets' Marcus Coleman gets a 15-yard penalty after he rips Amos Zereoue's facemask around. (Gabor Degre, Post-Gazette) | |
Except for a few drives, the Jets could get little going against the NFL's top-ranked defense. They had 220 yards, and that came as a relief to a defense that had allowed 790 over the past two games.
"They're very good," Jets Coach Herman Edwards said. "They put on a lot of pressure, put you in situations where you're third-and-long. That's the kind of situation we were in today."
Safety Lee Flowers, who twice knifed through and spilled Martin for losses, said the Steelers' main concern was stopping the man who had averaged 115 yards against them in three previous games.
"He's a special back," Flowers said. "We think, the last two weeks, we haven't been playing well. All week it was a goal for us to step our game plan up, and I thought we did that today, and we just need to keep it rolling."
They were rolling in the second quarter when Fuamatu-Ma'afala scored from a yard out for a 9-0 lead after Brown duck-hooked his kick to the left. The Jets, though, strung together 74 of their 105 yards in the first half on a drive that ended when Martin took a handoff from Testaverde, ran to his right and threw a perfect pass to Chrebet 18 yards into the end zone over defensive backs Chad Scott and Brent Alexander.
Martin entered the game with a 10-yard lead on Bettis in the NFL rushing race, and he tied him for touchdown passes.
"We had that thing covered," Cowher said. "I saw it coming and I couldn't believe that he threw it. That was a heck of a pass."
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Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala tries to stretch the ball into the end zone in the second quarter. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette) |
Stewart threw one as well on the next drive that found Bobby Shaw for 24 yards on, what else, third down as they moved to the 15. There, they bogged down again. Scoring touchdowns at all has been a problem for the Steelers this season and scoring them once they get inside the 20 has been particularly frustrating.
They are last in the AFC, scoring just 13 touchdowns on 39 trips inside the 20 after going 1 for 5 yesterday.
Brown salvaged that one with a 33-yard field goal with 35 seconds left in the half, but he could not give them another boost just before halftime. His squibbed kickoff was fumbled by James Darling and recovered by John Fiala at the Steelers' 48 with 32 seconds left.
Stewart, after his only sack of the game lost 3 yards, completed an 18-yard pass to Shaw, and Zereoue ran 15 yards. Brown came on to kick a 40-yarder and missed it, and the home fans booed as the Steelers went into the locker room.
It's one of the few times there have been boos at Heinz Field all season. Even Brown's horrific day Nov. 4 against Baltimore did not provoke many.
The fans booed again when Brown missed a 44-yarder and booed when Cowher sent him out to try a 38-yarder that he made.
"This was a little like a playoff atmosphere, and you'll probably be able to times that by two next Sunday night in Baltimore," Cowher said. "It's going to be electric down there and we're looking forward to the challenge."
Brown's kicking woes aside, Steelers just keep winning 
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