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Tuesday, September 17, 2002

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

It might not be the failings on defense that have the Steelers off to an 0-2 start as much as it is an offense that has blown opportunities, fumbled, bumbled and could not put a sustained drive together against Oakland Sunday night.

	Raiders cornerback Charles Woodson forces Hines Ward to fumble on the Steelers' first possession of the fourth quarter Sunday night. The Steelers lost four fumbles in the 30-17 defeat. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette)

The offense has shunned Jerome Bettis and the running game in favor of a passing strategy that has not shown it can live up to the potential it showed in the second half of last season.

Even the players are starting to wonder why they are passing so much in games if they do not do so in practice.

Receiver Plaxico Burress, off to a slow start with two catches for 21 yards in two games, questioned the coaches' practice philosophy after the game Sunday night, in which the Steelers threw 34 times and ran just 18.

Burress said the passing game is not in sync.

"It doesn't look like it. We're throwing the ball on the football field. We really haven't been doing it in practice. So why should it be [in sync] in the game?"

You mean, he was asked, you haven't been practicing it?

"No," Burress answered.

Do you think you need to practice it more?

"I would think so," Burress replied.

Once they abandoned the run, the Steelers' passing game did not go smoothly. Receivers stretched for passes from Kordell Stewart that they sometimes caught.

	More Steelers Coverage: Steelers Report: 9/17/02

"It just seemed like the timing wasn't there," Burress said. "I can't really say what it was. Everybody was out there playing hard, trying to work together, and it just seemed like the timing wasn't there. We just have to go on the practice field and correct it."

For all the passes and yards that Oakland's Rich Gannon put up Sunday night, the Steelers' defense did not perform as badly as portrayed. It held Gannon to one touchdown passing, and held Oakland to two touchdowns on offense. The defense sacked Gannon five times and linebacker Joey Porter intercepted two passes and returned them 114 yards.

However, the Steelers' offense let the defense hang out to dry.

Both offenses averaged the same amount per play, 5.3 yards. But Oakland ran 87 plays, 35 more than the Steelers.

Here's what the Steelers' offense accomplished: Stewart fumbled away the snap on first down at Oakland's 3; the Steelers lost three more fumbles and an interception; they had two touchdown-scoring drives and one covered 20 yards after Porter's 84-yard interception return in the third quarter.

"I think we probably lead the league in turnovers," receiver Hines Ward said. "And that's not what we are accustomed to. Until we rectify it, we are going to continue to struggle."

The Steelers had their longest drive of the game on their first possession, when it took seven plays to move 70 yards for a touchdown.

Of their next 13 possessions, none lasted longer than five plays. There were three series that lasted five plays, three series that lasted four, six series that lasted three and one series that lasted one.

That's no way to help out a defense, which should benefit from an offense that keeps the ball, gives it rest and prevents the opposing offense from doing anything. Last year, the Steelers led the NFL in controlling the ball and keeping it away from the opposition. The Steelers averaged 34 minutes, 10 seconds in time of possession last season. Sunday night, the Steelers held the ball for just 20:26. The Raiders had it for 39:34.

Plaxico Burress can't make a catch Sunday against the Raiders. (Matt Freed, Post-Gazette)

The Steelers ranked No. 1 in defense last season because they allowed the fewest total yards in the league, but they did not allow the fewest total yards per play. That's because their offense kept the ball so long.

"You can't win when you have 80, 90 plays and have turnovers," Porter said. "You always put yourself in tough situations and the defense not being able to get off the field on third downs. That's how it was last week and this week. That worked pretty good for us last year. We got off the field on third down and the offense converted on third down. It's kind of like we're backward right now."

Bettis is not running poorly. He's just not running. They gave him the ball eight times in the opener, 10 times Sunday night. Those 18 carries aren't even a good game total for him and represent the fewest in his first two games in his 10-year career. He has 76 yards rushing and a 4.2-yard average per carry. But he has only four more carries than Stewart (11) and Antwaan Randle El (2) and Ward (1) combined.

Cowher talked often Sunday night about how his defense must get off the field after third down and they did not do a good job of it against Oakland, which converted 12 of 20 third downs into first downs or touchdowns. But Porter's interceptions cannot be dismissed because that's all part of it. The Raiders also had to settle for three Sebastian Janikowski field goals.

If Stewart does not fumble a snap at the 3 and the Steelers score a touchdown on that series, and if they did not give up a 96-yard kickoff return, the Steelers would have won the game, 24-23.

And neither of those was the fault of their defense.