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Wednesday, September 18, 2002

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Imagine what Oakland's offense might have done had Joey Porter not played Sunday night.

	Linebacker Joey Porter runs with one of his two interceptions against the Oakland Raiders. (Matt Freed, Post-Gazette)

The score might have been 44-10, or worse.

The Steelers' linebacker had his most productive day in his four seasons in the NFL. He sacked Rich Gannon three times, intercepted two of his passes, knocked away two others and led his team with 12 tackles.

His two interceptions came near the Steelers' goal line, at the 3 and at the 1, possibly averting two more Oakland touchdowns. He ran one back 30 yards and the second back 84 yards, setting up a Steelers touchdown. That's a possible 21-point swing.

All this and he played with a bum shoulder, a sprained AC joint that caused him to miss practices last week and was numbed Sunday by an injection.

While one of the best performances by a defender in Steelers history could not stem the tide of the Raiders' 30-17 victory, it could bring him honors as the AFC defensive player of the week today.

"He definitely had an impact on the game," linebackers coach Mike Archer said. "The interceptions were both in the red zone after drives by them, and he got the ball back for us. The 84-yard return gave us an opportunity to win the football game."

Those two interceptions are evidence why the Steelers moved Porter from rush end to middle linebacker in their dime defense. They felt he was their best coverage linebacker. Many thought the move would cut down on his sack total (19 1/2 the past two seasons), and it still might. But he's off to a fast start and reached Gannon all three times from his old right outside linebacker post in their base 3-4 defense.

His two interceptions tie him at the top of the AFC, and his three sacks tie him for second.

Porter spent part of his off day yesterday getting treatment on his ailing shoulder in the training room, but it was the sting of Sunday's defeat that he felt most.

"It's tough," Porter said. "You want to go out there and try to win every game. To lose like that the way we got off the first week. ... We just can't get off the field on third downs. That's one of the big things that's killing us right now on defense.

"I still feel we're one of the best defenses in the league. Until we get off the field on third down and prove that we can get off the field, we're going to kill ourselves if we play 85 plays."

Gannon threw for 403 yards against the Steelers' defense, but if you subtract Porter's 114 yards on his two interception returns and 16 yards on his two sacks, that gave Gannon only 273 positive yards. Three other sacks reduced that by 18 yards to bring his total down to 255 net yards passing.

Quick research yesterday could not turn up another Steelers defender who had at least three sacks and two interceptions (never mind a dozen tackles to boot). That makes sense because defensive backs usually intercept passes but get few sacks, and linebackers and defensive linemen rack up the sacks but few interceptions. Porter, for example, had just one interception in his first three seasons in the league.

He has not earned a Pro Bowl spot yet, but the Steelers felt good enough about him that they gave him a $5 million signing bonus on a new contract this spring. His performance on national television Sunday night, while overshadowed by Gannon's record passing, could help launch him to his first Pro Bowl this season.

At the moment, Porter's more concerned about how to stop the next offense, Cleveland, in 11 days. He figures the Browns will deploy the spread offense against them, too.

"Right now, that's what teams are thinking: The way to beat the Steelers is to spread them out and take away what they do best, blitzing. If they feel they can spread us out and we can't blitz, they feel like they have a good chance of beating us. Right now, they're 2-0 doing it. Until we do something and go out there and stop it, we're going to see it all season."

Teams that copy the tactics of the Patriots and Raiders, though, are risking what happened to Gannon, who was sacked five times to go with his two interceptions. A quarterback who is not as precise with is passes or as shrewd in the pocket might not fare as well.

"If you put the ball up that many times, it's obvious you're putting yourself at high risk of interceptions," Porter said. "It's just a matter of people capitalizing and making those plays and being in the right position. The biggest thing is, if they do catch a 3-, 4-yard route, make a tackle. But we miss those tackles and turn those small gains into touchdowns, that's when we're hurting ourselves."

The Steelers did a better job of tackling and covering receivers Sunday night. Gannon's accuracy, Oakland's success on third downs and the large number of plays they ran (87), proved decisive -- despite Porter's monstrous game.

He picked off a Gannon pass early in the second quarter with Oakland holding a 10-7 lead. Gannon threw deep from his 22 for Terry Kirby, and Porter snatched it at the 3.

"He was trying to beat me on the deep ball," Porter said. "He thought I was going to bite on the slant-and-go. I stayed inside and I had help over the top. He threw the ball, and I had a chance to make a play."

Late in the third quarter, with Oakland leading, 20-10, Porter dropped into coverage as Gannon dropped back on second down at the Steelers' 4. Gannon looked for Jerry Rice in the end zone on his left and threw.

"It was a play we went over in practice," Porter said. "I knew they were trying to get the ball to Jerry."

Porter stepped in front, intercepted it in stride and broke into the open. He could not get a good handle on the ball, however, which slowed him down, and Charlie Garner ran him down.

Porter still believes his handoff to Chad Scott, who took it at the 15 and ran into the end zone, was legal. An instant replay challenged overturned the call on the field. The offense took it in for a touchdown when Kordell Stewart threw a 5-yard pass to Hines Ward.

"That would have been tough if we wouldn't have gotten any points out of that," Porter said.

It wound up being a tough night anyway for all the Steelers, including Porter, but at least he's one who does not have to hang his head.

NOTES -- The Steelers are last in the league with a turnover ration of minus-seven, two more than No. 31, Detroit with minus-five. ... The Steelers rank 27th on offense and defense in the NFL. ... The players report back to work today for the first time this week.