NEW ORLEANS -- Just when Bill Cowher thinks he has one leak plugged, another breaks out. Fix the offense, watch his defense crumble. Running game comes around, tacklers can't tackle. Throw for touchdowns, give up big plays.
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Cornerback Dewayne Washington can't catch the Saints' Deuce McAllister, who scores on a 52-yard run in the third quarter yesterday. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette) |
It's enough to drive a team to three losses in four games, which is where the once-haughty Steelers stand after losing a comeback bid yesterday to New Orleans, 32-29.
If they don't turn it around quickly, the Steelers season will be over before they reach the next quarter-pole. They've already lost as many games as they did last season and they still have 12 to go.
"I'm sick of losing," said wide receiver Hines Ward after the Saints recovered an onside kick with 1:22 to play and ran out the clock to preserve their fourth victory in five games.
"We have two options," said safety Lee Flowers. "We can either give up on the season now or try to correct what we're doing wrong and come back fighting."
Everyone will have to wait until Sunday when they play at Cincinnati to learn the answer. For now, Cowher's gamble to start Tommy Maddox at quarterback in place of Kordell Stewart looked good. After a shaky start in which he lost a fumble on a sack, Maddox recovered to throw touchdown passes to Plaxico Burress, Ward and Terance Mathis to bring his team back from a 13-0 hole in the second quarter and a 12-point deficit in the second half. Maddox completed 22 of 38 passes with one interception.
The Steelers' ground game also came around, with Jerome Bettis gaining 84 yards on 19 carries, and the team getting 120. Amos Zereoue had 119 combined yards -- 35 rushing on five carries and a team-high 84 receiving on three catches.
But the defense was terrible.
"Whenever we get 29 points, no matter what, we're suppposed to win the game and we didn't get it done today," said linebacker Joey Porter.
It could have been worse. The Saints scored on seven of their first eight drives but settled for Jon Carney field goals of 40, 48, 31 and 48 yards on four of them.
Deuce McAllister ran 23 times for 123 yards, one of them a 52-yard touchdown in which no one laid a hand on him after rookie linebacker Larry Foote overran the play. McAllister cut back to where Foote should have been and found a big hole.
"It was a very poor defensive effort," Cowher said. "There were too many big plays. I'm very disappointed in how we performed today defensively."
Quarterback Aaron Brooks, who needed just 14 completions to pick up 207 yards, picked on cornerback Chad Scott. By the end of the game, Scott's coverage was so skimpy the Saints should have been throwing beads at him.
"I didn't play that well today," Scott said. "That's not going to happen a lot."
It happened enough yesterday. Several times Scott jumped on a hitch by the receiver and could not recover in time to catch up. The worst came after Burress caught Maddox's first touchdown pass, a perfectly thrown ball over two defenders in the back corner of the end zone for a 20-yard score.
That cut the Saints' lead to 13-7. But on New Orleans first play from the 35 after the kickoff, Jerome Pathon put a move on Scott, who stumbled. The wide-open Pathon caught Brooks' pass and made it to the 1 for a 64-yard pickup. McAllister scored on the next play, and the Saints jumped back on top by 12 when a two-point conversion failed.
"We're not fooling ourselves, we played a horrible game today," said Flowers, who could not prevent Pathon from catching an early pass in the back of the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown to give the Saints a 10-0 lead.
"Somehow, some way we just kept finding a way to give up the big play on defense, and that hurt us," Porter said.
The Steelers outgained New Orleans, 364-315, but they also lost two turnovers and got none in return, a trend that continues to hurt them. Maddox fumbled on the game's first series when he was sacked by end Charles Grant as tackle Marvel Smith never made a move to block him. That led to Carney's first field goal.
Maddox was sacked three more times, all by linebacker Darrin Smith. Maddox also threw an interception with four minutes left in the game at New Orleans' 21 and his team trailing by 11.
Nevertheless, Maddox maintained his cool after a jittery start, and the Steelers' offense picked up a rhythm.
"I thought Tommy Maddox did a good job running their offense today," said Saints Coach Jim Haslett, who was doused with a bucket of water by his players to celebrate his first victory against his hometown team.
After the Saints' muffled the Steelers first touchdown with the big pass to Pathon and McAllister's score, Maddox threw two screen passes to Zereoue, who ran 17 and 54 yards to put the Steelers back in business at the 2.
On second down, Maddox hit Ward on the right. Ward dived and hit the pilon. An official ruled he did not have control of the ball but that was overtuned by instant replay for a touchdown and a 19-14 halftime score.
The Saints seemed to take control when, on the fourth play of the second half, McAllister cut back and to the right and breezed 52 yards for a touchdown that gave them a 26-14 lead.
But the Steelers, showing patience over panic, used Bettis and mixed up the run and the pass to respond with a touchdown. Maddox hit Ward for 21 yards, threw another screen pass that Zereoue took for 13 and pitched the ball neatly to Zereoue for another 15 yards. Bettis, who ran behind Dan Kreider's block to pick up 8 yards on a fourth-and-1 in the series, ran behind pulling guard Alan Faneca off the right side for a 6-yard touchdown.
That cut the Saints' lead to 26-21 in the third quarter.
But the Steelers' defense just could not stop the Saints. Scott bit on a hitch again, and this time Joe Horn slipped past him for a 21-yard pickup that set up another field goal and a 29-21 New Orleans lead.
"There are still times in the game where you have to seize control," Cowher said. "It's there for you. And right now, we're not doing that."
Tight end Jerame Tuman killed a budding drive when he was called for holding to cancel an 8-yard run for a first down by Bettis. After two passes fell incomplete, the Steelers punted, and New Orleans picked on Scott again.
On second down, Horn beat Scott for 20 yards that set up what turned out to be the winning points on Carney's 48-yard field goal with 11:21 left in the game.
It stayed that way until Maddox gave the Steelers one last chance by throwing a 14-yard touchdown pass to Terance Mathis with 1:26 left. Maddox then threw a pass to Ward for the two-point conversion.
But the Steelers could not recover the onside kick. Whether they recover from 1-3 is another matter.
"We're going to make the playoffs," Scott guaranteed in the locker room. "I'm saying that right now. I just have that much faith in this team."
They should hope his word is better than his coverage was yesterday.
Ed Bouchette can be reached at ebouchette@post-gazette.com or 412-263-3878.
Defense springs too many leaks; Steelers fall to 1-3 
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