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Monday, October 08, 2001

Baby strides. That's what Bill Cowher called the progress the Steelers' offense made yesterday.

"We still have to become more efficient passing the football if we expect to go where we want to go."

That was the word from every corner of the locker room after the 16-7 victory against the Cincinnati Bengals.

"We've got to be more balanced," Hines Ward said. "Today, we just pounded the ball with Jerome [Bettis]. As a quarterback and receivers, we have to find a way to get our passing game going."

Funny, isn't it?

They say we're tough critics.

If you ask me, the Steelers' offense improved by leaps and bounds.

It's probably too soon to be thinking Super Bowl or the playoffs or even a win Sunday in Kansas City, but the offense didn't remotely resemble the one that stunk in Buffalo a week earlier. Kordell Stewart missed some open receivers and got lucky when the Bengals dropped a couple of interceptions. But he's always going to miss some throws. He is what he is as a quarterback. But Stewart also hit Ward for a 21-yard gain on a deep slant to set up the Steelers' first field goal. He threw a sweet pass to Bobby Shaw for a 22-yard gain in the third quarter as defensive end Justin Smith was tugging on the back of his jersey. And he threw an even prettier pass to Ward for a 24-yard gain on third-and-5 late in the game with the outcome in doubt.

Hey, it's something, isn't it?

After all the garbage we've had to watch the past three seasons?

But neither Stewart's throws nor Bettis' 153 rushing yards were the best part of this game. That would be Mike Mularkey's play-calling. He called shovel passes for Bettis and Ward. He called quick pitches to get Amos Zereoue outside. Best of all, he called quarterback draws and rollouts for Stewart.

"We got him involved in the game running with the ball," Cowher said of Stewart. "That's what he does best."

Why haven't we seen those plays all along?

Give Stewart credit for asking Mularkey that same question. He approached him last week and told him he wanted to play more on the perimeter. During the game, he asked him more than once to run a play in which he pump fakes to the left, spins and runs around right end.

"'When are you going to call it? You can't call it early enough,' he told me," Mularkey said.

The play gained 11 yards in the second quarter. On the same drive -- the Steelers' only touchdown drive -- Stewart gained 8 yards on a quarterback draw, 9 yards when he rolled right and kept running and the final 8 yards on another quarterback draw.

"I want to be involved," Stewart said. "I'm not a guy who likes to sit back in the pocket and be a pretty boy."

No one ever has questioned the man's courage. When he does take off, he doesn't look to slide or get out of bounds. He looks to gain yards.

Stewart gained 61 on nine carries against the Bengals, a significant contribution to their 274-yard rushing day. But beyond that, the threat of him running slowed the Bengals' pass rush. It probably opened a hole or two for the wonderfully reliable Bettis.

"That's Kordell," Wayne Gandy said. "That's an aspect of his game we need to explore more. It's another element for defenses to worry about."

It was fun to watch, significantly more fun than that horrible performance in Buffalo. It also would have led to a blowout win if Bettis hadn't been stopped on fourth-and-goal at the Bengals' 1 early in the game or if Stewart hadn't lost a snap at the Bengals' 8 late in the second quarter or botched a handoff to Zereoue early in the third.

"The balls were slippery today," Stewart said.

Literally.

Cowher acknowledged a problem with the commemorative footballs used for the first game at Heinz Field but refused to accept that as an excuse for the fumbles or for his quarterback's errant throws.

"We can't play that way. We have a very small margin of error."

That's not being a tough critic. That's just telling the truth.

The Steelers' offense must get better. The Bills or Bengals won't always be the opponent. The games are going to get tougher beginning with the one in Kansas City.

But what happened yesterday -- especially the way Mularkey used Stewart -- at least gives you a little hope the Steelers might win a few.

Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com.