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Monday, December 31, 2001

CINCINNATI -- You would think it's bad enough that the Steelers' field-goal and extra-point team no longer can be counted on to do anything but make every attempt an adventure. But it keeps coming up with new ways to torture us. Yesterday, it scored points for the Cincinnati Bengals.

Somebody needs to tell those guys, "Enough already!"

We have suffered enough.

There were a lot of reasons the Steelers' run to the Super Bowl hit a nasty pothole in a 26-23 overtime loss. The NFL's No. 1 defense inexplicably collapsed, making Jon Kitna look like Joe Montana and allowing him to throw for 411 yards. Somebody needs to put out an all-points bulletin for Dewayne Washington because the guy wearing No. 20 for the Steelers played so poorly it couldn't possibly have been Washington. Kordell Stewart threw four interceptions. No, he wasn't the same old Stewart, but he was pretty bad. And how about some of Mike Mularkey's play calls in the second half? Once in a while, it's OK to run the ball, use the clock and even punt the ball away rather than throw interceptions, especially when you're leading by 13 points in the fourth quarter.

But the Steelers still would have won if it hadn't been for their kicking game.

It's getting pretty tiresome.

The Steelers were in total control with a 14-0 lead and headed toward another blowout when Kris Brown lined up for a 43-yard field-goal try late in the second quarter. At that point, you're probably trying to guess if Brown will miss wide right or wide left. The last thing you're expecting is for Mike Schneck's snap to clang off holder Josh Miller's hands. The Bengals' Robert Bean picked up the fumble and lateraled to teammate Brian Simmons, who ran 56 yards for a touchdown that, suddenly, made the game much more interesting than it should have been.

"I have small hands," Miller said, "and when it gets colder, they get even smaller. I knew the ball was going to be slick, but that's no excuse. That was just a terrible play on my part ...

"All I can do now is go back out at practice and take a million more snaps. It won't happen again."

Later, Brown missed an extra-point attempt. Some teams go years without missing one. The Steelers have missed three in the past four games.

This miss wasn't Brown's fault, though. During warm-ups, he knew it was going to be a long day when he routinely slipped and fell as he planted to kick. Darned if he didn't end up on his fanny when he tried to kick the extra point that would have given the Steelers a 24-10 lead.

"The turf at that end of the field wasn't just bad, it was terrible," Bill Cowher said.

Bengals kicker Neil Rackers missed an extra-point try at the same end of the stadium that would have won the game in regulation.

"That's the worst you can get," Brown said of the field. "Basically, it was like playing on sand."

It didn't help on Brown's miss that Schneck's snap was bad. No one knew who Schneck was in his first two-plus seasons with the Steelers. He was in heaven. Now, after yesterday and after a bad snap that contributed to a missed extra point against the Detroit Lions last week, everyone knows his name. That's bad news for a long snapper.

"We had a couple of bad snaps today that I was really disappointed in," Cowher said.

Actually, he seemed to be really ticked off, but he was trying to be polite for the television cameras.

About all the Steelers could feel good about with their kicking game was that Brown came back to make a 38-yard field goal after Miller's fumble. Considering the circumstances -- the cold, the wind, the field, the fact he had missed an NFL-high 14 field-goal tries this season, including six of his previous 14 attempts, and the fact he said last week his struggles were beginning to beat him up mentally -- it was a big kick.

"I thought it was huge," Brown said. "That lets me know I can still get in a rhythm. I've been saying all along I need to get in a rhythm. I'm hoping this is the start."

I know, you're skeptical.

How can you not be skeptical the way Brown has kicked? When the rest of the Steelers' games -- at least until the Super Bowl -- will be at Heinz Field, where he has missed 10 of 14 this season?

"I'm fine with Kris," Cowher said.

It was hard to tell if he meant it or if it was just wishful thinking.

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