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Sunday, September 16, 2001

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Jerome Bettis wasn't the only star NFL running back to get off to a slow start last week. Tennessee's Eddie George managed only 49 yards on 18 carries. Combined with the 28 yards on 12 carries by Bettis, that gave the NFL's top two backs over the past four years 77 yards total in their opening games.

George has rushed for 5,506 yards the past four years, more than any other back in the NFL. Bettis is No. 2 at 5,282.

Emmitt Smith, who is about to become the NFL's No. 2 all-time rusher, had 40 yards on 13 carries in the opener for Dallas.

Bettis and George are used to slow starts.

Sunday's performance in Jacksonville was bountiful for Bettis compared to his opener last year when he gained just 8 yards on nine carries against Baltimore. He finished with 1,341 yards, fourth-most in franchise history.

George also did better this time. Last year, he ran for only 37 yards on 17 carries against Buffalo. He finished with 1,509 yards, second in the AFC.

"You'd like to get off to a better start, but it is all on how you finish," George said. "You could have a good start and a bad finish and nobody even remembers how you start. It is all about how you finish and that's all I am concerned with."

In a quirk brought about by canceled games today, Bettis could still break the 10,000 career rushing mark in the grand opening of Heinz Field. That figured to possibly happen this season because he needed 196 yards in two games, the second would have been against Cleveland at home today. Those 28 yards against the Jaguars puts him a hefty 168 away. Now that the Cleveland game has been put off, Bettis has a game in Buffalo before the new Heinz Field grand opening Oct. 7 against Cincinnati.

High conspiracy

It's surprising what some teams will do to try to get a competitive edge in the NFL. The Jaguars, for instance, sign a player the Steelers cut in order to glean information from him.

The Denver Broncos have a simpler plan. At old Mile High Stadium, a sign was painted in the visitors locker room reminding opponents that they were 5,280 feet above sea level. The Broncos believed it gave them a psychological edge.

Broncos owner Pat Bowlen noticed there was no sign greeting visiting NFL teams in their new stadium. He ordered one to be put up. It is expected to be there by Denver's next home game, Sept. 30, against Baltimore.

"We've gotten everything else done, except that," Bowlen said. "Why wouldn't we put it up again? It's true."

Batch of class

Charlie Batch lost his starting job in Detroit, but earned new respect from his new coach.

Marty Mornhinweg promoted Ty Detmer as the Lions' starter after their 28-6 loss to Green Bay last week.

Batch got the job in a similar way in 1998 as a rookie when Coach Bobby Ross benched Scott Mitchell two weeks into the season.

"I expected him to play at a much higher level in Green Bay," Mornhinweg said.

On Wednesday, Batch told his coach he would back Detmer 100 percent and be ready if needed.

"I found out what kind of a guy Charlie Batch is," Mornhinweg said.

Stuck in the middle

Buffalo, the Steelers' next opponent, is in a big-time dilemma. The Bills have no cap room, and now they have no middle linebacker after Sam Cowart was lost for most, if not all, of the season with a torn Achilles' tendon in the first game.

The Bills ranked third in the NFL on defense last year but now has lost six starters. It's a rough start for Tom Donahoe, the team's new president and general manager and the Steelers' former director of football operations.

Kenyatta Wright, an undrafted rookie, will replace Cowart, one of the best middle linebackers in the league. It could be a good game for the Steelers to run Bettis up the middle about 35 times.

A little knowledge

Poor Chicago. The Bears either draft poorly or give away their top choices. Now, they can't even keep their game plan under wraps.

Greg Blache, their defensive coordinator, implied that his defensive game plan was somehow leaked to the Baltimore Ravens last week.

Even if it had, Coach Dick Jauron did not think it contributed to their loss.

"My contention generally has been we can give the opponents the playbook and I don't think it would do any good. It might confuse them. That's been true every place I've been. Just have them read it and I don't know what they would do with it."

No. 4 is No. 1

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel polled 12 NFL scouts, two from each division, and asked them to rank the top 10 quarterbacks in order.

The results:

Brett Favre, 108 points; Peyton Manning, 107; Kurt Warner, 97; Donovan McNabb, 71; Daunte Culpepper, 61; Brian Griese, 48; Steve McNair, 38; Mark Brunell, 34; Drew Bledsoe, 31; and Rich Gannon, 22.

Said one about the Packers: "Without Favre, those guys are nobody. I think they'd just be horrible."

Tough call

Can a quarterback be too tough?

That's what Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen is saying about the Buccaneers' Brad Johnson, who stood in the pocket and took several hits from the Cowboys last week.

"Nobody will ever question his toughness. Never have; never will," Clyde said. "But he took a few hits that he didn't need to. He probably should've just gotten rid of the ball and thrown it away a few times."

Get me rewrite

The Carolina Panthers, who witnessed a sideline scuffle between linebacker Kevin Greene and his position coach, Kevin Steele, in 1998, had another the past week.

Defensive tackle Sean Gilbert, an Aliquippa native, grabbed defensive coordinator John Marshall by the shirt midway through practice Wednesday. He ripped the shirt and it took half a dozen players to pull Gilbert off his coach, and the two continued to yell at one another.

Coach George Seifert took Gilbert to the side of the field and they talked for a minute. Before returning to the field, Gilbert came up behind Marshall and the two patted each other on the back.

Then came the spin doctors.

"The defense was not going strong, so I talked to Sean," Marshall said. "It was a set-up. Really, I swear to gosh."

Said Gilbert, "We staged that. Practice wasn't going too good so, you know, you want to hook it up like that."

"If that's the rumor, that it's a set-up, I fell for it," said long snapper Jason Kyle, who helped break things up. "It worked."

Quick slants

No new coach won his opener last week. Gregg Williams (Bills), Marty Schottenheimer (Redskins), Butch Davis (Browns), Marty Mornhinweg (Lions), Herman Edwards (Jets) and Dick Vermeil (Chiefs) were a combined 0-6. They were outscored, 163-69.

Giants Coach Jim Fassel, to writers who picked his team to finish second in the NFC East Division: "You guys make my job a whole lot easier."

The Cowboys sold out for the 89th consecutive home game, but barely so, and a television blackout is expected sometime this season.

Eagles tight end Chad Lewis, on the rescue operations going on in New York: "It's frustrating just sitting in this locker room. If it was up to me, I would go out and get a bus and take us all up there and just start yanking people out of the rubble."

Eagles halfback Duce Staley had more receptions (11) than yards rushing (9) against the Rams.

WR Keith Poole, before he re-signed with the Denver Broncos last week, considered an offer from the Steelers, who eventually signed Tim Baker from their practice squad to replace injured Will Blackwell.

For those who consider packed NFL stadiums safe from terrorists comes this from Bengals fullback Lorenzo Neal: "If they can hit the Pentagon, do you think a stadium is that safe?"

The attacks Tuesday cost Jumbo Elliott a job. The out-of-work offensive tackle had a visit scheduled for Miami, where the Dolphins lost left tackle Richmond Webb with an injury. When all air travel was stopped and Elliott could not make the trip, the Dolphins signed Harry Swayne instead.

If Commissioner Paul Tagliabue cancels games today rather than postpone them, reducing the NFL schedule to 15 games, what does that do to the many incentive bonuses written into players' contracts based on performance, playing time, etc?

The last team to have beaten the Baltimore Ravens are the Steelers, 9-6, Oct. 29.

The canceled Vikings-Ravens game tomorrow night in Baltimore would have been the first Monday nighter for that city since Nov 6, 1978.

The Arizona Cardinals will remain in first place alone for a second week in a row without having played a game.