CINCINNATI -- Space experts warned of solar strikes in the earth's atmosphere this weekend, wreaking potential damage on television and radio transmissions and creating dramatic light shows in the universe. Nobody notified the Cincinnati Bengals.
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Bobby Shaw beats Bengals safety Cory Hall for a 45-yard touchdown in the third quarter. (Andy Starnes, Post-Gazette) |
They stood by helplessly, sometimes pathetically, yesterday as Kordell Stewart put on his own dazzling air show, lighting up a gray, overcast Cincinnati sky with strikes he hadn't produced in almost three years.
The extent of the damage was evident in the final score, a 48-28 Steelers victory that featured a passing game that was out of this world. But the strikes were quick, decisive, debilitating. They were even uncommon, which is why Stewart's third touchdown -- a 45-yard pass to wide receiver Bobby Shaw early in the third quarter -- proved to be so decisive.
It was Stewart's final act on a day when he looked like the quarterback he was in 1997, and it also was the final hurrah for the Bengals, who finally ran out of answers.
"That was demoralizing to them," said wide receiver Hines Ward, who caught the team's first touchdown -- a 34-yarder in the first quarter. "That hurt them more than it helped us."
Don't misunderstand. In a game where touchdowns were being exchanged like stock market shares, the one to Shaw helped a lot. It gave the Steelers a 31-21 lead with 6:16 remaining.
But, more important, the touchdown came on the series immediately after Corey Dillon's 4-yard scoring run that narrowed the Steelers lead to 24-21. And it provided such a quick and emphatic answer to the Bengals' comeback hopes that Cincinnati appeared to self-destruct immediately thereafter.
"That was a very, very big play for us," said tight end Mark Bruener, who caught the second touchdown pass -- an 11-yarder in the second quarter. "For them to answer us, and with the way Corey Dillon was running, and then for us to answer back, that gave us the confidence we really needed right then. It's nice."
"If we didn't make that play, who's to say what [the Bengals] do," Shaw said. "Who knows what happens."
What did happen, though, is testament to the debilitating nature of Shaw's touchdown.
In a span of 91 seconds, the Bengals gave the Steelers two more touchdowns near the end of the third quarter. The first came when linebacker Jason Gildon stripped the ball from quarterback Akili Smith on a sack and defensive end Chris Sullivan recovered at the Bengals 7, setting up Jerome Bettis' touchdown run. Four plays later, Gildon recovered a high snap from center that sailed over Smith's head and rambled 22 yards for another touchdown.
The Bengals fell apart so quickly that the game, once in doubt, was over by the third quarter.
Shaw's touchdown, his second of the season, was the jumping off point.
"Very critical," Bettis said. "We had to match them score for score. It was really important that we do that."
Maybe the Bengals were stunned by the mere sight of Shaw running downfield. As the slot receiver in the Steelers offense, Shaw typically plays only on third down or when the team uses three wide receivers. What's more, his responsibility is to catch passes in the middle field, in traffic, and hang on to the ball. Rarely does Shaw have a pass pattern that takes him down the sideline or deep down the field. In football lexicon, he is a possession receiver
"There are not too many occasions when I get to run down the field," Shaw said.
But there he was, on third-and-5 from the Bengals' 45, streaking past safety Corey Hall, who was covering him one-on-one, down the left side of the field. Free safety Darryl Williams must have been shocked to see Shaw in his neighborhood because he darn near froze and lamely watched him make the reception.
The play was designed to go to the other side of the field, to wide receiver Courtney Hawkins, but Stewart read the coverage and went down the left side to Shaw.
"He made a good decision," offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride said of Stewart.
Shaw had lined up on the right side on the play, in the slot, but he came in motion to the left. When he does that, he reads the coverage in the secondary. Shaw noticed that Ward, who was lined up on the left, was closely guarded at the line of scrimmage, indicating man-to-man coverage. Then he looked at Hall, who also was playing close to the line of scrimmage.
Shaw has an option on the play. If his man is playing loose and guarding against the deep pass, he cuts off his route and turns it to the inside. But, when the coverage is tight, as Hall was, Shaw is supposed to take the route downfield and beat his man. He did, and Stewart made the play.
"He just came open," Stewart said. "I threw it up and he ran under it. That stuff happens when everyone is on the same page."
"He gave Bobby a good chance to make a play," Ward said.
What was Shaw doing down the field?
The same thing those solar strikes were doing in the universe.
Play of the game: Quick response knocks out Cincinnati 
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