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Monday, October 15, 2001

By Gerry Dulac, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- As he does before every game, kicker Kris Brown spent yesterday morning at Arrowhead Stadium going over his personal checklist.

	Kris Brown and Josh Miller admire Brown's 55-yard field goal. (Ed Zurga, Associated Press)

What direction is the wind blowing?

What's the condition of the playing surface?

And how good does his leg feel?

"That's part of my job," Brown said. "To get a sense of my range."

There was intangibles he didn't need to check.

His confidence.

"He's on fire," said Brown's holder, punter Josh Miller. "If he was a stock, I'd throw everything I have on him right now."

Once Brown did all his preparation, it was easy for him to go out and kick two field goals -- including an NFL-long 55-yarder -- in the Steelers' 20-17 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Since missing a 33-yarder in Week 2 against the Buffalo Bills, Brown had made seven consecutive field goals in the past 11 quarters. And they haven't exactly been chip shots.

Five of the field goals have been 42 yards or longer, including a 52-yarder against the Bills and the 55-yarder against the Chiefs that gave the Steelers a 6-0 lead. The 55-yarder tied Gary Anderson for the longest in team history.

"That's the way the position works," Brown said. "You get into a rhythm with the snapper and holder and things are just clicking for you."

"He's come into his own right now," Miller said. "He's kicking the best I've ever seen him kick. He just keeps getting better."

Of course, it isn't as though Brown has been a sudden surprise. Since coming to the Steelers as a seventh-round pick in 1999, Brown has converted 58 of 68 field goals (85.2 percent), including 8 of 9 this season.

But he is kicking with such confidence that even his downwind 55-yarder seemed routine. Perhaps that's because Brown hit one in the same direction from 59 yards in pregame warmups that Miller said "had 10 yards to spare."

"There was no doubt in his mind he was going to make it," Coach Bill Cowher said.

Confidence -- or lack of it -- had nothing to do with Cowher deciding against Brown attempting a 53-yarder just moments earlier.

The Steelers were faced with fourth-and-1 at the Chiefs 35 when Cowher sent Brown onto the field. But the Chiefs, perhaps sensing a fake, called timeout, and in the interim Cowher changed his mind.

"It was a no-brainer ," Cowher said. "But the more we looked at it, we said let's go for it."

So Brown came off, the offense went back on, and Jerome Bettis got what appeared to be a first down with a 19-yard run around the left side to the Chiefs' 16. But wide receiver Hines Ward was penalized for holding on the play, negating the gain, and the Steelers were faced with fourth-and-3 at the Kansas City 37.

Cowher sent Brown back onto the field, this time to try a field goal 2 yards longer than the one he was going to attempt.

"The wind was blowing really hard," Brown said. "I told Jay [Hayes, special teams coach], if we get the ball to the 40, we're going to be in range. It was one of those winds where as long as I could get it up over the line and get it in the right direction, I knew I'd make it. The ball left my foot and it felt good."

So good that Brown started raising his arms in the air, signaling a successful attempt, immediately after the ball left his foot.

"He crushed it," Miller said. "I knew it when it left my fingers."

These pressure kicks are getting to be old stuff for Brown. Against the Bills, with the Steelers holding a 10-3 lead in the fourth quarter, Brown kicked a 52-yard field goal with 9:15 remaining that put the game away.

Last week, in the 16-7 victory against the Cincinnati Bengals, Brown kicked a 42-yard field goal in the fourth quarter that gave the Steelers a 10-0 lead. Then, after the Bengals cut the lead to 13-7, Brown sealed the victory with a 48-yard field goal in a strong left-to-right wind with 1:57 remaining.

"That's my job," Brown said. "That's what I need to go out and do anytime the offense stalls out and we need to get points on the board. If I feel as good as I did on the 55-yarder, I need to go out and make it. That's what I expect of myself."

"Right now he's having a fairy-tale season," Miller said. "I'm not going to even talk to him. It's like a pitcher with a shutout."