TAMPA, Fla. -- The Steelers had run this play before, back home on the South Side near the end of their workout Thursday.
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Steelers tight end Jerame Tuman celebrates after making his first NFL touchdown catch. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette) |
Running back Jerome Bettis takes the pitch, sprints to his right, draws the defense toward him, then heaves the ball downfield toward tight end Jerame Tuman.
Simple stuff, really.
"It's something we try every once in a while," Coach Bill Cowher said. "Nothing complicated. We're not an artful team. We're just trying to break tendencies."
One problem, though.
"In practice, that play looked ... so bad," Cowher said. "It was an ugly-looking pass."
By contrast, then, the toss Bettis made yesterday to lift the Steelers to a 17-10 victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium had to be classified a thing of beauty.
"Great pass," Tuman said. "It was right there. I didn't have to slow down at all."
It came early in the second quarter, with the Steelers down, 3-0, despite having moved equally efficiently on the ground and in the air. They had third-and-2 at the Tampa Bay 32, Bettis and fullback Dan Kreider in the backfield and just about everyone in the crowd of 65,588 thinking run.
The Steelers had another idea.
"We were in the right range," Bettis said. "And we had the right situation with a third-and-2, where you can try that kind of play."
The offense was in a stack formation, an odd-looking set the team frequently employs for running and passing plays. Wide receiver Hines Ward slides next to tight end Mark Bruener, and Tuman lines up behind those two, forming a triangle at the right edge of the line.
"It looks like a run," Tuman said. "It looks like we're all over there to block."
Of course, to all of the Steelers' opponents of late, every play must look like a run. That's what happens when a team rushes for 200 or more yards in three consecutive games.
"A play like that works because we're running so well," quarterback Kordell Stewart said. "You just wait for it, see that they're in the right defense, call the play and execute."
Stewart started it with a short pitch to the right to Bettis. And the Buccaneers pursued vigorously, notably linebacker Derrick Brooks, who appeared to be closing in.
Bruener and Ward stayed with the line to block, as is usually the case in the stack formation, but Tuman took off down the right side. He paused only momentarily to feign a block on cornerback Donnie Abraham, then kept going.
"You still have to make it look like a run," Tuman said. "I don't even touch the corner. I just go."
No one seemed to notice, and that included free safety John Howell, Tampa Bay's last line of defense. A third-string rookie forced into starting duty because of injuries, he showed his inexperience when he bolted forward upon seeing Bettis run with the ball.
"Everyone's trying to stop the run against us," Tuman said. "They just bit on it, and I was able to get behind them."
And, unlike practice, Bettis was able to get him the ball. It wasn't a pass that would make anyone forget Peyton Manning, sailing on an arc that seemed as high as the goal posts and wobbling most of the way, but it nailed the target in full stride near the 15.
"Jerome's got a good arm," Cowher said. "If we set it up right and he gets the ball there, obviously it's a big play."
Bettis' assessment?
"Good pass, great catch."
Tuman had the ball, then glanced around. He knew he had fooled the defense, but he wasn't sure to what degree.
"I thought I was going to get hit in the back by the safety. I looked up and saw the end zone, and I thought to myself, 'I just can't get caught now.' I tried to get there as quickly as I could."
Howell made a futile attempt to correct his gaffe by turning around to chase Tuman but never got close. The Steelers took the lead, 7-3, and didn't trail again.
Bettis has gone this route before, of course.
He threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Ward in a 31-24 loss to the Baltimore Ravens Dec. 12, 1999. And far fresher in his memory was the interception he tossed Sept. 17, 2000, a badly underthrown ball that probably cost the Steelers a game against the Cleveland Browns. Afterward, Bettis joked the coaches would never again let him throw the ball.
He could laugh about it yesterday.
"Yeah, they let me throw again. ... I was a little nervous. Last time I threw that pass, it was intercepted because I threw it short. I just made sure I threw it long this time."
Tuman, a third-year man out of the University of Michigan, never made an NFL catch before taking in a critical, third-down reception in the 20-17 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs last week. Now, he has two in two games, bringing about teases from teammates yesterday that he is the offense's secret weapon.
"Oh, I don't know about that," Tuman said. "I think they're trying to get me involved when they see an opportunity for me. That's all I can ask. This is very exciting. My second catch, my first touchdown. It was amazing, an unreal feeling. It's like the whole thing happened in slow motion."
"You couldn't be happier for a guy than I am for Jerame," Bruener said. "There isn't a guy in here who works harder than he does, and now he's reaping the rewards for that."
After saying that, Bruener proceeded to stand behind a few reporters interviewing Tuman and start a chant of "Je-ra-ME! Je-ra-ME!"
Tuman wasn't the only one taking some ribbing.
Stewart was hearing it, too, now that Bettis has tied him for the team lead in touchdown passes.
"I can deal with that. As long as we win, I don't care. ... Unless he starts talking about it. He starts talking too much, then I'm going to have to sit him down and have a chat."
Play of the Game: Bettis' TD pass 
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