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Wednesday, October 31, 2001

Compiled by Ed Bouchette

Steelers (5-1) vs. Baltimore Ravens (4-3), 1 p.m. Sunday, Heinz Field. TV, radio: KDKA; WDVE-FM (102.5), WBGG-AM (970).

Can ketchup bottles do more than make french fries taste better? The 8,000 pounds of neon and plastic molded into 35-foot Heinz ketchup bottles on top of the video board at Heinz Field poured out the red stuff for the first time Monday night whenever the Steelers' offense reached the "red zone," or the opponents' 20. Before the ketchup bottles appeared, the Steelers pierced their opponents' 20 10 times through five games and scored just two touchdowns, the worst percentage in the AFC. Monday night, with the Heinz bottles pouring it on, they reached the red zone five times and scored four touchdowns. The other resulted in a field goal.

"We emptied those ketchup bottles the other night, didn't we?" Steelers Coach Bill Cowher said.

One more thing about Heinz Field. It's still early, but the Steelers have not lost there. They are 2-0 in the regular season after going 2-0 in the preseason. While they thrived in most of their 31 seasons in Three Rivers Stadium, they did not in their final two, going 6-10.

"We want to make this a special place and the fans are a big part of that," Cowher said. "They were fantastic [Monday night]."

The question came at Cowher like a fat pitch, and he turned on it and knocked it out of the park. Why risk PK Kris Brown getting hurt by running him on a fake field goal? "You're taking risks on a lot of things that you're doing," Cowher said. "You know what? That's what makes this a very competitive game. When Kris kicks off, he can run and he'll tackle and he's subjected to getting blocked."

Brown lined up for a 47-yard field goal Monday night, then took a pitch from holder Josh Miller, ran around left end and leaped for the sideline to pick up 6 yards and a first down. Brown, 5 feet 11 and 206 pounds, was a high school quarterback in Texas. "He's fast," Cowher said. "Now, I wouldn't have done that with Josh, I'll tell you that. Josh was flipping the ball, he wasn't receiving the ball."

Cowher then sounded as if he were Erich Segal writing "Love Story."

"I'd rather risk and fail than never to have risked at all."

The Steelers won't stay up nights worrying about which quarterback Baltimore will play Sunday. Elvis Grbac missed the victory Sunday against Jacksonville with bruised ribs. Randall Cunningham replaced him. Cunningham has been more mobile in his career but he's 38 and doesn't move the way he once did. "We're going to prepare for their offense," Cowher said. "They're really not going to change a whole lot what they do ... based on who the quarterback is. Grbac is pretty mobile. Randall has a history of being able to do some things outside the pocket."

RB Amos Zereoue is the only player in danger of not playing Sunday against Baltimore because of a shoulder injury he sustained Monday night. Zereoue is listed as questionable for the week. If he cannot play, Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala would assume his role as the third-down back and as the backup to Jerome Bettis. Bettis, with a sore knee, is one of three Steelers listed as probable. OT Marvel Smith (shoulder) and backup CB Jason Simmons (hamstring), are the others.

Kordell Stewart's passer rating improved to 72.1. He needs 24 yards to become the fourth quarterback in Steelers history to pass for 10,000. He needs 129 yards to pass Bubby Brister into third place in team history behind Terry Bradshaw (27,989) and Neil O'Donnell (12,867). Brister had 10,104 yards passing as a Steeler. Stewart's 60.9 completion percentage is ahead of O'Donnell's single-season record of 59.1 in 1995.

The Steelers remained the No. 1 rushing team in the NFL, although their average declined slightly to 186.8 yards per game. ... Because of the shortened work week, Cowher said the Steelers might not practice in full pads. ... Bettis needs 101 yards to move past Ricky Watters into 12th place on the NFL rushing list. He has 10,416 yards. He has not rushed for 100 yards against the Ravens in his past five games. He last did so Nov. 9, 1997, when he ran for 114 yards.