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Monday, January 21, 2002

Compiled by Ed Bouchette, Ron Cook, Shelly Anderson and Chuck Finder

Steelers vs. New England Patriots, 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Heinz Field. TV: KDKA. Radio: WDVE-FM (102.5) and WBGG-AM (970). This will be the fourth AFC title game at home for the Steelers in eight seasons.

Steelers ILB Earl Holmes exited late in the second quarter with a sprained left knee and had to be helped up the steps to the locker room. An MRI showed no significant damage and he could play Sunday against the Patriots.

Steelers SS Lee Flowers left the game in the fourth quarter after sustaining a concussion. Myron Bell replaced him. Flowers, talking in a raspy voice, said he would be fine for Sunday's AFC championship game. "I feel good. G-o-o-d. I'm great, I'm ready to roll. Every now and then you get dinged, but you have to keep going."

The inactive players for the Steelers werer CB Hank Poteat, RB R.J. Bowers, C Chukky Okobi, G Keydrick Vincent, DE Chris Combs, OT Mathias Nkwenti, LB Justin Kurpeikis and third-QB Tee Martin. Each coach must turn in his list 90 minutes before the game and the Steelers did not realize Jerome Bettis would not be able to play until about 30 minutes before the game when a painkilling shot went awry. The inactive players for Baltimore were FB Alan Ricard, C Casey Rabach, G Jason Thomas, WR Kenyon Hambrick, WR Patrick Johnson, TE Jonathan Burrough, DE Marques Douglas and third-QB Chris Redman.

Steelers LB Joey Porter and Ravens DT Sam Adams looked like Butterbean and Craig Wolfley getting ready for their Tough Man date when they approached each other near midfield before the game.

"I don't know what kind of confidence they have over there, the swagger they say they have over there, the bully mentality," Porter said. "We're not scared of anybody. You're not going to come to my house, try to walk up to me at my 50-yard line and think I'm going to bow down. No, I'm going to walk to you. I'm not going to back up nowhere. I'm going to step to you, hear what you have to say and let you know what I have to say."

The Steelers picked up on a habit QB Elvis Grbac apparently cannot break, and it helped them get a jump on defense, Porter said. Television cameras showed last week in Miami that Grbac jerks his hands just before he takes the snap from center. The Steelers took note and Grbac consistently repeated the motion yesterday.

Steelers DE Aaron Smith said he knows little about the Patriots. "I haven't seen any film about them. I didn't even watch the game [Saturday] night." What might he have done instead? "I read a book. I sat in the hotel and read a book. I sit around and watch football all the time. I do football eight hours a day." And the book? "'Blackhawk Down.' It's a good book."

Josh Miller did not punt until 10:15 left in the third quarter, then he punted six times.

Baltimore Coach Brian Billick, often described as arrogant, was gracious in defeat. He called the Steelers "an outstanding team, a worthy champion and they're going to be fun to watch as they progress. I know this city is excited about it. I envy them, watching what was going on last night on TV and the enthusiasm they have here. They're going to enjoy it. They're deserving of it."

The Steelers confused the Ravens on occasion with their substitution tactics on offense. During time outs and other breaks in the action, QB Kordell Stewart and other players gather along the sideline while 11 of their teammates stay in the huddle on the field. That way, the defense does not know precisely which Steelers will take the field when time is in. Once, Stewart stayed on the sideline and Hines Ward took the snap from center, as he has done on occasion this season. "They're very good at what they're doing substitution-wise," Billick said. "They skirt right at the edge of legality, but it is legal. It makes it very difficult for substitution, and they caught us a couple of times."

Greg Lloyd, a linebacker on the last Steelers team to reach the Super Bowl, prowled the sideline yesterday. "I talked to Greg the whole game," SS Lee Flowers said. "Just seeing him on the sidelines brought back flashbacks from 1995."

Jermaine Lewis did his best to try to get Baltimore into the game. With his team trailing, 20-3, he returned a punt 88 yards, an NFL playoff record, for a touchdown with 7:18 left in the third quarter. "I was just trying to get the momentum back on our side," he said. "I know a big special teams play can always help." Lewis caught the ball near the left sideline and immediately took off, angling for the opposite side of the field. Miller was the last Steeler to have a shot at him. "The key was I hit it with so much speed," Lewis said. "Usually I'm trying to break a tackle or something. This one I just took off to the right and when I turned it upfield there was a hole." The play came on the Steelers' first punt of the game and trimmed the Steelers' lead to 20-10. "That was a pivotal point," Billick said. "It could have turned on a single play." It didn't, though. The Ravens forced the Steelers to punt in four plays, then did the same themselves. Lewis' runback was Baltimore's only touchdown.

Grbac, who was 18-of-37 passing for 153 yards with three interceptions and no touchdowns, took a short turn with a long face at a postgame news conference. "We made too many mistakes and got into a hole we couldn't get out of," he said. "My play didn't help this team at all." There is speculation Baltimore will try to find someone more effective to replace Grbac. "I hope I'm back," he said. "We've got a good football team and a good offense."

Tony Siragusa, Baltimore's 340-pound DT, gave no indication he might change his mind about retiring. He said before the game that this, his 12th NFL season, would be his last. That doesn't mean he won't miss it. "When you do something your whole life and you put so much energy into it, whew, it's tough -- especially going out like this," he said. "I started my career here as a Pitt Panther and now I'm going to leave here." Asked by one of a crowd of reporters what he would miss the most, Siragusa shot back, "Definitely not you guys. Probably just the guys, being in the locker room, talking, all the lies."

Ravens TE Shannon Sharpe also is pondering his future. "Right now, if I had to make a decision, if someone had a crystal ball and said it would happen next year just like it did this year, I would just walk away," he said. "I don't feel like I could dedicate myself and come back in the shape I feel I need to come back in and prepare to perform and have it end like this." He knows, though, that he can't make a rational decision right away. "I have to take some time off," he said. "I really have to do some soul-searching because right now I'm a very, very frustrated man."

The Ravens managed 22 yards rushing, the second-fewest the Steelers have allowed in their postseason after the 17 the Minnesota Vikings had in Super Bowl IX Jan. 12, 1975.

The Steelers had the ball for 40:45 against the Ravens. When was the last time the Steelers held onto the football so long in the postseason? Eight games ago, in the 1994 AFC divisional playoffs against Cleveland, with 42:27.

The seven first downs the Steelers allowed was the fewest in team history. They allowed 10 three times, which is believed to be the previous record.

The Steelers spent a lot of time in Ravens territory. In the first half, 28 of their 38 players were on the Ravens' side of the 50. For the game, it was 43 of 69.

Joey Porter, Steelers LB, on playing the Patriots in the AFC championship game: "The thing about it is, somebody has to lose, and right now, the way we're feeling, it just can't be us right now. We can't lose."

Steelers WR Hines Ward and Ravens S Rod Woodson ended their feud after the game. You might remember Woodson had approached Ward after each of the first two games the teams played this season, called him a dirty player and, according to Ward, threatened to get even with him down the road. "He came up to me this time and said he wanted to nip this thing in the bud," Ward said. "He said I was a great player and he wished us well the rest of the way. I told him that I'm not a dirty player and that I'm going to keep doing everything I can within the rules to help us win."