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Monday, September 30, 2002

By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

If the Cleveland Browns prioritized a list of all that went awry in their 16-13 overtime loss to the Steelers yesterday at Heinz Field, it might read like this:

1. Blocked kicks.

Defensive tackle Alvin McKinley blocked the first of the Steelers' field-goal attempts in overtime but narrowly missed the winner on the next play.

"I felt it," he said of Todd Peterson's second kick. "I felt the wind of it right by my hand."

2. Subpar playing surface.

Kicker Phil Dawson blasted the conditions of Heinz Field after his 45-yard attempt in overtime was blocked by the Steelers.

"Horrible," he said. "Worst field I've ever played on. ... And I've played in Cincinnati."

3. Wasted chances.

The Browns moved inside the Steelers' 20 on their first two drives but managed only two field goals.

"We left some stuff out there on the field we should have capitalized on," quarterback Tim Couch said.

4. Injuries.

Both starting cornerbacks, Corey Fuller and Daylon McCutcheon, were forced to leave the game early in the third quarter. That allowed the Steelers to go to a spread offense late in the fourth to attack the backups.

"It made a difference," Fuller said. "It's amazing to see a Pittsburgh team come out with five wides and not run the ball."

5. Seriously rotten luck.

Each of Cleveland's two losses this season has been bizarre. In the opener, the Browns had Kansas City beaten before linebacker Dwayne Rudd's infamous helmet slam allowed the Chiefs to kick the winning field goal with time expired.

"Yeah, we could be 4-0 right now instead of 2-2," cornerback Devin Bush said. "That's tough to take."

Well off the Browns' blame list, it was clear after the game, was the Steelers' late quarterback substitution of Tommy Maddox for Kordell Stewart.

Maddox entered late in the fourth quarter and engineered a seven-play, 77-yard touchdown drive to tie the score at 13-13 with 2:05 left in the fourth quarter, all of it in the air. On his first play of overtime, he was intercepted by linebacker Andra Davis, but he rebounded on the next drive by leading the Steelers 52 yards to set up the finishing kick.

Maddox ended up 11 of 13 for 122 yards in his four series, far better than Stewart's 15 of 25 for 143, and his work impressed a few Browns.

"I think Maddox was their big momentum," linebacker Earl Holmes said. "He completed some passes, and he drove them all the way down. You could see, when he came in, he sparked their offense and got the crowd into it. Before that, the place was really quiet."

"He was hot," Davis said. "The big difference he made was the way he got everybody in the seats going. That made it tough for us."

Fuller, one of the NFL's most colorful talkers, was not nearly as eager to credit Maddox.

"Did he make a difference?" Fuller said, repeating a reporter's question. "He threw an interception, got a field goal and had that one good drive. All he did was take advantage of the situation. We were down to our third and fourth cornerbacks in the heat of battle, and they came out on offense and did some things we didn't expect."

Fuller pointed out that three of Maddox's completions were to rarely used wide receiver Terance Mathis.

"It always looks like that when a second-team guy comes in there. He's throwing to the guy he was used to throwing to in the preseason, and he feels confident because he's used to going against lesser competition. Now, if he goes four quarters next week and has to go from play one ... Hey, I ain't taking any shots at him. The man was a first-round draft pick. ... But that was many years ago."

Maddox was a first-round pick of the Denver Broncos in 1992.

Fuller criticized the Steelers' coaches for benching Stewart.

"Yeah, he made some mistakes, but that was a hard-nosed game. He was doing what he had to do to help his team win the game. He's just a scapegoat. Another loss for them, and there would have been a lot of pressure on their coaches. They just made Kordell their scapegoat."

Other Browns were as nonplused by Maddox as Fuller.

"I think you have to say Maddox made some difference because he came in and made a heroic drive," Bush said. "But who knows? Maybe Kordell would have done the same thing if he came out in that offense they started using. I think Kordell's a good quarterback."

"I don't think it made a difference who their quarterback was," McKinley said. "I didn't really think about it, to be honest with you. They're both good quarterbacks."

No matter which subject was broached with McKinley afterward, it seemed, he ended up drifting back to the kick he blocked and the one he almost got.

The reaction was a typical one in Cleveland's quiet room.

"I guess everything happens for a reason, and maybe we'll be a stronger team because of the way things happened in a couple of tough losses," McKinley said. "But right now, it's really hard. You feel like you had the win right there in front of you, and you still don't win."