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Boss' lead gets victory juices flowing

Monday, October 14, 2002

By Gerry Dulac, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

CINCINNATI -- There is something about a big run that gets everyone juiced.

"It gets the whole offensive line excited, it gets the quarterback excited, everybody," tight end Mark Bruener said.

	Jerome Bettis on a 41-yard run in the second quarter yesterday. He finished with 109 yards on 21 carries. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette)

And it gets Jerome Bettis excited, too.

"What it does is it makes it a lot easier for the passing game," Bettis said. "Now you got to defend against us."

The Cincinnati Bengals did not do a good job of defending against the Steelers yesterday at Paul Brown Stadium. Not when it was 24-0 at halftime and 31-0 after Antwaan Randle El returned the second-half kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown.

Not after the Steelers hit the trifecta -- a 200-yard passing game by Tommy Maddox, a 100-yard receiving game by Plaxico Burress and a 100-yard rushing game by Bettis.

And not when the Steelers did something so ridiculously out of character.

Take a lead.

"You're kind of limited when you're behind all the time," offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey said. "But we had good flow, good rhythm -- the players had good rhythm. We needed to get an early lead."

The Steelers never looked back in their 34-7 victory against the Bengals. They never really had to after Bettis, who finished with 109 yards on 21 carries, delivered the biggest play of all -- a 41-yard touchdown run in the second quarter that gave the Steelers a 17-0 lead.

It was more than just the longest run from scrimmage this season. It was a play that energized the Steelers and, perhaps more significant, signaled the official return of the running game.

"That run can change the tempo of the game," Mularkey said.

Yesterday, it did.

The play is called "39 Boss," and it is to the Steelers what the fastball was to Nolan Ryan. It's their signature play in the running game. And it involves their Boss -- Bettis.

The Bengals knew it was coming. They had to. The Steelers have been running the play since Dick LeBeau, the Bengals' coach, was their defensive coordinator.

But, the Steelers executed the play to such perfection that it wouldn't have mattered if they yelled to the Bengals players it was coming.

"Everyone around the league knows it, too," said wide receiver Plaxico Burress, one of the myriad of players who threw key blocks to spring Bettis for the fifth-longest touchdown run of his career. "They know it's coming and they still can't stop it."

"It's designed to get a lot of yards," Bruener said. "Not necessarily, though, on one play."

The Steelers have not had much luck springing Bettis into the secondary this season. His longest run in four previous games was 16 yards, and that came in the season opener in New England. Last week, Bettis had a 13-yard run against the New Orleans Saints, a game in which the running game showed its first significant signs of life this season.

Last season, Bettis had more runs of 25 yards or longer (8) than he had in his previous eight National Football League seasons combined. Of those, four were 40 yards or longer.

But, four plays after Lee Flowers had his second interception of the game, the Steelers called "39 Boss" and pitched the ball to Bettis off the left side on first down.

What followed was right from the Steelers' textbook.

"Everybody gets credit for that one," Mularkey said.

Everybody.

The Steelers couldn't have diagrammed the play better if they had a chalkboard and pointer.

Alan Faneca, who read the defensive front and pulled from his right guard position to seal the defensive end. Bruener and left tackle Wayne Gandy, who blocked down on the defensive tackles, creating the outside hole through which Bettis ran.

"We're trying to create an alley," Faneca said. "When we do that, I kind of have a feel it's going to be a good one."

Bettis then got a lot of help on the outside. Fullback Dan Kreider kicked out the linebacker. Down the field, Burress moved out cornerback Artrell Hawkins. Hines Ward blocked two guys -- safety Cory Hall and middle linebacker Brian Simmons.

"Got 'em both," Ward said, smiling.

"If you can do that, put a running back in the open, then it's my job to make someone miss," Bettis said.

Bettis did just that, too. At the Bengals' 23, he slipped an ankle tackle by rookie safety Marquand Manuel. From there, he barreled the rest of the way into the end zone, his longest touchdown run since he scored on a 46-yard run a year ago at Tampa Bay.

"That reminded me of the big play Jerome had in Tampa," Bruener said.

The Bengals were finished after that. With one play, the Steelers managed to reverse their fortunes and make a big play instead of the other way around.

One week after two big plays did them in against the Saints, the Steelers delivered two big plays in a game they couldn't afford to lose.

"A long run and a kickoff return make you feel good," Gandy said. "It's nice to have something easy for a change."

The solution is simple: Just go to the Boss.