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'Cocky' McAlister gets comeuppance

Monday, October 28, 2002

By Gerry Dulac, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

BALTIMORE -- Long after he let his play do all the talking, Plaxico Burress tried a more conventional way of delivering a message to Baltimore Ravens cornerback Chris McAlister.

	Plaxico Burress beats Ravens cornerback Chris McAlister for a 20-yard touchdown in the first quarter. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette photos)

He opened his mouth and let the vitriol fly.

"I love playing against McAlister," Burress said. Then, as if no one heard him, he said even louder, "I love playing against him.

"He's a cocky player. He's arrogant at what he does and I just want to let him know I try to put it in his face every time I play against him. I want him to know it."

This was in the locker room after the Steelers' 31-18 victory yesterday against the Ravens, a game that was every bit as lopsided as the 26-21 victory here in December or the 27-10 playoff victory at Heinz Field in January.

This was long after Burress was ejected from the game near the end of the second quarter for his involvement in a skirmish with Ravens nickel back James Trapp.

Long after the Ravens finally found a way to stop Burress.

"They accomplished what they wanted to do," he said. "They got me out of my game. They did a great job at it. It took a guy to step on my face and pull my helmet off to get me thrown out of the game. They couldn't cover me and they knew it."

Before his postgame verbal assault, Burress delivered a more damaging message to the Ravens, to McAlister, in the first quarter.

He did it with a diving 20-yard touchdown catch on a play in which he beat McAlister's press coverage at the line of scrimmage to give the Steelers a 14-0 lead.

The next time he touched the ball, Burress turned a dump pass over the middle into a 9-yard touchdown with the help of a stiff-arm on Ravens linebacker Ed Hartwell. That gave the Steelers a 21-0 lead.

It was only later, after the Steelers had effectively beaten the Ravens for the sixth consecutive time in Baltimore, that McAlister and his teammates discovered a way to stop Burress.

It began when McAlister started jawing after an incomplete pass to Burress in the second quarter

"I was like, what are you yelling about? There's nothing for you to be yelling about right now," Burress said. "At first, I was laughing at him and then he got into saying some things and we had words going back and forth. I wouldn't be talking about anything the way he was playing."

McAlister is the Ravens' best player in the secondary, a former No. 1 draft pick who has been a starter since his rookie season. But when he faces Burress, he looks like anything but the 10th overall player selected in the 1999 draft.

When McAlister was assigned to follow him during the Steelers' previous visit to Ravens Stadium, Burress had eight catches for 164 yards and beat him for a 25-yard touchdown.

Yesterday, Burress had five catches for 55 yards and two touchdowns before the Ravens discovered a way to take him out of the game. Literally.

"I love playing against Baltimore," Burress said. "It gets my fire going. I've never lost in this stadium and I never want to. It's one of those rivalries where we don't like them and they don't like us."

"They really don't have a clue how to defend Plex and me," said Hines Ward, who finished with eight catches for 97 yards. "If you double Plex, I'm one on one. If you double us both, you leave seven in the box with our running game. We give them a hard time."

Since Tommy Maddox has been the starting quarterback, the Steelers' offense is averaging 30.5 points per game. That is not far behind the Kansas City Chiefs, who, before their 20-10 victory against the Oakland Raiders yesterday, were leading the NFL in scoring with an average of 34.1 points per game.

Burress and McAlister share their thoughts after a play.

More important, Maddox and the offense have been starting each game as though their cars are double-parked outside the stadium. They scored on four of their first five possessions against the Cincinnati Bengals (three touchdowns, one field goal) and their first three possessions (all touchdowns) against the Indianapolis Colts.

Against the Ravens, the Steelers scored touchdowns on each of their first four possessions. Their halftime leads in the past three games have been 24-0, 21-3 and 28-3.

"Once we get down there, we're sticking it in the end zone," Maddox said.

The touchdown to Burress was a perfect example.

The Steelers were facing third-and-4 at the Ravens' 20. McAlister came up to the line of scrimmage, hoping to bump Burress and follow him in single coverage. Maddox noticed it right away.

"It was fun to get that one," Maddox said. "We haven't had a lot of chances with Plex in bump."

When Burress beat the bump and headed down the sideline, Maddox made a perfect throw to the end zone. The ball sailed just beyond McAlister and into the outstretched arms of Burress as he fell into the end zone.

"Tommy threw a great ball and Plex reached out and got it," Ward said.

"I'm going to give him a shot to get to the end zone," Maddox said. "[McAlister] was clawing at him and he made a great catch at the end."

"I don't think Chris McAlister thought Tommy was going to make that throw, being that it was third-and-4 and it was press man to man," Burress said. "Tommy's one of those guys, he's going to make tough throws. He's not going to force anything, but he's going to make tough throws and put it up there. I just went up and got the ball."

That was the biggest message Burress had to deliver.