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Monday, October 28, 2002

By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

BALTIMORE -- For one half, it appeared the Baltimore Ravens were no better than half as good as the Steelers.

It certainly seemed that way to their coach.

"You saw what championship-caliber football looks like in the first half," Baltimore Coach Brian Billick said yesterday, minutes after his team ended up with a 31-18 loss that was undercut by a 28-3 deficit at the half. "I'd like to congratulate the Steelers. They're an outstanding team. Our guys got schooled. They found out how far they have to go."

Those were the first words of his news conference, but he was only clearing his throat for the expletives to come.

"We learned something in the first half, and we were able to apply it in the second. That's what we're going to focus on. I'm not going to spend much time on the first half because all I'm going to see is 11 guys kicking the [stuffing] out of 11 other guys. Not a lot to talk about schematically. It's just one on one: 'You kicked his [butt]. You kicked his [butt]. You kicked his [butt].' "

Asked if poor special-teams play also contributed to the first-half flop, Billick replied, "That's part of it."

He paused.

"I guess I want to make myself clear. On offense, their 11 kicked the [stuffing] out of us. On defense, those 11 kicked the [stuffing] out of us. And on special teams, whatever is out there, those guys also kicked the [stuffing] out of us. Maybe I wasn't clear, OK? It's across the board."

His players didn't take the loss any better.

The Ravens and Steelers went into the game tied atop the AFC North Division with 3-3 records, and the stadium-record crowd of 69,638 brought a playoff-type atmosphere. But the buzz short-circuited in a hurry, thanks largely to the offensive work of Tommy Maddox, Plaxico Burress and Amos Zereoue, along with a staunch, aggressive defense.

Still, most of Baltimore's players found little praise for the opponent.

"No," quarterback Jeff Blake replied flatly when asked if the Steelers are that good. "I mean, they're a good football team, but they're not that good. They didn't stop our offense. We moved the ball up and down the field. We stopped ourselves. They did a great job on offense, so I take my hat off to that. But I think we moved the ball very well for a team that had a quarterback find out he was playing just before the game."

Blake, a last-minute substitute for injured Chris Redman, was 29 of 50 for 298 yards with one passing touchdown, a rushing touchdown and three interceptions.

He scoffed when asked to weigh the current Steelers against some of the Pittsburgh teams he faced nine times while a member of the Cincinnati Bengals.

"I can't compare them to those teams that had Rod Woodson, Greg Lloyd, Carnell Lake and those guys. I just can't compare them."

Blake wasn't alone. Many of his teammates defiantly cited the Ravens' 15-3 edge in the second half as evidence the Steelers did little special in the first.

"I don't think they're that much better than us," linebacker Ed Hartwell said. "We just made mistakes, and they capitalized on them. They just did what they're supposed to do. Better than us? No, we came back in the second half and proved they weren't better than us."

"Maddox did a good job, and you can talk about Plaxico and Hines Ward because they're good receivers," cornerback Gary Baxter said. "But they didn't do anything that just killed us. If we limited our mistakes in the first half the way we did in the second, it would have been a better football game."

Others credited the Steelers, but in no more than tepid terms.

"It's a good team," offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden said. "I'm not going to put them in the class of Pittsburgh teams we've played before, but they're not the worst team I've played against. They're pretty good right now."

The teams meet again Dec. 29 at Heinz Field. Whether that date will carry the first-place implications of the one yesterday or not, it is being circled by the Ravens.

"If we played this game again next week, it would be different," linebacker Bernardo Harris said. "That's OK. We've got another chance."