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Monday, October 28, 2002

By Gerry Dulac, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

BALTIMORE -- Amos Zereoue stood at his locker, his back to a crowd of reporters, and slowly slipped into his street clothes. After securing the top button on his shirt and pulling a striped tie over his head, he had trouble turning down the collar behind his neck.

	Amos Zeoeoue leaves Ravens linebacker Peter Boulware behind on a 35-yard touchdown run on the Steelers' opening possession. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette)

"Can you fix this for me?" Zereoue said, turning around.

It was perhaps the only time yesterday he needed help.

Zereoue was the one who helped the Steelers' offense, stepping in for injured Jerome Bettis and scoring two touchdowns in a dominating 31-18 victory against the Baltimore Ravens that left the Steelers in sole possession of first place in the AFC North Division.

Zereoue did not produce eye-popping numbers.He finished with 53 yards on 13 carries. But he did produce an eye-popping run on a 35-yard touchdown that gave the Steelers a 7-0 lead and started them on their best first-half production in six years.

"It lets other teams know we can score any way we want, on the ground with a long run or with the pass," Zereoue said.

More important, it set the tempo for the offense, which scored on its first four possessions against the Ravens.

"For us to get the opening kickoff and then pound it in, you really take the crowd out of the game," wide receiver Hines Ward said.

The Steelers have been doing that lately. In their past three games, they have scored on a combined 11 of their first 12 possessions (3 of 3 against Indianapolis, 4 of 5 against Cincinnati). Of those, 10 were touchdowns.

"It was an excellent first half, as good as I've seen," Coach Bill Cowher said.

"That helps the defense out a lot," inside linebacker James Farrior said. "It makes our job a lot easier when you get up big on a team and make them one-dimensional. Now they have to throw the ball, and it gets Jamal Lewis out of the game."

To be sure, Lewis carried just 13 times for 34 yards. In the second half, after the Steelers built a 28-3 halftime lead, Lewis carried just five times.

Zereoue, in the meantime, led a ground game that produced 110 yards rushing on 29 carries. He also scored on a 1-yard run in the second quarter, a touchdown that was aided by a replay reversal on a Tommy Maddox fumble and a 20-yard run by rookie Verron Haynes to the Ravens' 11.

"That's what we've been trying to do since day one," Zereoue said. "We got off to a slow start, but we realized we had a good team. Now we're playing more as a team."

Zereoue started against the Ravens for Bettis, who was injured in Monday night's victory against the Colts. But Zereoue always knows he's going to get more time against the Ravens because his stop-and-start style is sometimes more effective against their fast-flowing defense.

Zereoue certainly proved that on a first-down play from the Ravens' 35 in the first quarter, taking a handoff from Maddox and following fullback Dan Kreider and pulling guard Kendall Simmons through the left side on a counter play.

"There was a hole there, and I just hit it," Zereoue said.

"I just looked up, and I saw him running," Simmons said.

Zereoue was hit at the Ravens' 6 by cornerback Chris McAlister, but he kept pushing his way toward the end zone and managed to sneak the ball inside the pylon for the touchdown.

"I knew that I was going to be getting a lot more carries, so I have to be ready," Zereoue said. "As far as going out there and being a starter, it really wasn't that big of a deal. It's just the fact I was going to get a lot more carries, and I had to be ready for that."

Big plays are nothing new for Zereoue. He has three of the Steelers' four longest plays from scrimmage this season -- a 54-yard pass on a screen play in New Orleans, a 42-yard run against the Colts and his 35-yard run against the Ravens.

"I give a different look to the offense," Zereoue said. "Any time you get the ball, you definitely try to take it to the [end] zone."

It is not known if Bettis will return for a game Sunday in Cleveland. When he was injured in the third quarter against the Colts, Zereoue responded with a career-high 87 yards on 15 carries. Zereoue is second on the team with 262 yards rushing on 57 carries. But, in his past three games, he has 191 yards on 38 carries, an average of 5.02 yards per attempt.

"The guys up front do a good job," Zereoue said. "All I can do is run as hard as I can. Things are clicking right now. We're playing together. We're going out there and creating things for us."