Home >  Sports >  Steelers

Monday, October 28, 2002

By Dejan Kovacevic and Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writers

Steelers vs. Cleveland Browns, 1 p.m. Sunday, Cleveland Browns Stadium. TV: KDKA. Radio: WBGG-AM (970), WDVE-FM (102.5), Steelers Radio Network. The Steelers won the first meeting, 16-13, in overtime Sept. 29 at Heinz Field.

Tommy Maddox, Steelers QB, left in the third quarter with a sprained left ankle after Ravens NT Kelly Gregg stepped on it, but he returned after missing five plays over two series. "It twisted, and I couldn't feel it for a while," Maddox said. "I was pretty upset about it, but it was good to get back out there and play with the guys."

Rodney Bailey, Steelers DE, left in the third quarter with a right groin injury and did not return.

The Steelers deactivated RB Jerome Bettis (knee), C Jeff Hartings (knee), TE John Allred (calf), TE Jerame Tuman (quadriceps), OT Mathias Nkwenti, DT Chris Hoke and DE Brett Keisel. C Mike Schneck returned after missing four games with an elbow injury and resumed his long-snapping duties. The Ravens deactivated LB Ray Lewis (shoulder), DE Michael McCrary (knee), PK J.R. Jenkins (leg), FB Dameon Hunter, G Mike Collins, OT Damion Cook and WR Jeff Ogden.

The Ravens' day was off to a foul start even before kickoff, as they learned they would be without starting QB Chris Redman and Lewis. Redman tried to warm up despite a stiff lower back that had been bothering him since late Friday night, but two uncomfortable throwing sessions prompted Coach Brian Billick to go with Jeff Blake. "I was going to base the decision on how strongly he could throw," Billick said. "But because he's feeling pain in his leg, this was more of a medical decision." Team doctors have not discovered the source of the problem. Tests are scheduled for today. Redman said he has had similar pain in the past but never to this extent. "I can feel it in my leg," he said after the game. "That's a concern." Lewis, the NFL's premier defensive player, missed his third consecutive game with a partially dislocated left shoulder despite having returned to practice late in the week.

Blake was hardly an unfamiliar face for the Steelers. As a member of the Bengals, he played against them nine times, going 4-5 with six games of 200 yards or more. He threw for big yardage again yesterday, getting 298 on 29-of-50 passing, but he also threw three interceptions. It was Blake's first start since Nov. 19, 2000, and he threw only one pass in his one game last season with the Saints. Billick offered sympathy, but not much. "Not making excuses for Jeff, but that's the toughest thing you can ask a quarterback to do," he said. "It's got to be better, because that's what he's paid to do, but it's asking a lot." Of his interceptions, all of which came after the Steelers led comfortably, Blake said: "I don't think it was rust. I think I was just trying to move the ball down the field because we were down so much."

WR Antwaan Randle El nearly had his second kickoff return for a touchdown in three weeks. He broke away from everyone with just one man to beat -- Baltimore K Matt Stover. Stover brought him down at the Ravens' 49. "No," Randle El protested. "I was slipping already. Let's get that out in the open right now. I was kind of stumbling. He aided me in falling. I don't even want to talk about that." The rookie returned a kick 99 yards for a touchdown against Cincinnati. His 37-yard near breakaway yesterday was one of two kickoff returns for a total of 55 yards. He also had two punt returns for 31 yards, ran a reverse for 16 yards and caught a pass for 3.

Steelers C Chukky Okobi is 1-0 as a starter. Okobi, a second-year player, replaced Hartings and received praise from his coaches and teammates. "I didn't even notice him," Bill Cowher said, "so he must have been pretty good. You don't get noticed, you must be doing some good things." QB Tommy Maddox noticed. "Chukky did great. I told him on the last two snaps that I was proud of him. He stepped in, he played great. He's strong, he's fast, he has a lot of talent. The thing that was impressive to me is that he was really smart, made all the right calls and did everything he had to do to play good."

RB Jerome Bettis stood on the sideline, cheering on his team even though he could have stayed home. "I'm a captain," Bettis said. "I have to be here." Bettis was scratched with a knee injury and isn't sure if he will be able to play Sunday in Cleveland.

After a subpar showing on kickoffs Monday at Heinz Field, failing to get one deeper than the opponent's 8, Steelers PK Todd Peterson fared much better yesterday. His kickoffs reached the 9, 4, 7, 5, 6 and 9. Mostly as a result, the Ravens' average starting point after a kickoff was at their 21. Peterson's kickoff that reached the 4 was helped by a Baltimore penalty for an extra 5 yards. He said he got a bit of help from the weather, too. "I had a few, definitely, with the wind favoring me," he said. Otherwise, he said there was "nothing different" than in the previous game. Peterson also kicked a 34-yard field goal in his only attempt, making him 7 for 11 for the season.

The crowd of 69,638 was the largest for a regular-season game in Baltimore history, aided by a sizable and vocal contingent from Pittsburgh.

With Tommy Maddox at quarterback, the Steelers are 15 for 20 in scoring touchdowns once they get to the opponent's 20 or inside it. Yesterday, they were 3 for 4 with Maddox, 3 for 5 overall. Maddox led the Steelers to a touchdown on each of their first four possessions.

In the four games Maddox has started, the Steelers have averaged 30.5 points per game. In the three started by Kordell Stewart, they averaged 15.7.

WR Plaxico Burress had two touchdown catches in a game for the second time in his career. The first came Dec. 30, 2001, at Cincinnati.

The Steelers are 6-0 in Baltimore after losing in the Ravens' inaugural season, 1996.

The road team has won the past seven meetings.

LB Joey Porter did not add to his team-leading six sacks, but he did come up with his fourth interception of the season. Deshea Townsend had his second and Dewayne Washington his first.

LB Clark Haggans had the Steelers' only sack, which gives him 4 1/2, second on the team even though he only plays in the dime defense.

The 28 points the Steelers had at halftime were the most in the first half since they scored 28 against Baltimore on Sept. 8, 1996.

Brian Billick, Ravens coach, on why his team showed little urgency between plays after it fell well behind: "It did us no good when you're down ... whatever, 450-3 ... to go three-and-out and go no-huddle. It serves no purpose. We stayed with our offense, and it brought us back to within two touchdowns."

Tom Brady and the New England Patriots may have helped provide the Steelers a victory on one play yesterday. It came in the second quarter, when QB Tommy Maddox, on second-and-2, dropped back to pass and came under pressure. He cocked his arm and brought it forward to tuck into his belly. The ball popped loose, and the Ravens recovered.

Officials ruled a fumble, but Coach Bill Cowher challenged the ruling. He believed the tuck rule -- made infamous in the snowy playoff game in Foxboro between the Patriots and Raiders in January -- should apply. Indeed, referee Johnny Grier overturned the call because Maddox lost the ball after his arm came forward and followed through to try to tuck it away.

"That was clearly the tuck rule at its finest," Cowher said.

Said Maddox, "I mentioned it to him out there and he said, 'No, you weren't throwing it.' Once I saw the replay, I said if they overturned the one [in New England] and made such a big deal of it, they have to overturn that one. It was nice to get the ball back there."

Given new life with what turned into an incomplete pass, rookie Verron Haynes ran 20 yards on third down and Amos Zereoue eventually ended the series with a 1-yard touchdown run for a 28-3 lead.