Monday, September 15, 2003

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Perhaps the Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs, two early season favorites for supremacy in the AFC, will meet again in the playoffs.

	Tommy Maddox tries to get away from Chiefs linebacker Monty Beisel yesterday. Maddox was sacked four times and threw three interceptions. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette photos) Click photo for larger image.

Yesterday, the Steelers were in AFC championship game form. They committed four turnovers, blew two 10-point leads, and had enough touchdown returns against them it might well have been the Patriots in the title game two seasons ago.

The Steelers outgained the Chiefs by 98 yards but were buried by Kansas City, 41-20, because they could not run, they could not stop the run and the Chiefs turned three returns into three touchdowns.

"Obviously, it was a game of big plays and we came out on the short end," Steelers coach Bill Cowher said as his team slipped to 1-1.

Those 41 points were the most scored against a Cowher-coached team on the road.

The Chiefs (2-0) were outgained, 380 yards to 282, but it was a game of many happy returns for them. Pro Bowler Dante Hall returned a kickoff 100 yards for one touchdown. Safety Jerome Woods returned a pass that deflected off Antwaan Randle El's hands 46 yards for another touchdown. And Hall returned the first punt of the second half 45 yards to the 7, setting up Priest Holmes for a 4-yard touchdown run.

	More Steelers Coverage: Play of the Game Hall's 45-yard punt return Running game fizzles in loss to Chiefs Steelers Report: 9/15/03 Report Card Steelers vs. Chiefs Photo journal Game Two: Sept. 14 Steelers at Kansas City Chiefs

Those plays easily negated cornerback Chad Scott's 26-yard interception return for a touchdown 48 seconds into the game, Plaxico Burress' 33-yard touchdown catch and Tommy Maddox's 336 yards passing for the Steelers. Maddox, who led the NFL in passer rating after one game, threw three interceptions and the Steelers managed only 60 yards rushing.

"We should have had a win, we just made some mistakes," Randle El said. "We got off to the fast start we wanted, we just didn't finish."

The game could have ended after the first quarter, as far as the Steelers were concerned. They led, 17-7. Scott took Trent Green's first pass back for a 7-0 lead. Hines Ward, who had nine catches for 146 yards, caught Maddox's first pass for a 50-yard gain to the Chiefs' 7 and Jeff Reed made it 10-0 with a 20-yard field goal.

Then came Hall's backbreaking 100-yard return on the next play.

"With everything we had done offensively and defensively, one play kind of got them back into it," Cowher said. "It took a little wind out, but you have to overcome those things."

The Steelers did just that. Plaxico Burress, who caught seven passes for 115 yards, snapped up a Maddox pass between two defensive backs for a 33-yard touchdown that put them back on top, 17-7, near the end of the first quarter. That's when the Steelers' problems really began.

Holmes, named the NFL's most outstanding offensive player last season, gouged them on an 11-play, 72-yard drive. He ran four consecutive times for gains of 15, 16, 12 and 7 yards against the No. 1 defense against the run in the NFL the past two seasons. He scored the first of his three touchdowns on a 3-yard run off the left side to cut the Steelers' lead to 17-14.

"The last two years they were the No. 1 defense in the league against the rush, but [it] was our day and we were able to create some big plays," Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil said.

Holmes, who ran for 122 yards on 26 carries, carried the load again on Kansas City's next drive that ended when tight end Jason Dunn caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Green. That put the Chiefs in front for good, 21-17.

A few minutes later, Randle El reached for Maddox's high throw, and it glanced off his hands to Woods, who returned the interception 46 yards for a 27-17 Kansas City lead (the conversion attempt failed) with 4:50 left in the half.

"High, low, doesn't matter," Randle El said. "If you catch it, it stops seven points the other way. It was a catchable ball."

	Chiefs running back Priest Holmes burns the Steelers for 122 yards and three touchdowns. Click photo for larger image.

Reed's 51-yard field goal on the final play of the half gave the Steelers a lift when it put them within a touchdown of the Chiefs.

Another special teams goof took care of that. First, tackle Ryan Sims beat center Jeff Hartings to dump Maddox for a 9-yard loss, one of four Kansas City sacks, two by Sims.

That forced a punt. Josh Miller booted it only 33 yards and Hall returned it 45 to the 7. Two plays later, the Chiefs went up, 34-20, on Holmes' second touchdown run, from 4 yards.

"It was not a good punt by Josh," Cowher said. "I can't fault the coverage team for that one. I thought on the first [kickoff] return we had a breakdown in coverage and a good kick. However, that was not a good punt."

The Steelers had a chance to get back in it when they moved from their 25 to a first down at Kansas City's 4 on the next drive. But on third down from the 5, linebacker Shawn Barber intercepted a pass intended for tight end Jay Riemersma in the end zone.

"I think he wished he had that one back," Cowher said.

"I was just trying to do too much," said Maddox, who was 28 of 47. "They blitzed and made us hot. I was trying to get him a little deep and I didn't see the linebacker coming."

The Chiefs scored their final points after Verron Haynes lost his second fumble in two games, this one while he was trying to fight for extra yards on a screen pass. Woods hit him, popped the ball loose and recovered at the Chiefs' 37.

Holmes put it away with a 31-yard touchdown run with five minutes left.

The loss did not dissuade Cowher from expressing a strongly held opinion about his Steelers.

"I like this team, I'll say that," he said. "I like our football team. Right now, we came into a tough venue to play in. We did some things we talked about that you can't do. You cannot beat yourself with penalties and turnovers. You do that and come in a tough place to play, it's going to be a long afternoon."

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