Safety Brent Alexander had a hand in tough defeat

Monday, October 13, 2003

By Gerry Dulac, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

DENVER -- The ball was floating in the air, looking like an inning-ending pop to short, and Brent Alexander was going to nestle under it like Ozzie Smith.

"Those are the ones you catch nine out 10 times," Alexander said.

Oops.

Meet No. 10.

The Steelers will go back, look at their chances yesterday to beat the Denver Broncos, and their stomachs will feel as though they ate bad sushi.

To wit:

Linebacker James Farrior picking up a fumble at the Broncos' 24, with nobody around him, and fumbling himself -- not once, but twice -- in the third quarter.

Jerome Bettis fumbling for the first time in 220 carries -- only the second in 980 attempts -- leading to the Broncos' final touchdown in the fourth quarter.

But, when all is said and done, when the final aspects of the Steelers' 17-14 loss to the Broncos are dissected and analyzed, the play that will gnaw at the Steelers -- most certainly Alexander -- is the interception he didn't make in the final minute.

He was Andre Agassi whiffing at the net.

Tiger Woods missing a tap-in.

Shaquille O'Neal clanging a dunk.

"Sometimes those are the hardest ones to catch," Farrior said.

With 44 seconds remaining, Alexander had a chance to stop the Broncos and, at the very least, force overtime in a game the Steelers had no business winning. Not when Tommy Maddox was sacked seven times, the longest pass completion was 23 yards, the team juggled line combinations more than the Penguins, and the running game continued to look like a Corvette in an ice storm, sliding and spinning and going, well, just about nowhere.

But, on a second-down pass from the Steelers' 46 in which Broncos quarterback Steve Beuerlein badly overthrew wide receiver Rod Smith down the left sideline, Alexander was in position to make his second interception of the game and third of the season. What's more, it was being served to him on a black-and-gold platter.

The ball floated in as if it had a parachute. Alexander cradled the ball between his arms, like a woodcutter gathering firewood.

And dropped it.

Right there near the Steelers' 20. With 38 seconds remaining.

"Brent wishes he had that ball," outside linebacker Joey Porter said. "It's a catch he makes 100 times."

Five plays later, it was over. Given a second chance, the Broncos moved to the Steelers' 29, and Jason Elam kicked a 47-yard field goal as time expired, ending the comeback, dropping the Steelers to 2-4 and giving them two weeks to think about what might have been.

"There are a lot of plays in a game like this you can go back and reflect on," coach Bill Cowher said. "We had a fumble that we could have picked up and scored with. It was a disappointing finish, but there was a lot of heart left out on that field."

Heartache, too, especially for Alexander, who would gladly trade the interception he made in the second quarter for the one he didn't make in the final seconds. And the first one led to a 26-yard field goal by Jeff Reed that cut the Broncos' lead to 7-6.

"We had an opportunity to get off the field and we didn't get off the field," Alexander said. "End of the game, it's time to make a play. We didn't. They did. End of game."

It was that kind of game for Alexander. He got beat for a 10-yard touchdown in the second quarter when Beuerlein hit tight end Shannon Sharpe over the middle, then atoned six minutes later by intercepting a pass that was tipped by cornerback Dewayne Washington and returned it 14 yards to the Broncos' 19.

But, after the Steelers scored on a 1-yard run by Jerome Bettis and added the two-point conversion run to tie the score with 2:41 remaining, the defense couldn't come up with the play to stop the Broncos. In a game when they held running back Clinton Portis to 47 yards rushing -- 61 below his average -- the Steelers lost their third in a row because the Broncos drove the ball 51 yards when it mattered most.

Victory slipped away, just like the ball from Alexander's arms.

"That's not why we lost the game," Farrior said.

"I wouldn't trade Brent Alexander for anything," safety Mike Logan said. "This is the game of football. Strange things are going to happen."

Alexander was running toward the sideline, coming over to help with coverage on Smith, when he saw Beuerlein's pass sailing right to him. As he went up to catch the ball, Alexander said he was "trying to get my bearings' because he was near the sideline. But he was not using that as an excuse.

"I was thinking, just catch the ball," Alexander said. "I was probably concentrating too much on catching the ball."

On the next play, Beuerlein converted a third-and-10 with a 10-yard pass to Sharpe to the Steelers' 36. Then inside linebacker Kendrell Bell was penalized 5 yards for illegal hands to the face on Broncos guard Ben Hamilton, giving the Broncos a first down at the Steelers' 31. After Portis gained 2 yards to the Steelers' 29, Beuerlein spiked the ball to stop the clock with :05 remaining.

Elam's kick put an end to the frustration.

"Somehow we didn't get it done," Porter said. "Sometimes, that happens."

Gerry Dulac can be reached at gdulac@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1466.

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