Losing streak at three games with 17-14 defeat

Monday, October 13, 2003

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

DENVER -- In a bottom-line business, the ink dripped gruesome red again for the Steelers yesterday. It didn't matter that they played their best game of their four losses, that they finally caught up from behind in a game, that their defense might have had its best performance of the season.

	Jason Elam boots a 47-yard field goal as time expires despite the efforts of Joey Porter (51), Aaron Smith (91) Casey Hampton (98) and Kimo von Oelhoeffen (67). (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette) Click photo for larger image.

What matters was Denver finding a way to win on Jason Elam's 47-yard field goal with no time left, 17-14, and the Steelers finding themselves on a three-game losing streak and in third place in the AFC North Division.

"That was a tough one, a tough one to swallow," said defensive end Kimo von Oelhoffen.

Like grasping an anchor while reaching for a lifesaver. The two-time defending division champion Steelers now find themselves in a tough spot at 2-4, behind Baltimore (3-2) and Cleveland (3-3) in the division.

"The toughest spot you can imagine," linebacker Joey Porter said. "I mean, 2-4 is not good. I felt we had a real good shot of coming out here and pulling one off, and it got away from us."

The Steelers, switching offensive linemen around like a shell game and their quarterback paying for it with seven sacks, popped out of their offensive doldrums just long enough to tie the score with 2:45 to go.

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Jerome Bettis ended a 74-yard drive with a 1-yard run, then barreled behind and onto pulling guard Alan Faneca -- who started and played most of the game at left tackle -- for a two-point conversion to make it 14-14. Suddenly, a sloppy, boring game pulsated at Invesco Field.

"I thought we had that feeling," said receiver Hines Ward, whose 15-yard catch at the 15 on fourth down kept the tying drive going. "It was great, we fought back toward the end, we made a big play on fourth down to keep the drive going and Jerome made a hell of a run at the end to tie it up."

It almost had that 2002 feeling, when a Tommy Maddox-conducted offense roared from behind to claim another victim. But this time, the Steelers' defense that played so well could not stop Denver on its final drive with 38-year-old Steve Beuerlein at quarterback.

Beuerlein, starting in place of injured Jake Plummer, completed consecutive passes of 10 yards to Shannon Sharpe, 10 to Clinton Portis and another 13 to Sharpe to put the ball on the Steelers' 46.

He tried another toward Rod Smith that sailed high and right into the waiting hands of safety Brent Alexander, who dropped what looked like an easy interception.

"I just dropped it, that was about it," Alexander said.

Sharpe caught a 10-yard pass on third-and-10 at the Steelers' 36, linebacker Kendrell Bell was penalized 5 yards for shoving his hands into the facemask of tackle Ben Hamilton, and Elam, who once kicked a 63-yard field goal, easily booted home the winner.

"I was very proud of the way we battled," coach Bill Cowher said. "We didn't beat ourselves."

Even though Maddox was under a heavy rush, he threw no interceptions, and the Steelers' only turnover was a rare Bettis fumble. They actually won the turnover battle, 3-1, as Alexander and Chad Scott intercepted Beuerlein passes and Portis lost a fumble.

"Coach tells us if we would have won the turnover battle in our games, we'd be undefeated," Porter said. "We come out and win the turnover battle and lose."

Beuerlein completed 17 of 28 for 172 yards and touchdown passes of 10 yards to Sharpe and 11 to Smith. Maddox completed 19 of 30 for 182 yards.

Neither team could run. Bettis led the Steelers with 34 yards on 14 carries, and Portis led Denver with 47 yards on 15 attempts.

"We did some things out there defensively to help us win a ballgame," Porter said. "Comes down to it, it doesn't matter how good we played when we lose."

The Steelers got the jump on the Broncos when Scott intercepted Beuerlein's first pass, which was high and outside to Ed McCaffrey. Scott, who intercepted Trent Green's first pass in Kansas City and returned it for a touchdown, returned this one 24 yards to the 9, where the Steelers' infamous red-zone offense took over. As has been the case all season, they could not punch it in and Jeff Reed kicked a 24-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.

Denver went in front, 7-3, on Beuerlein's 10-yard pass to Sharpe, who beat Alexander on a hitch-and-go. Denver jump-started that 64-yard drive with a reverse to Smith for a 26-yard gain, by far the longest run of the day.

Back came the Steelers' defense with another interception. This time, Smith fell down and Alexander intercepted Beuerlein's pass and returned it 14 yards to the 19. And the Steelers' offense responded as it usually does. Tight end Jay Riemersma dropped a Maddox pass in the end zone, then was hit in the head by the helmet of safety Nick Ferguson. The 9-yard penalty gave the Steelers a first down at the 10, but they managed only 2 yards on three plays and Reed kicked a 26-yard field goal to narrow Denver's lead to 7-6.

"Our offense was struggling a little bit," linebacker James Farrior said. "We were trying to keep them in the game."

It was a rare turnover by Bettis in the fourth quarter that gave the Broncos their biggest break. Bettis had lost only one fumble in his previous 980 rushes. But he fumbled when Ferguson popped him on an off-tackle run. Defensive end Bertrand Berry recovered at the Denver 48.

On the Broncos' second play after that, Smith ran step for step with cornerback Dewayne Washington down the left sideline. Smith came down with the catch at the 10. Two plays later, Beuerlein threw a perfect fade pass to Smith, who caught it over Washington in the left corner of the end zone for a touchdown that gave Denver a 14-6 lead with 9:22 left in the game.

The Steelers began the drive to tie the score with 9:16 from their 26, and converted two third-down plays and one on fourth down, thanks to some helping hands from the Broncos.

Maddox completed a 23-yard pass to Plaxico Burress on one third-down play, and Ward caught his 15-yarder on fourth down. Defensive tackle Mario Fatefehi swiped Maddox's facemask for a penalty that gave the Steelers a first down at the 4 on yet another third-down incompletion.

Bettis ran two plays, the first for 3 yards and the second for a touchdown from the 1. He then made it in from the 2 on the two-point conversion to tie it, 14-14, with 2:41 left.

"We knew we needed to go down there and get a score and we got it," said Burress, who caught five passes for 60 yards behind Ward's 8 for 81. "It's just too bad we couldn't get the ball back on more time."

Ed Bouchette can be reached at ebouchette@post-gazette.com or 412-263-3878.

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