Monday, November 10, 2003

By Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Deshea Townsend isn't tall enough to see over the crowd of reporters that surrounded his locker after the game. And he is barely strong enough to do what he did at various times yesterday against the Arizona Cardinals - hoist the secondary on his shoulders and make a Herculean play or two.

	Steelers cornerback Deshea Townsend helped hold Cardinals running back Marcel Shipp to only 61 yards rushing. (Matt Freed, Post-Gazette) Click photo for larger image.

OK, so Townsend's performance in the Steelers' 28-15 victory at Heinz Field isn't exactly going to be remembered with any special historical fondness, not in a game when Jason Gildon became the all-time sack leader in Blitzburgh, moving ahead of L.C. Greenwood. And the Steelers aren't going to rush to put it in one of their kiosks at the Coca-Cola Great Hall, right there along with other storybook performances from years past.

But, in his first start since replacing demoted Dewayne Washington as the starting right cornerback, Townsend did nothing more than play the way a cornerback is supposed to perform. He had seven tackles, broke up two passes and recorded a sack and a forced fumble on the same play that led to the Steelers' third touchdown.

Considering the starting secondary registered just one pass defended in 68 attempts the previous two games combined, that's a monumental achievement for the Steelers' defense.

"He did a good job as far as I'm concerned," said defensive coordinator Tim Lewis. "We got a win."

But it was more than that.

For a change, the Steelers did not spend most of the postgame dissecting the flaws in their secondary or talking about whiffed tackles, which is what happened last week in Seattle.

Instead, they talked about the big play made by Townsend in the third quarter, when he sacked Cardinals quarterback Jeff Blake from the blindside and slapped the ball from his hands at the Cardinals' 22. The fumble was recovered by defensive end Kimo von Oelhoffen, and the Steelers needed just one play - a 22-yard touchdown pass from Tommy Maddox to Hines Ward - to make it 21-3.

For a change, the Steelers had a cornerback make a big play, and it was Townsend - named the starter last week after Washington missed a tackle on Seattle's Darrell Jackson that led to the winning touchdown by the Seahawks.

"The main thing is the 'W'," said Townsend (5 feet 10, 190 pounds). "Pressure, that's a part of the game. When you line up on second and third down, there is pressure. The main thing you want to do is go out there and do your part, then let everything fall into place."

Townsend, a six-year veteran who was starting just his ninth career game, made an impact almost immediately, blitzing Blake and hitting his arm on a third-down incompletion on the Cardinals' first series of the game.

In the second quarter, after Arizona recovered Jerome Bettis' third fumble in four games at the Steelers' 17, Townsend broke up a third-down pass intended for rookie receiver Bryant Johnson at the 2.

Then came the sack and forced fumble that helped turn the game around. Curiously, Townsend was not supposed to blitz on the play - outside linebacker Joey Porter was - but the Steelers changed the defensive call when the Cardinals motioned a wide receiver.

When they did, Townsend blitzed and Porter dropped into zone coverage on tight end Freddie Jones. Blake hesitated long enough - his receiver fell in the secondary - that Townsend hit him from behind, stripping the ball in the process.

"It was a certain defense when the corner gets to blitz," said Townsend, a fourth-round draft pick in 1998. "I saw the quarterback pause. They must have been trying to run a double move and that left a little more time to get to the quarterback. I just had a chance to keep rushing. I got there and knocked the ball out."

Townsend's two pass breakups might not seem like a lot, but, to the Steelers, they're a handful. They come about as often as a lunar eclipse.

Only two other secondary starters have had that many passes defended in a game - safety Mike Logan against Baltimore and cornerback Chad Scott against Cincinnati. Washington had just two passes defended in the first eight games.

Lewis is not asking his secondary to make interceptions. He merely wants them to make plays.

Yesterday, Townsend did that. About his only mistake was getting juked out of position by Cardinals running back Marcel Shipp in the third quarter.

"I did all right," Townsend said. "There are always things you can do better. The main thing is, we got a win and we're looking forward to this next game."

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

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