Five game losing streak finally comes to an end

Monday, November 10, 2003

By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Steelers' 28-15 victory against the Arizona Cardinals yesterday may springboard them toward an historic run to the playoffs, or it could merely mark a smooth portion on a bumpy road.

For one game, it did not matter. All that mattered to the Steelers yesterday was rediscovering the warm glow of victory after a seven-week abstinence.

Wide receiver Hines Ward gets a lift from Alan Faneca after scoring the first of his two third-quarter touchdowns. (Matt Freed, Post-Gazette) Click photo for larger image. More Steelers coverage: Townsend stands tall in Steelers defense Play of the Game: 52-yard punt return by Antwaan Randle El The Cardinals: Blake's fumble extends string of failures Steelers Report: Second five-sack game in a row Steelers Report Card: Game Nine Game Nine Photo Journal: Steelers vs. Arizona Cardinals Black and Gold Insider: Post-Game commentary and audio. Subscribers may log in here. Click here to learn more.

"You hear the locker room? It's buzzing right now," linebacker Joey Porter said. "Everybody's not quiet. This is finally the locker room I'm used to."

Beating the woebegone Cardinals (3-6) normally does not prompt celebrations, but when you're riding a five-game losing streak, any oasis in the desert will do. The Steelers, expected to contend for the Super Bowl, are fighting for survival at 3-6.

"Man, it's been so long I don't know what to do with myself," linebacker James Farrior said. "It definitely feels good. We have to remember how this feels because we have to keep it going."

The Steelers grasped control of the game early and broke it open in the third quarter after leading by just 7-3 at halftime. Tommy Maddox threw three touchdown passes -- a 9-yarder to Chris Doering and a 5- and 12-yarder to Hines Ward -- with no interceptions. Antwaan Randle El tied a Steelers record by returning a punt 52 yards for a touchdown, his second in three games, to stake them to a 28-3 lead in the third quarter.

Arizona quarterback Jeff Blake then threw touchdown passes to two rookies -- 11 yards to Anquan Boldin late in the third quarter and 54 yards to Penn State's Bryant Johnson with 17 seconds left in the game.

Blake completed 23 of 43 for 307 yards, but he was sacked five times and pressured into many poor passes. Linebacker Jason Gildon rang up three sacks to set the Steelers' career record at 76, surpassing L.C. Greenwood.

"It has been so long I don't know how anyone knew how to feel," coach Bill Cowher said of the victory. "The way things have gone, this was an important win."

The Cardinals outgained the Steelers in yards, 379-246, but the game wasn't close after a 21-point third-quarter, more points than they scored in six of their eight previous games.

Things began with Gildon's first sack, which gave him the record at 74 right in front of Greenwood's Steel Curtain teammate, Arizona defensive line coach Joe Greene.

That 9-yard loss on third down put Blake on his back at his 3. The Steelers took over at Arizona's 27 after Scott Player's poor punt. A 22-yard pass interference penalty gave the Steelers a first down at the 5, and Maddox hit Ward with a short slant for the touchdown.

Two plays later, cornerback Deshea Townsend, playing for benched Dewayne Washington, blitzed and smacked Blake, forcing a fumble that Kimo von Oelhoffen recovered at the Cardinals' 22.

Next play, Maddox faked to Jerome Bettis and hit Ward on a post pattern for a 22-yard touchdown and a 21-3 lead.

Randle El polished off the best third period of the season for the Steelers with his 52-yard touchdown on a punt return that gave them a 28-3 cushion.

"I scored and everything, but it got the team going," Randle El said. "We just kind of took off."

Actually, the Steelers went into a lull after that. Boldin scored Arizona's first touchdown on a fourth-down pass from the 11 after rookie safety Troy Polamalu just missed sacking Blake.

The Cardinals came right back on a long drive on their next series and Blake seemed to throw a touchdown pass to Johnson on fourth down from the 5. The officials ruled it down at the 1. On a replay challenge, they changed it to a 5-yard penalty because Johnson had been legally shoved out of bounds by Chad Scott, then returned to the field of play and caught the pass.

Gildon then dropped Blake for a sack on fourth down from the 10.

The Cardinals did not threaten again until Johnson's long touchdown catch with 17 seconds to go.

"It was clear this ballgame flipped at the beginning of the third quarter," Arizona coach Dave McGinnis said. "The field position, the turnovers and plus they were able to score rapidly with three touchdowns beginning of the third quarter."

Maddox had his second-best passer rating of the season at 110.9 even though he completed only 12 of 24 passes for 159 yards. But he threw no interceptions for the third time in the past four games and was sacked only once.

"I think we took our shots from the field a little bit more," Maddox said. "We have been trying to be a little bit more aggressive, and we have not been able to take advantage of it. [Yesterday], we were able to. Guys were really sharp on what they were doing."

Maddox should have had four touchdown passes.

The Steelers drove 75 yards on their second series, mainly behind a third-and-14 pass from Maddox to Chris Doering that covered 53 yards to Arizona's 13. But on third-and-two from the 5, Maddox's pass was dropped in the end zone by Plaxico Burress. Jeff Reed, who had missed only two of 16 field goal tries this season, then missed a 23-yard attempt wide left. It looked like another bad foreboding.

"It's frustrating," said Ward, who caught 6 passes for 64 yards. "When we do that, we have to score touchdowns. We can't do that against a great team, the Tennessee Titans."

It became obvious as the game wore on that Arizona did not belong in that category.

The Steelers finally broke a scoreless tie with 5:59 left in the first half when Doering caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Maddox after cornerback Emmanuel McDaniel slipped.

The Cardinals' Tim Duncan kicked a 20-yard field goal 11 seconds before halftime, but the Steelers' defense salvaged the series after Bettis lost a fumble at the 17. Arizona had a first down at the 5 but an incomplete pass, a 2-yard gain and Townsend's knockdown at the goal line on third down saved a touchdown.

That was two big plays for the new starter.

"The main thing you want to do," Townsend said, "is go out there and do your part, then let everything else fall into place."

For the first time since Sept. 21, the pieces came together for the Steelers, who hope for even better days ahead.

"We'll take it right now," Ward said. "It was a desperation game. We needed to win this game to get out of this slide; we did what we had to do."

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