Thursday, October 14, 1999Smith thinks long ball will beat Pittsburgh
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati EnquirerAs Akili Smith tries to take the Bengals where only Boomer Esiason has brought them recently, he finds a Steel Curtain in his way.
Pittsburgh's second-ranked defense awaits Sunday at Cinergy Field, when Smith will try to become the first Bengals quarterback to win back-to-back starts since Esiason won the last three of the 1997 season.
Smith also is trying to lead the Bengals to back-to-back wins in October for the first time in 10 seasons, when Esiason engineered victories at Kansas City and at Pittsburgh in 1989.
Since then, the only way the Bengals have beaten the curtain is by throwing over it. Smith's predecessor, Jeff Blake, beat the Steelers three times since 1995 by throwing at least one pass of at least 40 yards.
The 1999 Bengals are still looking for their first 40-yard completion. But Smith, saying the Bengals have to get to .500, thinks Sunday is their best shot so far at taking the long ball out of mothballs.
“Looking at last year's film, (the Steelers) gave up a few long balls to Jeff,” Smith said. “So we may have some long balls this week trying to excite the crowd a little bit and psych (the media) and try to get a victory.”
But Steelers safety Lee Flowers, who knows former Pittsburgh defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau now works for the Bengals, asked the obvious question Wednesday. The Steelers live by masking their pre-snap movements, a nightmare scheme for a rookie in his second start.
“(Smith) should know the defense,” Flowers said, “but at the same time, can you read it when you're getting hit?”
Bengals coach Bruce Coslet also has questions about his rookie. But he thinks he'll get a good answer.
“I don't know him well enough to know how he'll respond to the
game after a win,” Coslet said. “Does he go from thumping his chest at the Cleveland bench to getting sacked 12 times by the Pittsburgh Steelers? I don't know. We'll find out, but I don't think it will be that.”
The Steelers have lost three straight, but they still have a complex blitzing scheme and linebackers that make a veteran quarterback look raw. In the face of Pittsburgh's varying blitzes, opposing quarterbacks have been able to complete just 25 percent of their third-down passes.
Just ask Blake. He set the NFL record for most passing yards in his first four starts in 1994. But in his sixth start, he wasn't savvy enough to prevent the Steelers from holding him to 8-of-19 passing with two interceptions in his first game.
“Their front seven right up the middle is tremendous,” Smith said. “The mistakes I made last week, I'll be penalized this week against a better football team.
“The offensive line is going to have to repeat the performance that they did last week, but they're very capable of doing that. ... You think defense (when thinking of Pittsburgh). It's the first thing out of your mouth. I know we're going against a team that's playoff caliber and who's trying to get to the Super Bowl. We have to rise to the occasion.”
Which means Smith won't be able to hold the ball in the pocket against the Steelers like he did against the Browns. Which means he might not have time to unleash the long ball like a veteran would.
In its effort to put pressure on the passer, Pittsburgh puts its cornerbacks in a lot of bump-and-run, man-on-man coverage. Last year in the Bengals' two victories over the Steelers, Blake hit Darnay Scott for a 61-yard touchdown in one win, and Neil O'Donnell hooked up with Carl Pickens for two passes of 75 yards in the last minute to win the other.
Cornerbacks Dewayne Washington and Chad Scott have struggled at times this season. Doug Flutie hit Eric Moulds for a 49-yard touchdown and a 26-yard pass in Buffalo's win last week.
But Coslet doesn't see it happening for the Bengals.
“We've had our moments against them, but I haven't seen anybody doing it to them thus far. They just don't give up many big plays,” Coslet said. “We'll move the ball at times, but at times it won't look so good.”
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