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Sunday, October 07, 2001
No stopping Bettis
By Tim Sullivan
The Cincinnati Enquirer
PITTSBURGH — Normally, Jerome Bettis is known as The Bus. Against the Cincinnati Bengals, he suggests a steamroller.
The Pittsburgh Steelers' full-figured running back became the 14th NFL player to reach 10,000 yards rushing Sunday afternoon, beating a bruising path between the tackles, breaking tackles like so many toothpicks.
Bettis gained 153 yards on 23 carries — 48 of them on his first carry from scrimmage. This was not the decisive play in the Steelers' 16-7 victory, but it served as a concise summary of the scrimmage.
“We let Pittsbugh dictate and we didn't allow our offense to be on the field,” said Bengals linebacker Brian Simmons. “Bettis pretty much ran the ball where he wanted to.”
Simmons' desperate downfield tackle saved the Bengals a touchdown on Bettis' first carry, and it seemed a significant play when Bettis was stopped short of the goal on fourth down from the one-yard line. Yet the essential story of the game was the reliability of the Steelers' running game versus the stagnation of Cincinnati's.
Pittsburgh gained 274 yards on the ground, its highest single-game rushing output since 1988. Bettis had five carries of 10 yards or more. The Bengals, meanwhile, ran for only 65 yards. Corey Dillon's longest run, which spanned just 14 yards, was nullified by a penalty.
“The offensive line has done a great job,” Bettis said. “The last two weeks have been incredible. To see daylight, get into the secondary before I get touched — that's something ...
“I just started running and the offensive line was gouging their guys. It was a matter of me making a guy miss here and run over a guy there turning a four-yard play into a 15-yard play.””
Bettis customarily bludgeons the Bengals. In 12 career games against Cincinnati, he has gained 1,278 yards, and nine times has exceeded 100 yards. He averages three 100-yard games against the Bengals out of every four tries compared to a 1-in-3 ratio (39 for 116) against the rest of the league.
“Execution is what killed us,” said Bengals defensive tackle Oliver Gibson. “Myself, personally, there were times I was cut on the ground, and I did not make the tackle where he may have slipped through my gap. Jerome is the kind of guy who runs downhill. If he gets three yards in the backfield, he's o n DBs (defensive backs) and that's what he wants.”
At 5-foot-11, 255 pounds, Bettis poses unique tackling problems. He has the quick feet of a much smaller man, and a center of gravity so low it should be required of sports utility vehicles.
“Because I'm so big, everybody tries to load up and hit me,” Bettis told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recently. “Having quick feet gives me an opportunity to make them miss and set guys up because they don't think I'm as quick as I am.”
The Bengals' Gibson, who played with Bettis at both Notre Dame and in Pittsburgh, is one defender who is not deceived.
“I've tackled and hit a lot of backs,” Gibson said, “And he's got his yards the hard way. That's ten thousand yards in which he fought for every single one of them.He's not going to ever slide or take a knee. He's going right through you.”
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No stopping Bettis
