Monday, October 08, 2001
Third down not charmed for defense
Bengals struggle to stop Steelers
By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
PITTSBURGH — For the second week in a row, the Bengals' defense gave up first downs on key third-down pass plays Sunday against the Steelers.
The Bengals did stop the Steelers on four pass plays on third down, but three times — twice on two of Pittsburgh's scoring drives — the Steelers converted first downs on passes.
The most important play came with 3:12 remaning in the game. The Bengals, who had scored on their last possession to pull within 13-7, had forced a third-and-5 from the Pittsburgh 43. Jerome Bettis had been stopped for 5 yards on two rushes.
Quarterback Kordell Stewart, working out of the shotgun, had plenty of time to scan the field. He found wide receiver Hines Ward running across the middle and hit him in stride. Ward ran to the Bengals 33-yard line before being dragged down by cornerback Tom Carter.
Not only did the play maintain Pittsburgh's possession, it moved the Steelers into field goal position. Kris Brown would make his third field goal from 48 yards to give the Steelers a 16-7 lead with 1:57 remaining.
“He made a nice move,” Carter said of Ward, who had eight receptions. “He came across. I had him head up. It's called a pivot route. He has the option of going in or out on the play. I try to square him up the best I can (and) just react to whatever move he makes.”
Carter was aware of the importance of making the stop.
“I thought we had a chance after the touchdown,” he said. “We had new life. We still had a chance at four minutes.”
The Bengals, who had marched 81 yards for their only touchdown, had two timeouts and the two-minute warning to stop the clock if they had been able to force a Steelers punt.
“We were six points behind,” Bengals coach Dick LeBeau said. “We had plenty of time. All we had to do was stop them. We got them to third down. We had to get off the field and get the ball back for our offense.”
In the first quarter, Ward also beat Carter on a third-and-7 play from the Pittsburgh 44-yard line for a 21-yard gain. The Steelers went on to score on a 26-yard Brown field goal for a 3-0 lead.
In the third quarter, Bengals cornerback Artrell Hawkins was beat by wide receiver Bobby Shaw on a third-and-19 play from the Steelers 26-yard line for a 22-yard gain. Pittsburgh punted on that possession.
In the 28-14 loss at San Diego, Carter was beat on the same play by Chargers wide receiver Jeff Graham. The Bengals had San Diego third-and-7 at the Chargers 48, but Doug Flutie connected with Graham, who ran to the Bengals 24. San Diego scored six plays later on a 4-yard LaDainian Tomlinson run for a 14-7 lead.
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Third down not charmed for defense
