I hope the Offense covered the beer tab after the game, because the Defense saved their skins once again.

Kent Graham opened the game by throwing a 25 yard strike to Hines Ward, who promptly raced the remaining 52 yards into the end zone. This looked to be the day to end any Quarterback controversy. But, after that perfect strike, Graham had trouble hitting the open receivers, and finished a miserable 13-33 for 173 yards. Considering 77 yards were on his first completion, that is a pretty horrendous statistic.

On Kent's behalf, he did have the Receivers drop 6 or 7 of his passes, but it wasn't like he stuck it right in their bread basket. Well, he did throw a pretty good one to Plaxico Burress that was promptly dropped, but Plax has yet to prove that he even has a bread basket.

All in all, it didn't matter how the Offense played. This was a day for the Defense.

Joey Porter built on the big day he had against the Jets the previous week. This time he wasn't happy with just sacks. He hit Scott Mitchell's hand just as he was throwing to force a Dewayne Washington interception. He then sacked the water buffalo in the endzone for a safety. He forced a fumble, was in on 6 tackles, and recorded 3 sacks. Not a bad day.

The secondary continued to play exceptionally well, giving up a measly 120 net passing yards. Brent Alexander added an INT to go with Washington's, and Chad Scott had blanket coverage all day long.

Apart from Porter, the player who impressed me the most was Levon Kirkland. Early in the second quarter, Kirkland left the field limping badly on his right ankle. He had the trainer tape it up, and he was back out there on the next series.

A couple of plays later, he was limping off the field, this time favoring his left ankle. The trainer taped that one up as well, and Kirkland finished the game. It wasn't like he was just a body in the middle either. He was his normal, ferocious self. He was a key part in limiting Cory Dillon to 36 yards on 15 carries.

This guy loves to win, and his competitiveness, and leadership is a big reason for this teams turn-around. You can be sure the other guys noticed him hobbling around on 2 bum ankles, and still giving it his all. This unit is really starting to gel, and a performance such as Kirkland gave will only make them a closer knit unit.

The one part of the Offense that didn't struggle this day was the running game. For some reason, they abandoned the run in the first half. Jerome Bettis had only 8 carries for 20 yards. By the time the game had ended, Bettis had 101 yards on 29 carries. Why they didn't attack the NFL's 30th ranked run Defense in the first half is beyond me. Who knows what his numbers could have been. The way Graham was throwing the ground game couldn't have been any worse.

Fullback Jon Witman is likely gone for the year with a broken ankle, and it couldn't have come at a worse time in his career. He was finally showing the promise the Steelers were counting on when they chose him over Tim Lester before the start of last season. I wish him a speedy recovery. He was opening holes, and delivering punishing blows to the defenders intent on stopping "The Bus". He was a big part of Jerome's resurgence.

That role will now belong to Chris Fuamatu-maafala. He did practice that position all through training camp, so it won't be new to him. I just hope he can play it with the same fervor Witman was displaying.

If not, the Offense will be buying the Defense beer for quite awhile.

by SteelerGil (October 16, 00)