| | Steelers confident Bettis will be back
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH -- Jerome Bettis wasn't about to miss this.
With the AFC's best record, quarterback Kordell Stewart playing
with renewed confidence and a defense that might be tops in the
NFL, the Pittsburgh Steelers appear better positioned to win the
Super Bowl than at any time since the 1970s.
With a superior running game and a unified locker room, this
team looks better than the 1995 Steelers team that lost to Dallas
in the Super Bowl, or the 1994 team that was a double-digit
favorite only to be upset by San Diego in the AFC title game.
"We've never had all the components we have right now -- it's
all right in front of us," Jerome Bettis said.
Wide receiver Hines Ward talks even more confidently, saying,
"This team's going to the Super Bowl."
All that's missing -- or, at least, all that's been missing for
six weeks -- is Bettis himself.
Bothered initially by a hip injury that progressed into a sore
groin during a Dec. 2 game against Minnesota, Bettis will have been
off for seven weeks before the Steelers' divisional playoff game at
Heinz Field on Jan. 20 against the Ravens.
Seven weeks is a long time for a hockey player -- it's about the
same length of time Mario Lemieux was missing from the Penguins --
or a baseball player. For a football player, it's an eternity, one
week short of half a regular season.
But, aware that a 100 percent Bettis could mean the difference
in the playoffs, coach Bill Cowher took no chances. So Bettis sat
out the final five regular-season games, even if he probably would
have played in at least the final two if the Steelers' playoff
chances had depended on it.
Bettis, unquestionably the Steelers' MVP over the first half of
the season as he gained 1,000 yards for a sixth consecutive year,
is convinced the layoff will prove insignificant once he gets a few
carries and reacquaints himself with the flow of a game.
In 1999, he points out, he returned after missing the entire
preseason to rush for 89 yards in the first half of the season
opener against Cleveland.
"The guys in this locker room know I'm not about to miss a
playoff game," Bettis said. "I'll be fine. I just need to get out
there and get a few hits, make a few cuts."
Still, it has been four years since Bettis last played in the
playoffs, where game speed is even greater and the margin for error
even less than during the season. One fumble, one missed
assignment, one tweak of his groin can undo all the Steelers (13-3)
accomplished in four-plus months.
"The longer you go, you do lose a degree of the timing that's
involved. You cannot simulate the timing in practice," Cowher
said. "But at the same time, he's not being exposed to reinjuring
the groin if he's not ready to go out there."
Bettis seemed ready to play in Sunday's meaningless
regular-season finale against Cleveland, but Cowher pulled him back
when a steady snow made for a slick Heinz Field turf. Bettis'
backup, Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala, responded by rushing for 98 yards,
two weeks after running for 126 yards against Detroit.
However, Fuamatu-Ma'afala was mostly ineffective in three other
starts, and it seems obvious the Steelers' offense won't be nearly
as dangerous if Bettis gets re-injured.
The 1976 Steelers might have been the best team in franchise
history, for example, but they lost to Oakland in the AFC title
game when running backs Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier were injured
and couldn't play.
"We need the big guy, and we know he's going to be out there
for us," wide receiver Troy Edwards said.
Bettis was hurt one other time in the playoffs -- in 1996, when a
torn groin severely limited his effectiveness in a 28-3 loss to New
England. He said he wouldn't have played for weeks if it hadn't
been the postseason, and the injury lingered until training camp
the following season.
"But that was much worse," Bettis said. "This injury wasn't
like that at all."
Still, the Steelers have reason to be concerned with the key to
the offense coming off an injury during the playoffs. They also had
home-field advantage in 1992, when Bubby Brister replaced an
injured Neil O'Donnell to lead the Steelers down the stretch.
Cowher, in his first season as coach, made the decision to start
a rusty O'Donnell in the playoffs, and the Steelers lost to Buffalo
24-3. Some players privately questioned what would have happened if
Brister had started instead of O'Donnell.
This time, of course, there is no question that Bettis should
start, only whether he can finish.
"I'm sure my experience can carry me through this," Bettis
said. "This is the playoffs. This is all or nothing."
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