Colts Tamed by Steelers

PITTSBURGH -- The guy who was once a young man in a hurry is now ... well, an older man, who looked like he had all the time in the world on Monday night at Heinz Field. Pittsburgh’s offensive line made that happen for former insurance guy, former Arena Football Leaguer, and ex-XFL’er Tommy Maddox.

Maddox, 31, returned to the prime time of “Monday Night Football” for the first time in more than 10 years, throwing for 188 yards and two touchdowns in Pittsburgh’s 28-10 victory against the Indianapolis Colts. He defined the difference between being not urgent enough and too urgent, using an example from his UCLA days.

“Maybe earlier in my career, maybe I was too urgent with everything,” said Maddox, who was making his first start at home. “Maybe that’s why I came out of school early. I try not to get into too much of it. You start thinking about things you shouldn’t and start doing things you shouldn’t.”

For the Steelers (3-3), this was a night of redemption and reconciliation. Redemption as in pulling the season together, reaching .500 and a tie atop the AFC North with Baltimore, and easing some of the previous “Monday Night Football” embarrassment, the 30-14 loss at New England on Sept. 9.

Maybe it’s something about the Colts (4-2) coming to Pittsburgh. They have not won a game at Pittsburgh since 1968, back when they were the Baltimore Colts. At home, Pittsburgh has recorded 12 straight victories against the Colts, including the AFC title game in 1995.

Or maybe it’s Bill Cowher. The Steeler coach has a dominating Monday Night record in home games (10-0).

Reconciliation came in the form of Terry Bradshaw. The Hall of Fame quarterback made his first appearance at a home game in Pittsburgh since his retirement and was warmly pulled back into the Steeler football family with an emotional half-time ceremony, a montage of his career highlights. He was given a prolonged ovation by the crowd of 62,800.

You could say Terry handed off to Tommy on this night, but the Steelers were already clearly in command by halftime, leading, 21-3. Pittsburgh scored on its first three possessions, racking up a 21-0 lead on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Maddox to wide receiver Hines Ward and two touchdown runs by Jerome Bettis.

The Steelers did not punt until their first drive of the third quarter, and have not punted in the first half of either of their last two games.

“Obviously, the fast start was really important,” Cowher said. “Our offense was very sharp, particularly in the first half. We’ve got to sustain that level. We cannot be up and down. And that’s the biggest challenge we have right now.”

Said Indianapolis Coach Tony Dungy: “The biggest cause for concern is that we’re self-destructing a little bit. We’ve got to eliminate that. It’s tough. You can’t turn the ball over. We didn’t stop the run well enough. Therefore, we put ourselves in a hole.”

Indianapolis gradually chipped away, cutting the Steeler lead to 21-10 early in the third quarter with Peyton Manning’s 41-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Pollard. But the momentum shifted one last time when Manning was intercepted by Mike Logan at the 35-yard line with 6:36 remaining in the third. Logan returned it 46 yards to the 19, and three plays later, the Steelers led, 28-10, on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Maddox to Ward.

“I was just reading my man coverage,” Logan said. “He was in the backfield. I kind of stepped up there. The linemen were so tall, and I was so deep in there, and he didn’t see me and just threw it up. I was able to stick these hands up there and grab it.”

Of future concern for the Steelers, of course, is the health of Bettis. The star back suffered a sprained left knee in a pileup on the second play of the third quarter. He had his knee examined on the sideline and did not return. Cowher seemed to indicate the injury was not serious, saying the knee injury to starting center Jeff Hartings appeared worse.

Bettis’ understudy, Amos Zereoue filled in adequately. Maddox was asked whether the running game is opening up because of his passing.

“Who knows? Who cares?” he said, smiling. “I think that’s what offensive football is about. It goes both ways, but I don’t know which one leads the way. Both sides are clicking right now.

“I feel good with seeing the field, with the offense. I feel good with the guys around me. With the guys we have, it’s fun to spread the ball around. Everything goes back to the offensive line. If we control the line of scrimmage like we did tonight, we can do a lot of things offensively.”