Dialing This Call Is a Great Choice

The halfback pass that Pittsburgh’s Jerome Bettis threw for a game-winning touchdown last week was a reminder that the play is a great one.

And it doesn’t have to be reserved for select occasions.

When Hall of Fame Coach Vince Lombardi perfected the halfback pass 40 years ago, one of his running backs, Hall of Famer Paul Hornung, threw the ball or ran it on every Green Bay play for half of an exhibition game against Philadelphia, throwing twice for touchdowns.

“Coach thought we needed the practice,” Hornung said later.

He added that the same plan would have worked in a regular-season game because the same two or three defensive players assigned to contain him on the sweep must simultaneously guard against the pass.

It helps, of course, if the ball is thrown by good running teams, and Pittsburgh is one of those.

Bettis carried the ball four consecutive times before throwing it.

He isn’t much of a passer, but what the play takes is a coach who will call it.

Patriots, Eagles Next

Although the Steelers appear to be the best NFL team since smashing New England and Philadelphia a month or so ago, the Patriots and Eagles still have shots at winning Super Bowl XXXIX.

As coached by defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, the Steelers are so sound defensively that a good conventional offense can hardly stir against them. The kind of team that can beat Pittsburgh will come out passing on first down, when the defense must think run as well as pass.

Tom Brady of New England and Donovan McNabb of Philadelphia are two experienced passers who have come out passing to win big games.

Both have an attack mentality. Both understand that the Steelers are vulnerable because they don’t score a lot of points.

And that’s why teams emphasizing defense and running plays -- as the Steelers do -- have been consistently losing to passing teams in recent Super Bowl games.

The question this year is whether Bettis’ runs and an occasional pass -- in combination with Pittsburgh’s great defense -- will be enough to hold off a determined passing team.

Pitt’s Dull Offense

The Pittsburgh defense remains the NFL’s single most potent and imposing platoon, offensively or defensively, thanks to LeBeau’s overall design and the quality of his players.

Although New England also has been defensively powerful for most of the Bill Belichick era, the Steelers have possibly the best mix of defensive coaching and personnel. Two plays in last week’s Jet game helped make the point:

* In the first half, at a critical moment, LeBeau lined up strong safety Troy Polamalu on the scrimmage line, apparently to blitz Jet passer Chad Pennington. But at the snap, Polamalu, the onetime USC All-American, retreated instantly into pass coverage, in the very area that Pennington was aiming for, and got an interception.

* In the second half, at another critical juncture, LeBeau called another blitz, at the same time double-covering the intended receiver. Pennington had to scramble, winding up with less than first-down yardage.

It’s an NFL axiom that blitzing means single coverage on receivers. It’s understood that when defensive backs are blitzing, there aren’t enough left to double-team. LeBeau did it.

On offense, the Pittsburgh story is different. The coaches appear not to understand that the most strategically lethal way to play is to threaten both running and passing at the start of every play.

With two good running backs, Bettis and Duce Staley, and a good quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers almost never integrate offensive runs with passes.

Instead, typically, they call power runs on first and second down, keeping Roethlisberger well out of the scene. Then after the runs gain five yards or so, the Steelers, on third down, typically put Roethlisberger back in shotgun formation and ask him to throw without faking a running play.

Third down is the most difficult down for an NFL passer. He is then invariably confronted or attacked by defensive players anticipating a pass. Still, the Steelers insist on running on early downs and passing on third down, then wonder why Roethlisberger doesn’t complete more passes if he’s such a hotshot passer.

What About Colts?

The Indianapolis Colts, with Peyton Manning at quarterback, deserve to be listed as a Super Bowl contender too. But the Colts still must answer two questions:

* Can Manning win big games? He’s often had trouble against good teams with good defenses.

* Can the Colt defense win big games? It’s had its troubles all year.

The 5-8 Houston Texans, for instance, outscored the Colts in the last three quarters last Sunday, 14-9.

Though the Colts won, 23-14, the Colt defense again failed to elevate itself into a class with Pittsburgh’s, New England’s and Philadelphia’s.

More will be learned today when the 8-5 Baltimore Ravens visit 10-3 Indianapolis.

The Colts don’t seem to match up well with that team. Their defense isn’t the kind that could harass mediocre Raven quarterback Kyle Boller. On the other side of the ball, Baltimore’s tight, tough defense is the kind that could be hard on Manning.

Chargers in Top Five

The San Diego Chargers, who get patsy Cleveland today, have risen to become the NFL’s fifth Super Bowl contender, and the AFC’s fourth, winning seven straight with a strong defense and a reliable passer, Drew Brees.

They were a touch lucky to win on an intercepted pass in the fourth quarter last week, 31-24, but the truth is that any way they could have beaten charging Tampa Bay would have been impressive.

In their previous three starts, the Buccaneers had won twice, and they’d won five of their last seven.

And they seemed playoff-bound before Brees hit them with 17 completions in 23 passes and the two touchdowns that got the Chargers started in the first half.

The thesis that San Diego is better than Indianapolis will be tested on the Colts’ home field the day after Christmas.