Steelers win defensive struggle in Meadowlands 17-6

The first half of this game was all about the defense. The modern version of the Steel Curtain took on the modern version of the Big Blue Wrecking Crew. Jeff Reed and Brad Daluiso both hit chip shot FG's in the 2nd quarter to send both teams to the locker room with the game knotted at 3. In the opening drive the Steelers had 1st and goal from the Giant 10, but Big Ben was sacked by Jesse Armstead at the 19 for a 9 yard loss. Pittsburgh could not get their offense back into gear and had to settle for a Reed FG attempt, which was blocked by George Williams. The Giants could do nothing with the ball and went 3 and out. The Steelers were able to move the ball into Giant territory, but their drive stalled as well, so they punted. NY obliged them by again going 3 and out, and thanks to a booming 53 yard punt by Brad Maynard the Steelers had to work to score. Big Ben navigated his team into Giant territory, when he faced a 3rd and 18. The Giants sat back in nickle D and Ben delivered the ball to Hines Ward in the flat. Ward was able to turn a simple dump pass into a 22 yard first down when Ralph Brown finally knocked him out of bounds. This drive culminated in Reed's chip shot FG. With 2:25 left to play in the half the Giants had the ball on their own 16. Apparently Pittsburgh thought the G-men were going to run out the clock, so they keyed Ron Dayne for the run. Kerry Collins executed a perferct play fake pass and hit Ike Hilliard in stride for 37 yards t put the ball on the Steeler 47 as the two minute warning sounded. Two plays later Collins went up top to Amani Toomer vs the Steeler Bump and Run. The ball was now on Pittsburgh's 25 with 91 ticks left on the clock, which was plenty of time. Tiki Barber ran a 6 yard draw play to make it 4th and 1 on the Steeler 16. Larry Foote made a great open field tackle and almost jarred the ball lose. New York decided not to gamble and Daluiso tied it at 3. Antwaan Randle El got a great return and the Steelers were able to start at midfield with :38 left to play in the half. Big Ben hit Dan Kreider for 11 quick yards and called his final time out. On the next play he hit Ward, who was double covered, for 8 yards. Ben quickly spiked the ball and Reed came on to attempt a 50 yarder, which ws blocked by Cedric Jones...for NY's 2nd FG block of the game.

On the second play of the 3rd quarter Giant OG Glenn Parker went down with a knee injury, which would hamper the already challenged Giant running game even further. NY was forced to punt. Maynard outkicked his coverage and Ranle El brilliantly returned it 67 yards before he was shoved out on the Giant 6. On 3rd and goal, "The Bus" Jerome Bettis, ran a draw down to the Giant 1. Decision time came. Steeler coach, Greg Marcucci, decided to go for the TD on 4th. After seeing 2 of his team's 3 previous FG attempts blocked he decided to put the game in his big back's hands. Everyone in the house knew what was coming. Even the Giants knew what was coming. New York stacked the lined and completely sold out on the run and keyed Bettis. Didn't matter. Jerome Bettis followed an Alan Faneca block and broke the plane of the goal line for 6. New York rewarded their fans by going 3 and out again. The crowd in the Meadowlands was not exactly happy with their offense. If the Giants were going to win their defense was going to have to do it for them. It didn't look that way as the Steelers drove down to the Giant 15 on the next drive. Duce Staley attempted to fight for some extra yards on 3rd down draw play, which was run against a neutral defensive set. Cedric Jones, who never lived up to his potential, came out of nowhere to strip the ball from Staley. Michael Barrow, who called John Doyle "My brother from another mother", fell on the ball to give possession over to the G-men. New York was on the march with new found, or quite possibly misplaced, confidence. Collins again saw bump and run coverage and once again hit Toomer for a big 18 yard gain. On 3rd and 1 from the Steeler 44 Collins executed a great play fake to Barber who had the defense keying the heck out of him. Once again it was Toomer catching the ball for a first. The Steeler D clamped down on New York as the drive stalled on the 27. Daluiso made it 10-6 with a 44 yard FG that was "true blue". Randle El again had a fantastic return out to his own 43. Ben threw into double coverage to hit Plaxico Burress for 16 yards. Duce Staley had 2 neat 8 yard runs vs a defense that was doubling Plax. By this point in the game Hines Ward was completly fatigue, sinc he had sat only 4 plays all game. Still he was able to summon up some resolve and gain 8 yards on a medium seam pass for a first down on NY's 14. 3 plays later Ward did it again. The Giants were livid. How can this man summon up so much resolve to make another great play vs a defense expecting him to catch the ball. The great ones always seem to rise to the occasion. That setup a first and goal from the Giant 4. Once again we were presented with one of those seminal moments where the imovable object meets the irresistible force. The force, aka..."The Bus", won. NY stacked 11 guys on the line of scrimmage aimed at one big man wearing Steeler white. As expected Bettis got the ball. Krieder, the full back was able to keep DT Keith Hamilton at bay and the big man walked into the end zone untouched.

New York fans were left scratching their head as they mumbled, "how do you stop the bus" ? The Giants were able to move the ball to midfield, but once again their offense sputtered. Maynard hit a coffin corner kick to pin the Steelers on their 1. Facing a 3rd and 8 from their 3 Duce Staley ran another surprise draw play to gain just enough for the first. The Giants stacked the line to stop Staley on the next play, but a great block by Kreider allowed him to slice for 8 yards. Two plays later the same scenario occurred. This time Staley got 10 and a few clipboards and gatorade bottles went flying from NY's sideline. By the time the Giants finally stopped the Steelers there was just over 3 minutes left to play. Pittsburgh did a fantastic job milking the clock and getting the must first downs. Starting on their 30 the Giants had 3:07 left to score 11 points. Facing a must 4th and 6 from their own 41 the Giants were forced to go for it. The Steelers dropped into a deep zone and Collins hit Tiki with a 8 yard screen that could have been more except Barber tripped over his own feet in the open field. With 1:04 left on the clock the Giants had 4th and goal from PIT's 7. Once again the Steelers went to their bump and run coverage. Once again Collins went to Toomer who was going for the back of the end zone. This time it just didn't work. Pittsburgh held on for a tightly contested 17-6 victory to move to .500 for the first time this season.

After the game, coach Weiss of the Giants was seen on the field trying to talk Stephen Baker out of retirement in the hopes of jump starting his anemic offense. Rumor has it a quick phone call to Rodney Hampton followed.