THE DAILY COLLEGIAN Bettis doubtful for Sunday By Alan Robinson ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER PITTSBURGH Jerome Bettis, the NFL's rushing leader, likely will default from the Pittsburgh Steelers' matchup Sunday against the second-leading rusher, Curtis Martin of the New York Jets. Bettis is listed as doubtful with hip and groin injuries, but Steelers coach Bill Cowher said even that might be overestimating his chances. "We'll see how he is by the end of the week but, by listing him as doubtful, you can see where I'm heading," Cowher said yesterday. An MRI test on Bettis' hip showed no serious injury, and surgery is not neces sary. He also was bothered by a sore groin and abdomen before coming out of a 21-16 victory Sunday over Minneso ta after gaining 81 yards in three quar ters. Bettis, who went over the 1,000-mark for the sixth consecutive season Sun day, has 1,072 yards to Martin's 1,070 yards. Martin is a former star at Pitt and Allderdice High School in Pitts burgh. Bettis has some internal bleed ing, but said it is not serious. He wants to play Sunday, but realizes it might be better to miss a regular-season game for only the fourth time in his nine NFL seasons. "I want to make sure I'm healthy for Eagles control 'own destiny' to win first division title By Rob Maaddi ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER PHILADELPHIA (AP) Seven win- ning seasons. Six postseason appear- The Eagles play the San Diego ances. Three playoff victories. Zero divi- Chargers (5-7) at Veterans Stadium on sion titles. Sunday. San Diego is 1-5 on the road, Despite having varied success in the but the Eagles are just 2-4 at the Vet. last 12 seasons, the Philadelphia Eagles Games at Washington and San Fran haven't won the NFC East since 1988. cisco follow, then a home game against But with five games left this year, the the Giants and the regular season finale Eagles are 7-4 and have a two-game at Tampa Bay. The Redskins, Giants lead in the division. and Arizona Cardinals are all tied for "We control our own destiny," fullback second place at 5-6. Cecil Martin said. "We can't rely on THIS IS YOUR COLLEGE NEWSPAPER ... READ IT ... SHARE IT ....RECYCLE IT • Pittsburg)! Steelers' Jerome Bettis (36) plows through Minnesota Vikings defender Tyrone Carter in the first quarter in Pittsburgh. The 9-2 Steelers won 21-16 Sunday. the rest of the season because we've got a lot of games to go," said Bettis, who initially hurt the hip Nov. 25 against Tennessee. Cowher also suggested he doesn't want to risk sidelining Bettis for a sig nificant period just as the Steelers (9-2) are closing in on their first trip to the playoffs since 1997. With Bettis leading the NFL's top ranked rushing offense, the Steelers are tied for the NFL's best record and own the AFC's best record. The confer other people. It's good to be two games ahead, but if we want this, we have to take it. We have to rely on our game, and the games that we have to play" "Right now, we're just concentrating ence team with the best record at the end of the season will have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. "I'm going to look at the big picture," Cowher said. "It's not a playoff game. It might have playoff implications, but it's not a playoff game, and I'll keep that in mind" If Bettis can't play, he would be replaced by Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala, who at 255 pounds is the same weight as Bettis, and Amos Zereoue, who is usually Bettis' backup. on San Diego," cornerback Troy Vincent ous wording," he said. "Everyone said. 'We're not that good to look ahead. understands that you're in first place, We're just not that good. We have some but the guys behind you know that, too. things that we need to shore up defen- You better put on a set of blinders and sively. Offensively, we still have some worry about each game and putting the things we need to do. maximum effort forward, especially in "Right now, we're in the driver's seat, the last quarter of this season. You bet and we have to continue to play good ter focus and keep your urgency level defense each week The offense has to up." continue to score points and the special The Eagles would be in position to get teams has to continue to do what a first-round bye if they did a better a they're doing for us to have success." job focusing against lesser opponents. Coach Andy Reid is careful not to look Two of their four losses were to the Car too far ahead. dinals and Redskins. Both teams were "I think 'the driver's seat' is danger- underdogs by more than a touchdown. m4.4;t4ektk‘k Ce*kA uvrkee&e), &tk;- titezit4Weeh> Yacie+ Weotspet&ektai!m<v49-tlie/neufte-ainte,ppti4e/,‘k o,,)&s,e99t!)de*/ LIMITED TIME OFFER id at participating stores *Not good with any other offer or special. SPORTS Xtta??Pu eFet44oAr &,ih/Vtlif:ekt oA4;tk, joaitua,,Aeia jamea,,994&,virw4 Edwards: Testaverde not goat in Jets loss to New England By Barry Inner ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) Anyone who Wants to come down on Vinny Tes taverde as the main reason for the New York Jets' sputtering offense is out of line. That's the opinion of Jets coach Her man Edwards. Does any other view point matter? "There ain't no way losing the game is on Vmny Testaverde," Edwards said of Sunday's 17-16 loss to New England in which Testaverde struggled in the second half. "He is still the starting quarterback and he is going to make good throws. We didn't lose the game because he didn't make a couple throws. We've got to block better and tackle better. Testaverde's decision-making, gen erally strong as the Jets have gone 7-4, was questioned after Sunday's defeat. Specifically, his throw to double-cov ered Anthony Becht on fourth-and-5 with just over two minutes remaining, a pass that was intercepted by Terrell Buckley. On the play, Curtis Martin was the primary receiver in the flat and, according to Edwards and several others, Martin was open with plenty of room to run. "It was a poor throw, and the film confirmed that," said Testaverde, who usually has managed games well for an offense built around Martin's run ning. "Had I hit Curtis and we got to kick the field goal and win the game, we're in here smiling about going to Pitts burgh for possibly the No. 1 seed in the H f o .,. _FL D 0 CD±' WEDNESDAY, Dec. 5, 2001 I 15 AFC, instead of talking about how mis erable it is to lose a game." IP Testaverde said he could not see the wide-open Martin because right tackle Ryan Young carried his block into the quarterback's line of vision. He thought he saw Becht coming open. "I wish I had that play again," Tes taverde admitted. This has not been a stellar passing year for Testaverde, who just turned 38. He ranks only 10th in the AFC and has just 10 touchdown passes with eight interceptions. Of course, with Martin near the top of the league in rushing and the defense coming around, the Jets haven't asked Tes taverde to win many games. He would like the opportunity. Few quarterbacks wouldn't chafe under the restrained play-calling of offensive coordinator Paul Hackett. Does the strong-armed Testaverde expect things to open up as they did in the first half vs. the Patriots? Espe cially if the weather remains temper ate? "That's going to be a coaching deci sion," he said. "Part of being a leader is being able to listen to authority, such as Herm and Coach Hackett and what they're telling you to do. "In the first half, I felt good, had a nice rhythm throwing the football and got a feel for their pass coverages and where to throw the ball. It was one of our most consistent halts. "It's concerning that we're not able" to put together back-to-back games, or, even halfs. It would be more troubling if we were not trying to improve on that, but we work hard on that." since 1988 Chicago, St. Louis and San Francisco each are 9-2, and Green Bay is 8-3, Philadelphia most likely would get the No. 3 seed in the NFC if it wins the divi sion, allowing one playoff home game. "We have to worry about us. We can't worry about them," running back Brian Mitchell said. "We have to make it into a five-game st. son." Since the Eagles last won the NFC East on a tiebreaker over the Giants every team in the NFL has won at least one division title except Arizona and Baltimore, last year's Super Bowl champs.
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