HEINZ FIELD Overwhelmed Steelers face December blahs

A 4-8 start has made the final month meaningless.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A December ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers had every possible motivational tool available to them: the playoffs, the Super Bowl, the chance to make up for their AFC title game disappointment of the year before.
Not this month, not this season.
The Steelers (4-8) are effectively playing out the string now that a rest-of-the-season winning streak would only get them to .500. That's a huge letdown for a team that was the overwhelming favorite in the AFC North following consecutive double-digit victory seasons (13-3 in 2001, 10-5-1 last season).
No, this time, the motivation must come from their families, their checkbooks, that Hummer they're driving or that new house they want to buy. Even if the standings don't give them a reason to keep playing, their financial advisers can offer numerous reasons why this final month of a discouraging season is very important.
Maddox has motivation
Tommy Maddox, for example, is playing for longterm financial stability. His $650,000 base salary is less than the Pirates paid utility infielder Abraham Nunez in 2003, and there are no assurances the Steelers are ready to give their quarterback a big-money deal.
When they declined to renegotiate the contract he signed as a backup, the Steelers all but said they wanted to see the 32-year-old Maddox be productive for an entire season. So far, they've yet to see it, though Maddox often has been the least of the Steelers' problems.
When asked what motivates him now that the Steelers are all but mathematically out of playoff contention, Maddox said, "Pride."
This might go well beyond pride. With a new contract still not assured for him, these might be the four most important games Maddox plays all season.
"There is a lot to these last four games, whether people want to realize it or not," Maddox said, though he wasn't referring specifically to his money situation.
Bus slowing down
Jerome Bettis, unlike Maddox, has made plenty of money -- he just doesn't know who will be paying him next season. After running off eight 1,000-yard seasons in nine years, Bettis has only 1,134 yards over the last two seasons combined.
Bettis has run better the last two weeks than he has all season, gaining 155 yards, but still averaged only 3 yards per carry Sunday against Cincinnati.
Bettis needed months to convince coach Bill Cowher to keep him around for this season, and the Steelers almost certainly can't afford to pay him $3.67 million next season to be a short-yardage or situational back.
"Yeah, it's a possibility I won't be here, but I've said that every year for the last four years," Bettis said. "I take it year by year. I don't think I'm any better than the way I perform."
Secondary
Both cornerbacks, Dewayne Washington and Chad Scott, might be gone, too, though the Steelers may not be able to afford the salary cap hit they would take by releasing both.
Both were given large signing bonuses in 2001, and the Steelers would have to count the prorated shares of those bonuses though 2005 (for Washington) and 2006 (for Scott) or write the entire amount off in one season.
Washington may not have played the entire second half of the season if Scott hadn't gotten hurt, but will come off the bench to start Sunday against Oakland (3-9). That means he'll be auditioning for a job, almost certainly with another team.
"Yeah, absolutely," he said. "The writing's on the wall."
It also might be for tight end Mark Bruener, safety Brent Alexander, right tackle Todd Fordham and a half-dozen other Steelers veterans, too.
"Guys are playing for jobs," wide receiver Hines Ward said.