Steelers hope to get back on track against Bengals
PITTSBURGH – The Steelers are 4-1-1 in their last six games but there’s restlessness within the fandom. And why not? The 0-1-1 part of the above equation is its most recent as last year’s No. 1 defense has fallen to 19th and last year’s No. 1 rushing attack has slipped to 10th. Finger-pointing season is in full flower and injured quarterback Tommy Maddox will watch today’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals from the sideline as the designated emergency quarterback who has no chance of playing.
Sure, Steelers fans are down on their boys, but they’re not the only fans down on a contending team. Take a look around the league at the headlines from this past Tuesday’s papers:
“Pats are middle of the road”
“Don’t write off the Eagles yet”
“The Dolphins passed on Brees; now he’ll pass on them”
“49ers have lost their margin for error”
“Now’s not the time for Warner to get his job back”
Nobody’s happy. Even the Green Bay Packers are coming off a loss to the lowly Minnesota Vikings. With so few deserving teams, perhaps there shouldn’t be a champion this season.
“It’s like, ‘Oh my God, the Steelers can’t stop this; they can’t do that; they can’t do this.’ Everybody’s talking about what we can’t do,” said defensive coordinator Tim Lewis. “Obviously it’s a world that thrives on the negative. We all do. As a coach I do the same thing.”
Coaches, though, are paid to look in that direction. Players? They’re more apt to look at the league as half full of greatness.
“If you notice the NFL this year, with the new styles of offense and the changes on defense, everyone is good now,” said defensive end Kimo von Oelhoffen. “There’s not so much 10 teams at the top and 10 teams at the bottom. Everybody’s right in the middle of the road and you’ve got one or two teams at both the top and bottom.
“This is probably the most competitive year in NFL history. Every time we watch film, whether they’re winning or losing, they look good on film. It’s the two, three plays a game that determine who wins and loses. Before it was, ‘the Rams dominate, San Francisco dominates, Dallas dominates.’ That’s not happening anymore.
“I think people here are worrying too much. It’s going to be the most competitive stretch of football since I’ve been in the NFL. The next four games will determine where we’re at.”
And it starts with the 1-9 Bengals, one of those “one or two teams” at the bottom.
“Yeah, they’re at the bottom,” von Oelhoffen said. “But they play good football at times. What’s killing them are five, six big plays instead of the two or three. But they’re close to being right in the middle of the pack.”
The Bengals are much closer to the middle of the pack when they play the Steelers. Although the Bengals are 18-56 (.243) over the past five seasons, they’ve won four of their last nine (.444) games against the Steelers.
This year, the Bengals enter Heinz Field off an emotional, 27-20 loss to intra-state rival Cleveland, in which running back Corey Dillon was stopped twice at the one late in the fourth quarter.
The Bengals, though, are playing better football than they have at any point this season. Quarterback Jon Kitna has started the last six games and the offense is averaging 23 points per game. It had scored 23 total points in its previous four games.
Dillon has rushed for 888 yards this season and, combined with a passing game that includes promising wide receivers Chad Johnson, Peter Warrick and Ron Dugans, as well as emerging rookie tight end Matt Schobel, the Bengals have the potential to spread the Steelers’ defense and attack through the air and on the ground.
The Bengals’ problems, offensively, are with the offensive line, which now includes rookie No. 1 pick Levi Jones at left tackle.
Defensively, the Bengals are hurting at defensive tackle without Oliver Gibson and in the secondary with cornerback Jeff Burris, who’s questionable for the game.
With Jerome Bettis making his first start at running back since injuring his left knee a month ago against Indianapolis, and the mobile Kordell Stewart replacing Maddox at quarterback, the Steelers hope to run at the Bengals’ weak middle and pass against cornerback Kevin Kaesviharn. If the plan doesn’t work, the reaction of the fandom will certainly grow from restless to vicious.
“People think we’re playing bums,” said von Oelhoffen. “We’re not playing bums. Michael Vick? And Steve McNair? Come on, now. They get paid, too. I still think we’re better, but we’ve got to play better.”