Steelers notebook
Lewis fields questions about the defense PITTSBURGH – Half of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ opponents this season have scored 30 or more points and the Steelers have allowed 48 points and 504 yards in their last six quarters of play.
Defensive coordinator Tim Lewis spent the week looking at the problems and allowed reporters to run the following second guesses at him:
Why isn’t Kendrell Bell on the field more often?
“We’re trying to,” Lewis said. “It’s hard to take a guy like Clark Haggans off the field. Do you take Jason Gildon off? Joey Porter? What about the secondary? Can he play strong safety? Do you take Lethon Flowers off?”
Why not take Gildon off the field?
“It ain’t happening,” Lewis said. “No.”
Because he’s the captain?
“No. It’s because he understands that position. Kendrell doesn’t play that position. Is Kendrell Bell the answer? I don’t know. He’s a good football player. We just didn’t make enough tackles (last) Sunday. People say we’re not blitzing well enough, but we blitzed almost every other snap against this team. They got the ball off quick, they caught it and we missed a tackle or made it right at the first-down mark. That’s the football game.”
Would more nickel be a consideration?
“When they’re using four and five wide receivers, you’ve got two linebackers out there covering wide receivers.”
Lewis said he’ll continue to look for an adjustment to the rest of the league’s adjustments his season, but for now only hopes his players start tackling better.
RUNNING GAME BLUES: The Steelers are gaining 33 percent of their yardage on the ground, the lowest percentage of the franchise’s modern era except for 1995 when the Super Bowl-bound Steelers gained 32 percent of their yardage on the ground.
Those were happy times, though. This season, with winter rolling in and quarterback Tommy Maddox sidelined, the Steelers are hoping to get back to running the football. The return of Jerome Bettis to the starting lineup for the first time in a month could be the catalyst.
“That was what got us there last year,” said wide receiver Hines Ward. “You kind of get excited because you have a lot of talent at the wide receiver position, but we’re dominant when we’re running the ball and controlling the line of scrimmage. We became a passing team, but I’ve said all along that when the weather gets bad, late November-December, we need to step it up in our run game.”
Bettis, bothered by injuries this season, has only 332 yards rushing, putting him on pace for the lowest output of his illustrious 10-year career. And backup Amos Zereoue has only 512 yards rushing. The Steelers could be without a 1,000-yard rusher for the first time since 1995. But didn’t that team play pretty well? Wasn’t that an exciting brand of football?
“Yeah, but do you want to get excited and lose ballgames? Or do you want to win close but still win?” Ward asked. “I would love to be a passing team, but I want to win ballgames. I think it’s time to get back to pounding the ball. We have pretty good receivers, but we know that it’s not about putting it on our shoulders. That’s not us. That’s not our identity. I mean, we have Fu, Jerome, Amos. That’s what they’re here for. We’re the Pittsburgh Steelers. Everyone knows we’re going to run the ball, so let’s do it.”
CHUKKY, PART II: He was born in Pittsburgh and raised in the New York suburbs, but reserve center Chukky Okobi has always been a Steelers fan. He first donned No. 56 in high school because of Ray Mansfield, and Okobi will wear that jersey into action today as he begins another series of starts in place of Jeff Hartings, who will miss the next two to four weeks with a knee injury.
“You’re always your toughest critic,” Okobi said of his two previous starts this season. “To me, the plays that weren’t so perfect stick out in my mind, but I guess the consensus is that everything’s going well.”
Okobi realizes he has an opportunity to grab the position and join the list of the organizations great centers that began with Mansfield in 1964.
“Could be,” Okobi said. “I could also leave work today and get hit by a bus. You never know what’s going to happen. I’m not anticipating being the next one. I just need to be ready every week and play to win.”
All-Pro guard Alan Faneca believes Okobi’s preparation habits have been his strength.
“I haven’t noticed too much of a difference when Chukky comes in,” Faneca said. “Anytime a sub comes into the game, I’m a little more on my toes, making sure the right calls are getting out. So you just kind of oversee a little bit, check up a little more, but Chukky knows what he’s doing out there.”