After getting shut out by the old Browns in their opener, the Steelers now face the new Browns, who have been an eye-opener.
Cleveland, the worst team in the league in their first season back last year, had the worst pass rush with just 25 sacks. Two games into their second season, the Browns are tied for the league lead with 11.
With apologies to the Baha Men, who let the Dawgs out?
"They're playing hard, some of that who-gives-a-damn-attack-the-quarterback kind of football," Steelers tackle Wayne Gandy said. "Sometimes, when you have that attitude, you do good things."
The Browns will throw up a front with impressive credentials Sunday in Cleveland. At left end, they have the No. 1 pick in the draft this year, Courtney Brown from Penn State. Next to him at tackle is Orpheus Roye, signed as a free agent from the Steelers.
Those two combined received $18.4 million in signing bonuses this year.
Then there's little Keith McKenzie, who, at 6 feet 3, 273 pounds, is smaller than any Steelers defensive linemen. He was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week yesterday because he had three sacks against the Bengals last week and leads the league with four. Cleveland hooked him from Green Bay as a free agent for a mere $2 million signing bonus.
If the Steelers' offensive line was blown up by Baltimore in Week One, what's to become of them against these Dawgs?
"They had seven sacks against Akili Smith last weekend," said quarterback Kent Graham. "We'll have our hands full. There's no letup in this league."
Graham was under constant pressure by the Ravens and somehow escaped with just one sack. Baltimore's defensive line ran stunts that occasionally confounded the Steelers. The Browns don't play as many games in their line.
"We just have to be really concerned about how we do, executing, and not be so concerned about them," Graham said. "We just have to focus on doing our job the right way, and everything will take care of itself.
"They're going to blitz us and do what defenses do out there. We just have to go out and react and play well together and execute. It's pretty simple as far as that goes."
The most intriguing match-ups pit two rookies against each other, Brown vs. right tackle Marvel Smith, and two free-agent acquisitions, Roye against right guard Rich Tylski.
Brown's unimpressive two-game statistics of three tackles do not reflect how well he has played. He has four quarterback pressures, more than any of his teammates, and he had Jacksonville's Mark Brunell in his grasp before the quarterback barely got rid of the ball in Week One.
Brown plays a better game than he talks. In fact, he says very little at all. Among his more insightful comments in a telephone interview yesterday came when he was asked who he liked in his alma mater's game Saturday against Pitt.
"Hopefully," Brown said, "Penn State will pull it out."
There won't be much trash talking at that end of the line in Cleveland on Sunday. Steelers rookie Smith doesn't talk much of a game, either.
But Smith, who drew Baltimore defensive end Rob Burnett in the first week, did manage to say this about Brown: "He's not any better than anybody I went against last week."
Roye, who played left defensive end in the Steelers' 3-4 defense, was supposed to play there in the Browns' 4-3. Courtney Brown and McKenzie were to duel it out at right end until they realized they were better off with both on the field. So they moved Roye to tackle. He did not complain and has responded with eight tackles, a sack and a quarterback pressure. He blocked a Bengals field-goal try last week after a great preseason in which he batted down three passes at the line.
"It's going to be a good test for us," Tylski said. "They're a talented couple of guys. They're talented all the way up front."
McKenzie started only three games in Green Bay the past three years, but he piled up 16 sacks. He also returned two fumble recoveries for touchdowns last season, tying for the NFL lead. Steelers fans might remember his fumble return in Three Rivers Stadium in 1998, when he picked up a ball dropped by quarterback Mike Tomczak and dashed 88 yards into the end zone, the longest fumble return in Packers history.
McKenzie may not be big as ends go, but he's extremely quick and productive.
"He's coming inside a lot," Gandy said. "He's a smaller end, kind of like in the mold of Tony Brackens at Jacksonville. He's a mixture of linebacker and end. They're getting pressure a lot of places, and he's able to close that gate and get the sack."
That wasn't exactly a wall the Steelers threw up around their quarterback in the first week, either.
"We just need to pick it up," Marvel Smith said, "and play more consistently."
Browns' defense shows bite 
