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Tuesday, September 25, 2001

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

The Steelers are taking inspiration from, of all teams, the Cincinnati Bengals.

The world in the AFC Central Division has turned upside down with Cincinnati on top at 2-0 and Tennessee on the bottom at 0-2. The Titans are the defending division champions; the Bengals have won only 11 games the past three seasons.

All of a sudden, the Steelers' 0-1 record doesn't look so bad.

"You've seen teams that have struggled over the past couple years and now all of a sudden -- boom! -- they're 2-0," said safety Lee Flowers. "Why can't that be us?"

	More Steelers Coverage: Steelers Report: 9/25/01

The Steelers can't go 2-0, but they can climb into the thick of the division race when they play Sunday at Buffalo, their first game in 21 days since their 21-3 spanking Sept. 9 at Jacksonville.

Since it's so early in the season, it's impossible to determine any trends in the NFL. Things appear to be wide open in the AFC Central.

The often-called Cincinnati "Bungles" knocked off Baltimore, the defending Super Bowl champion, giving Coach Dick LeBeau's team half as many victories as it had last season. Cincinnati is one of seven 2-0 teams in the NFL. Tennessee and Baltimore, the two playoff teams from the division last year, have lost a combined three of four.

The Steelers were one of three teams that had Sunday off, so they were able to watch some of their division rivals on television. The players returned to work yesterday with meetings and a two-hour practice.

"You have the Bengals 2-0. Who would have thought of that?" said Steelers defensive end Aaron Smith. "That shows how competitive it is. Anybody can beat anybody."

The Steelers, of course, haven't proven that yet in 2001. They get another chance against Buffalo, which is 0-2 but has not lost at home to the Steelers in 19 years and has lost to them only twice there in nine games.

"We need to handle our business," Flowers said. "Until we do that, we're all going to be sitting in this locker room talking about how good Cincinnati looks.

"We have our work cut out for us. We have to face the facts -- right now, if you look on paper, we're pretty much dead last."

Winless, maybe, but not dead last. That spot belongs to the Titans, whose 13-6 loss in Jacksonville might shed a new light on the Steelers' opening loss to the Jaguars.

"All that was to me was a loss," center Jeff Hartings said. "I've been 8-4 twice [with the Lions] and missed the playoffs both years. You can start the season good and end bad and not make the playoffs. One year, we didn't start so good and ended up winning five of six and making the playoffs.

"It's way too early to talk about ramifications."

After Buffalo, the Steelers play the Bengals Oct. 7, the first regular-season NFL game at Heinz Field.

Jerome Bettis was not surprised with the new order in the AFC Central or that Baltimore lost to the Bengals.

"Baltimore is having trouble running the football," said Bettis, who had similar problems in the opener when he ran 12 times for 28 yards at Jacksonville. "Whenever you have to throw 60 times, you're not giving yourself a good chance to win. I don't care what quarterback you have, when you throw 60 times, you're going to be in trouble."

Baltimore quarterback Elvis Grbac threw 63 times against Cincinnati.

The performance of Tennessee, the only NFL team with 13 victories last season, did not put anything into perspective about the Steelers' opening loss in Jacksonville for Bettis. Nor did it buoy his spirits that the top two teams in the AFC Central last season did not get off to good starts.

"What other teams did won't change that we stunk up the field in Jacksonville," Bettis said. "It didn't help you feel better about the way you played. We played terribly.

"We have to take care of our business. It shows anybody's beatable, but if we don't play our best, we're going to get beat."

The winless Bills haven't been able to stop anyone in two games. They've yielded an NFL-high 66 points.

"Well, we haven't put too many points on the board either," Bettis said.

Coach Bill Cowher yesterday told his team not to mind what anybody else is doing in the AFC Central Division.

Said fullback Dan Kreider, "Coach said we can't worry about them. We have to worry about us."