Baltimore being in the same division, it would be difficult for the Steelers to lay claim to the best defense in the AFC Central.
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Nose tackle Kendrick Clancy and linebacker Joey Porter stuff Buccaneers running back Warrick Dunn in the Steelers' 17-10 victory Sunday. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette) |
Instead, how about the best in the National Football League?
"I personally think so," said safety Lee Flowers, who is nobody's wallflower and is on a roll, even for him.
He gives the Ravens' 4-3 defense an edge on the line, but nowhere else.
"Baltimore has a good defensive line; they're a little more experienced than ours," Flowers said. "At the same time, our guys are starting to jell and play good football.
"A couple more weeks, a couple more games, I think we can honestly say we're the best defense in the NFL. That's nothing that doesn't need to be said. I think everybody who plays this game, you try to the be best player in the league. We're trying to be the best defense. We're one step closer."
Actually, they are one step away on paper after mauling Tampa Bay, 17-10, Sunday. The Steelers, No. 1 in the NFL on defense last week, slipped to No. 2 behind Baltimore. For a man who angrily lashed out at the Buccaneers as "paper champions" Sunday,
Flowers is not going to quibble with a ranking on paper. Baltimore won a real championship with defense last season. But while the Ravens leaped over the Steelers (based on average yards per game), they also slipped to 3-3 while the Steelers maintained their grip on first place in the AFC Central Division at 4-1. And the Steelers' defense ranks second in the NFL with 11.6 points per game. Baltimore ranks 11th with 17 points per game.
"Until we win a championship, it will be hard for fans, hard for the media to compare us as the best defense because we haven't done anything," Flowers said. "We haven't even gone to the playoffs in three years. It's what you do in the postseason and the championship game that matters.
"So let me retract that. I think we can be one of the best defenses if we accomplish the goals we need to accomplish."
Mike Mularkey's offensive innovations and successes have been obvious, and defensive coordinator Tim Lewis has nearly matched them. The Steelers' franchise record-tying 10 sacks Sunday came from everywhere -- linemen, linebackers, cornerbacks and safeties.
The defense made more adjustments Sunday than a chiropractor.
Lewis, like many of his players, finds himself more confident in his second season as defensive coordinator.
"I have a better routine now, I see how things flow. My work week is not quite as cluttered. I'm at a point now where I anticipate better, feel things better. On game day, I'm able to make changes and adjustments to what people are doing."
Coach Bill Cowher called them a "No-Name Defense" Saturday night in Tampa in a meeting with the players. That nickname was made famous long ago by the Miami Dolphins of the early 1970s, which won two Super Bowls and finished a season unbeaten.
Nevertheless, it's the thought that counts.
"We have no big-name players on defense," said nose tackle Kendrick Clancy, certainly one included in that group. "We have a couple, but everybody else, you know, is just out there working hard."
Jason Gildon is the only defensive player with a Pro Bowl on his resume. But can Joey Porter, who had four sacks Sunday, be far behind? Or Chad Scott? Linebacker Kendrell Bell is playing like a rookie of the year.
This is not the same defense that finished seventh in the NFL last season. Linebacker Levon Kirkland is gone, replaced, in essence, by Bell. Kimo von Oelhoffen replaced the departed Kevin Henry at right end while rotating nose tackles Clancy and Casey Hampton replaced von Oelhoffen.
Porter and end Aaron Smith are in their second years as starters. Mike Logan has been a big addition to the dime passing defense. He registered a sack and an interception when safety Brent Alexander left with a hip pointer Sunday.
The Steelers accomplished their goal of adding speed and their performance has been better than even they had expected.
"It's surprising we're this good at this point," Flowers said. "We thought it would take some time because we had so many new people at different positions. It surprised me we're jelling as quickly."
Lewis wants to make sure they do not turn to jelly just as quickly. It happened before. In 1998, the Steelers were off to a 5-2 start and their defense was a big reason for it. Comparisons were made to it and some of the Steelers' previous great defenses.
Then the Steelers lost seven of their next nine games. That killed those comparisons. The season is not yet one-third accomplished.
"We'll talk to them about that," Lewis said. "How long can you sustain it? You have 11 weeks to go out and lay it on the line. It's not an easy 11 weeks."
Said von Oelhoffen: "It's a long season and we're going to have some lows. People are going to run the ball and complete passes."
Next up is a home game Monday night against Tennessee, a team that not only beat the Steelers twice last season, but the defense also could not hold late leads in either game. The Titans scored a touchdown with 1:25 left to win, 23-20, at Three Rivers Stadium, and kicked a field goal with four seconds left to win in Nashville, 9-7.
"We can't get ahead of ourselves and look to the future," Clancy said. "We have Eddie George and Tennessee. That's what we have to get ready for."
Steelers hesitant to promote defensive unit as tops in NFL 
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