Step 2: The heads of the (rumor) class(Mix and match as often as you like ... everyone else does.

Here's the difference in the Steelers' secondary from last season to this season:

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They took a 29-year-old career backup at cornerback and started him. They signed a 33-year-old cornerback who no one else wanted and thrust him into the starting job in the middle of the season. They wiped out their veteran safeties and turned those jobs over to younger players who weren't previously starters.

What, that's not the conventional way to rebuild a secondary?

Stir in some eye of newt and wing of bat and, voila! You have the No. 1 pass defense in the NFL.

"There's nothing magical that we said we're going to do different than we did last year," secondary coach Darren Perry said.

They are performing magic they could not last year -- stopping the passing game. Last season, the Steelers' defense ranked 11th in total yards allowed passing. This year, they're No. 3. But last year they ranked 18th in average yards per pass; today, they rank No. 1.

Somebody's doing something right and, according to those playing and coaching, you can take your pick -- better coaching, better attitudes, better scheme, better players, better pass rush.

Who better to ask than a $3 million cornerback who was run off the team after last season and will start against them Sunday night in Jacksonville?

"Guys are getting after the quarterback, from what I can see just from the highlights," Dewayne Washington said, "and certainly are doing a lot of blitzing and getting their pressure up front.

"The guys in the back end, when they have a chance to step up to make plays, they are making plays."

Washington was replaced in the middle of last season in the Steelers secondary by Deshea Townsend, 29, a backup his first 5¹*₂ years in the league. Willie Williams, 33, will start his sixth game for injured left cornerback Chad Scott. Free safety Chris Hope and strong safety Troy Polamalu have added speed and big hits to the secondary, and they are the second- and third-leading tacklers on the team.

"I think we have more speed back there at the safety spot right now, that's evident," said Perry, who praises the work of assistant secondary coach Ray Horton, who is new to the staff this year. "From a mental standpoint, we're not having the foolish plays we had last year. And it's probably the most unselfish group I've ever been around."

Townsend leads all NFL defensive backs with four sacks, is tied with Polamalu in third place in the AFC with four interceptions and has 12 passes defensed, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

"It seems like every time I turn on my TV, he is on the highlights making the plays," Washington said. "He has waited for his opportunity and now he has it."

The secondary does benefit from the increased pressure the defense, under coordinator Dick LeBeau, has put on quarterbacks. The Steelers have 36 sacks, one more than all of last season, which was the lowest for a Bill Cowher team. They have 24 takeaways, one fewer than all of last season, which also was an all-time low under Cowher.

"We missed a lot of plays last year we probably should have made, now we're making those plays," Townsend said.

Mike Logan, who started at strong safety last season, sees a difference in approach this year.

"I think our mind-set is different this year," said Logan, who went on injured reserve with a hamstring injury Oct. 20. "Last year our sack total was down. That wasn't the type of defense we wanted to play. We were on the field a long time. I think time of possession plays a big part of that this year. Guys were tired, we weren't able to do the things we wanted to do as far as blitzing and sending different people. I think that helped out our whole defense, particularly our secondary."

The Steelers' offense has controlled the ball an average of 34:58, which leads the league. But the secondary must get credit for holding up its end, too.

Last season, the Steelers allowed 23 passes of 25 yards or more; they've yielded only eight after 11 games. Through the first 11 games last season, opposing quarterbacks had four games in which their passer rating was over 100 and six games over 90. Through 11 games this season, no opposing passer has a 100 rating and only one hit 90.

"Nothing to take away from last year's secondary," Hope said, "but I definitely think we have a better overall understanding of the defense. I think we have a better overall feel for each other. We're not scared to take chances, we have a very athletic secondary and we have a great pass rush. Everything goes hand in hand."

Not slight of hand, either.