LOOKING AHEAD
It gets no easier next Sunday, when the Steelers have a home game against the defending AFC champion Tennessee Titans. The Steelers were swept in the season series last year, losing 16-10 in Nashville and 47-36 at Three Rivers Stadium.
WHO'S HURTING
Richard Huntley, Steelers RB, left with a hamstring injury and did not return.
Chris Sullivan, Steelers DE, left with back spasms and did not return. It was the first game he played since having back surgery in mid-August. Aaron Smith replaced him.
NEWS & NOTES
Browns QB Tim Couch had his finest day in the NFL, completing 23 of 31 passes for 316 yards. It was the first time he reached 300 since Cleveland made him the top pick in the 1999 draft out of the University of Kentucky. Couch completed his first eight passes and never cooled off, offering the kind of performance that should silence criticism he had been hearing after a lackluster preseason. "I just wanted people to judge me after the season," Couch said. "Just let me go out and play my season, then tell me how much I've improved or haven't improved." Coach Chris Palmer was pleased but steered clear of any effusive praise: "He had a very, very good football game. He continues to improve. He continues to adapt to what we're trying to do."
Although he had an 8-inch height advantage on the man covering him, Steelers WR Plaxico Burress had only one catch for 10 yards. Burress is 6 feet 6 to Browns CB Daylon McCutcheon's 5 feet 10.
McCutcheon, a second-year pro, took delight in that: "Everybody talked about how big he is, but I looked at him just like any other receiver. It's not like I was thinking, 'Well, dang, I'm just going to let this guy catch passes.' " Burress has five catches for 87 yards in his first five NFL games.
QB Kent Graham's biggest problem, aside from holding the ball on the final play, was the Browns' defenders batting down his passes at the line of scrimmage. Who knows how good his final passing numbers would have been if they hadn't knocked down four?
"It's a shame," offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride said. "Every pass was going to the right guy. The receivers were wide open."
Neither Graham nor Gilbride had an explanation for the batted balls.
"I can't really answer that question," Graham said. "It just seemed like they were sitting back and trying to jump up and bat the ball down."
Said Gilbride, "It's something we're definitely going to look at."
Steelers Coach Bill Cowher used his coaches' challenge twice yesterday to dispute two officials' calls. He had one overturned when he called into question a third-down, 7-yard completion from Tim Couch to Darrin Chiaverini. The officials ruled Chiaverini had not caught the ball, and the Browns were forced to punt.
The second time came in the third quarter when Kent Graham completed a 10-yard pass to Plaxico Burress at the Cleveland 41, 5 yards short of the first down. Cowher thought Burress' forward progress had stopped near the 38 -- putting them within possible field-goal range. After referee Bob McElwee reviewed the play, he came back and announced the play was not among those permitted to be challenged. So, the play stood.
Steelers LB Levon Kirkland limped on the field yesterday, fighting the pain from a sprained ankle that kept him out of practice for a week. The scene moved Browns RB Errict Rhett so much that he came over to Kirkland and made a knowing gesture.
"He stepped on my ankle -- on purpose," Kirkland said. "Some guys, they take the scouting report a little too seriously. They say, 'Oh, you got a hurt ankle? Let me go step on it.' "
Kirkland, who had five solo tackles and a batted down pass when he crunched QB Tim Couch, sounded as if he forgave Rhett afterward. "I gave the guy a hug after game. To me, it was no big deal. At that point in time, I was a little angry because I knew he knew about my ankle. That's way it goes. Next play he got popped.
"Hey, we play them again."
QB Kordell Stewart played the fewest number of snaps in a game since his rookie season in 1995 -- one. He replaced Kent Graham on the team's first offensive series. It was second-and-21 at the Steelers' 13. Stewart threw a shovel pass to Hines Ward for 9 yards, then trotted off the field for good.
The Steelers deactivated SS Lee Flowers (groin), WR Troy Edwards (hamstring), RB Amos Zereoue, LB Clark Haggans, NT Kendrick Clancy, G Tom Myslinski and OT Larry Tharpe. In the starting lineup, Brent Alexander moved from FS to replace Flowers, Scott Shields started at FS, and Hines Ward replaced Edwards at WR.
The Steelers have extended the contract of C Dermontti Dawson by one year so they could clear $100,000 under their salary cap. In order to do that, they gave Dawson a $400,000 signing bonus and reduced his salary for this year by $400,000. Dawson is now signed through 2002. Agent Ralph Cindrich said the deal will not mean any more money to Dawson. He did it in order to help the Steelers with their salary cap.
NUMBERS
The Steelers, who had won their previous three visits to Cleveland, are 14-34 here all-time. Including playoffs, the Browns lead the all-time series, 54-42.
After opening the 1998 season 7-4, the Steelers have won just six of their past 23 games.
The crowd of 73,018 is the third largest in the Browns' new stadium, opened last year.
The only other time the Steelers began the season 0-2 under Bill Cowher, they went to the playoffs in the 1993 season.
The Steelers have one sack, no interceptions and one fumble recovery in two games.
FOURTH-AND-SHORT
Just in case anyone doubts there is still a rivalry ...
Early in the second quarter, Browns P Chris Gardocki was leveled by Steelers LB Joey Porter. The play was clean, as it happened well after the ball had been punted. And Gardocki, though he lay on the grass for a minute, only had the wind knocked out of him.
But that didn't stop Cleveland from fuming.
When Gardocki got back on his feet, he flashed an obscene gesture toward the Steelers' sideline, accusing them also of charging at him earlier.
"It's an unfortunate situation that in the middle of a football game, they had to pick on the punter," he said. "On the first hit, Porter tried to hit me and missed, and that's when Jason Gildon came over and hit me from the other side. On the second hit, Porter hit me a lot quicker, right when my leg came down to establish my balance, and knocked me out."
All of which prompted Browns CB Corey Fuller to yell at Steelers Coach Bill Cowher as the teams were leaving the field for halftime.
"I did say something to him, and I know that's not my place," Fuller said. "But I know players only do what they're told to do. Take a shot at the punter? That's something somebody sent in there to do. I was mad at the whole Pittsburgh sideline. I didn't care who I was talking to. This is a game of professionals here."
"We got to block somebody on the punt," Porter said. "The first time I blocked him, it was no big deal. The second time, I blocked him the same way. I got a good shot on him and he fell. He got upset. I didn't want him to be hurt because I don't take cheap shots on nobody.
"A couple guys over there said my number was marked because it was a cheap shot. I know he was pretty hot at me. He was looking for me the whole game. I don't know why they thought it was a cheap shot, I had to block somebody."
Steelers Report: 9/18/00 
