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Tuesday, October 02, 2001

Compiled by Ed Bouchette

Steelers (1-1) vs. Bengals (2-1), 1 p.m. Sunday, Heinz Field. TV: KDKA. Radio: WDVE-FM (102.5), WBGG-AM (970).

Bill Cowher had been at parade rest on the sideline for a few years, looking more like Tom Landry without the hat than the wild creature who often roamed onto the field to argue calls with officials in his early years as Steelers coach. Cowher hasn't even gotten a good spray going with P Josh Miller in ages. That changed Sunday in Buffalo, when Cowher angrily shouted at referee Tom White and charged onto the field as if he were a basketball coach begging for a technical foul. He got it, to the tune of a 15-yard personal foul penalty against the Steelers. It seemed to spur his team. Might we now see another change in Cowher's sideline demeanor, a return to those days when one Denver columnist referred to him as a Labrador retriever because he bounded onto the playing field so often?

"Oh, he's changed?" LB Jason Gildon asked, playfully. "I really haven't noticed a big change in the guy. He's still the same old Bill to me."

But Cowher has kept his emotions more in check on the sideline the past few years.

"I think he's been trying to set a good example for us," Gildon said. "He still has it in him, as you can see. He's an intense guy."

The Steelers reacted favorably to their coach taking a stand after S Lee Flowers was flagged for a personal foul.

"The guy is definitely going to lay it on the line for his players," Gildon said. "You have to respect him for it. ... He gets us going pretty good. He wants us to carry it out on the field. What can you say about the guy? He's just an intense person."

Cowher did not think he would hear anything from the league about his venture. "If they fine me, I'm going to have some more comments about the officiating," he said.

The Steelers released no word on the results of an MRI Flowers had yesterday. He left the game in Buffalo with a sprained left knee. Cowher said Sunday he thought Flowers would be OK.

With 16 catches through the first two games, WR Hines Ward is on pace to catch 128, which would shatter the NFL record. Still, neither he nor any Steelers receiver has had 100 yards receiving in the past 18 games.

The Steelers hope to start a new tradition at Heinz Field when they play their first regular-season game there Sunday against Cincinnati -- a winning one. They haven't had a winning season at home in the past two years, going 6-10 in 1999 and 2000. "We want to win all our games at home," Ward said. "We want to re-establish our dominance, that when you come to Pittsburgh, our fans are going to be behind us."

The Steelers are asking their fans to make sure they use the correct ticket for the game Sunday. Because the game against Cleveland was postponed from the second week of the season to the last, the game number on the tickets do not coincide with the actual game. Fans should use their Game 4 tickets. In case there is any confusion, the correct date of Oct. 7, 2001, and the opponent, Cincinnati, is on the ticket.