Wednesday, September 10, 2003

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

The Steelers whisked through the Baltimore Ravens Sunday like a tornado through a woodpile, but today they begin preparations for another game realizing they weren't in Kansas City, Toto.

Sunday, they get the real thing in Arrowhead Stadium, where the famous tailgate barbecues in the parking lots aren't nearly as blistering as the offense the Chiefs use to roast opponents inside the place.

"We recognize the challenge," Steelers Coach Bill Cowher said yesterday. "This is a really good football team that we are about ready to play. They will give us maybe a good feel for where we are. They were very, very impressive last week."

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The Chiefs battered San Diego, 27-14, showing some strength on defense they did not have last season. If their defense, worst in the league last year, has improved even a little, coach Dick Vermeil might have his best team since the 1999 St. Louis Rams.

The Chiefs scored more points than any team in the league last season, 467 (29 a game), and they have lost nothing off their fastball since. As good as the Steelers' offense has been, the Chiefs' has been better. Quarterback Trent Green bumps into more Pro Bowlers in his huddle than most teams have on their rosters. There's All-Pro tight end Tony Gonzalez, NFL offensive player of the year Priest Holmes, and tackle Willie Roaf and guard Will Shields from a line that ranks among the best.

That doesn't begin to count receivers Johnnie Morton and Eddie Kennison, who will turn the heat up on the favorite target of quarterbacks and Steelers fans alike, cornerbacks Chad Scott and Dewayne Washington.

"They have a high-powered offense," Steelers linebacker James Farrior said. "They do put up a lot of points and they do have a lot of weapons."

Consider:

Holmes, available to anyone two years ago as a relatively cheap free agent from Baltimore, ran for 1,615 yards last season. He also caught 70 passes for another 672 yards. He scored 24 touchdowns. He did all that in just 14 games because a hip injury ended his season prematurely. The hip is healthy; Holmes leads the AFC with 183 yards from scrimmage (85 rushing, 98 receiving).

"I don't know if you stop him," Cowher said. "Hopefully, you can contain him and slow him down a little bit."

The Steelers did neither in 2001, when Holmes ran for 150 yards and two touchdowns in a 20-17 victory against the Chiefs in Kansas City.

Green, who threw for 3,690 yards, 26 touchdowns and had a 92.6 passer rating last season, went 21 of 32 for 282 yards with one touchdown and one interception last week.

"Trent Green has got a great vision of the field, where he can work from one side to the other, and they get the ball in the hands of some very explosive people quickly," Cowher said.

Gonzalez caught 63 passes last season and scored seven touchdowns.

Kennison averaged 17.1 yards on 53 catches in '02, the only receiver in the top 50 with a better average than Plaxico Burress' 17.0. He caught four passes for 61 yards Sunday.

Morton caught only 29 passes in his first season with the Chiefs last year, but has topped 1,000 yards four times in his career.

"You look at Johnnie Morton and Eddie Kennison outside, and then they bring in Dante Hall and he is really, really quick," Cowher said. "He was a Pro Bowl returner a year ago."

Vermeil retired in St. Louis after the Rams won the Super Bowl, then took the job in Kansas City in 2001 after a year out of the game. He built the Chiefs' offense in the likeness of the Rams and seems to have almost as much firepower.

"I think the offense does such a great job of moving people around, and they play the game so very fast," Cowher said. "You look at them and you can see a little bit of the St. Louis Rams' concept when they were very, very explosive, where you see a lot of motions and shifts.

"Priest Holmes is just as good out of the backfield as he is in the backfield. Like I said, it is not just really about stopping one guy ... Priest Holmes is just one element of it. We just have to try to slow them down."

They won't have the luxury of picking on a rookie quarterback at home the way they did Baltimore's Kyle Boller.

"It is very different," Cowher said. "We still want to disguise things. The important thing for us is that we are communicating and that we are not avoiding anything because this guy will make you pay. He will see it.

"It is going to be important that we are aware of everything we are going to see on defense with all the different looks we are going to get. It will be a lot different from what we just faced from last week from the standpoint of the style of offense and the type of offense we are facing."

The two teams ranked among the preseason Las Vegas favorites in the AFC, and they did nothing but improve their odds after the opening weekend.

"We had to play them at some point," Cowher said, "so we might as well do it now. It will be a good test for us. It is our first time on the road; we will find out how we will respond to a fast-break team."

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