Sunday, September 21, 2003

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

There's no time for Tim Lewis to take any satisfaction in his revived pass defense, not with what lies in wait in Cincinnati today.

	More Steelers Coverage: Who: Steelers (1-1) at Bengals (0-2) When: 1 p.m. today Where: Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati TV, Radio: CBS, WDVE-FM (102.5), WBGG-AM (970) and the Steelers radio network. Notable: The Steelers have lost to the Bengals just once the past three seasons and that was in overtime. NFL Forecast

The lowly Bengals would not seem to give many NFL defensive coordinators fits, except for those in Pittsburgh with good short- and long-term memory retention. Lewis has both, helped by nightly visions of quarterback Jon Kitna raining down on his defense like some relentless Isabel residue.

"They have thrown the ball on us in the past, and we'll try to do everything we can to stop it," Lewis said simply.

They could not do that Dec. 30, 2001, when Kitna threw for 411 yards to beat the Steelers in overtime, 26-23. In the process, coordinator Bob Bratkowski's spread offense showed the NFL how to attack the Steelers' defense effectively. It was a lesson New England, Oakland, Cleveland and others carried right through the 2002 season.

It's a lesson the Steelers' coaching staff drilled into their players from the time they gathered on the South Side last spring. Through two games, it has been a lesson learned.

"We've been practicing against the spread all off-season and summer time," linebacker James Farrior said. "We know what to do and we know if teams are going to do it we know how to play it."

The Steelers, who slipped to 20th in the NFL on pass defense in 2002, rank No. 2 after two games. Kitna will test that today when he leads the NFL's No. 6 passing offense onto the field in Paul Brown Stadium.

Cincinnati is 0-2, but not because the Bengals can't pass. Steelers quarterback Tommy Maddox leads the NFL with 596 yards passing, and Kitna's not far behind at No. 3 with 567. Bengals receiver Chad Johnson ranks third in the AFC with 226 yards right behind the Steelers' Hines Ward and Plaxico Burress.

The Steelers expect the Bengals to try what has been successful against them before: Spread them out and throw the ball. That strategy almost produced a Cincinnati upset Nov. 24 at Heinz Field, when Kitna threw for 298 yards and the game ended with the Bengals down, 29-21, on the Steelers' 5.

"Anytime you have success, you want to go back to what got you here, and they had pretty good success against us doing that," safety Mike Logan said. "I would imagine they'll go back to it. We did some things to try to counter that."

One thing they've done is deploy a "cover two" defense to help their beleaguered cornerbacks. In that defense, their two safeties play a two-deep zone. Cornerbacks Dewayne Washington and Chad Scott thus can play tighter man-to-man coverage in the first 10 yards or so, knowing they will get help from their safeties on deeper passes.

"Our corners have to stay close to the receivers," Logan said. "I think that's the only way we'll be able to apply pressure to them."

There is one drawback to the cover two defense. Since the safeties are positioned well back, they cannot help as much on the ground support. In past years, their strong safety -- Lee Flowers until this year -- would play closer to the linebackers, cover the short routes to the tight ends or backs and be available to come up and make a tackle on running plays.

The cover two puts more pressure on linebackers to make tackles without help from a safety.

It may have nothing to do with the strategy because two games is not a representative sampling, but the Steelers rank 23rd in the NFL against the run. They led the league in that category each of the past two seasons.

And now comes Cincinnati's Corey Dillon, who held the NFL single-game rushing record until Jamal Lewis shredded it last Sunday. Kansas City's Priest Holmes chewed up the Steelers for 122 yards rushing and three touchdowns last week.

"It really doesn't get any easier for us in this division, as far as running backs are concerned," linebacker Jason Gildon said. "You just have to take them one week at a time and, hopefully, go out and do what we do, that's stop the run."

Joey Porter's presence might help. He will make his first appearance in a game since he was shot Aug. 31. He will start at right outside linebacker and probably play at rush end in their nickel defense. Farrior, however, likely will remain at middle linebacker in the dime, Porter's job before his injury. Farrior has played well in that spot, and it will give Porter a break on defense in his first game back.

Not every Steelers defender agrees that Bratkowski, the Steelers' former receivers coach, will lean on his passing game today.

"We kind of looked back at last year the way they came out," safety Brent Alexander said. "It was a different situation, so I really don't expect them to spread it out like that unless they get behind or something like that.

"I just don't see them coming out and constantly taking the ball out of Dillon's hands."

The Steelers did a good job against Dillon last season, holding him to 57 yards in their first meeting, 60 in their second. They held him to under 100 the past four games since he ran for 128 against them in 2000. Dillon has only 118 yards rushing and a 3.6-yard average in two games and was listed as probable this week with a hyperextended knee.

"They're going to do what it takes to win," Lewis said. "Whether it calls for running the football 30 or 40 times, they're going to find out who has the hot hand."

Ed Bouchette can be reached at ebouchette@post-gazette.com or 412-263-3878.

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