Wednesday, September 24, 2003

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

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

Coach Bill Cowher is looking for noisemakers at the game Sunday against Tennessee, and he's not bashful about begging for them. "I like to think noise will be a factor and I encourage everyone to make noise a factor. It is an issue. Hopefully, we can feed off that energy."

It almost seems quaint that former Steelers Coach Chuck Noll on occasion would try to quiet the crowd at Three Rivers Stadium if it became too loud when the opposing offense was on the field. Noll saw it as a fair-play issue. Times have changed, and home teams do everything they can to encourage noise to disrupt the signals and snap counts of the visiting offense. In the Metrodome in Minnesota, they routinely used to put loudspeakers near the sidelines to amplify the crowd noise, a practice the NFL has eliminated. The league, though, rarely enforces a rule that penalizes the home team if the home crowd continues to make too much noise to disrupt an offense.

Cowher believes a good, throaty home crowd can mean the difference between victory and defeat. "To me, that is why we have home-field advantage. I am not sure what competitive advantage any other sport has by playing at home. Basketball, baseball, hockey; if you look at ours it is a competitive advantage. You have to practice with it because you have to do things differently. I think that is what you are fighting for at playoff time. That is why you encourage your fans to come out and be the 12th man, to be the factor. That is what entertainment is about. That is what I think makes this city special because fans understand that. They recognize they can have an effect on the game. They can identify with their team and they can be loud.

"It is an advantage, and as players we feed off of that. In our game, there is an energy and there is a momentum that is felt that can take you to another level. You look at it all around. We were down there in Tennessee last year, and they were playing their videos and doing everything else about how they were slighted in the Pro Bowl. It is without a doubt what makes our sport very special. It is an opportunity for the fans to become a factor in a game and identify with their team and support their team. It is an advantage, and I don't think there is anything wrong with that. To me, that is what makes our sport different from all the others."

Cowher said the Steelers and not the Bengals lost a touchdown on a return because of the loose sod at Paul Brown Stadium. Much has been made of Cincinnati's Peter Warrick's 31-yard punt return in the fourth quarter that ended when he slipped on the grass and fell. Cowher made note of the 40-yard return Ike Taylor had on the opening kickoff for the Steelers that ended in similar fashion. Cincinnati's Brandon Bennett also slipped and fell after returning a kickoff 33 yards. "Everyone talks about last week's turf. Ike was not touched. He is going to make the kicker miss, but his foot came out from underneath him on that return. Of all three returns, that was the one. Those other guys were going to get tackled. He was not going to get tackled. So, that turf did save them a touchdown."

With third-down back Verron Haynes questionable again because of a sprained knee, Amos Zereoue might have to handle those duties this week while remaining the starting running back. "When Jerome Bettis enters the game remains to be seen," Cowher said. "I don't know, no one will know. It will be a situational thing. Nothing is etched in stone. ... I don't want to say anything that could mislead anybody, players included."

Freddie Milons was inactive for the third consecutive week after the Steelers acquired the WR/return man from Philadelphia for a seventh-round draft pick. Cowher mentioned that "we have to get Antwaan Randle El going in the punt return." Randle El averages only 5.2 yards on six punt returns. So why not activate Milons to do it? "I like Antwaan Randle El, don't get me wrong, on the punt returns," Cowher said. "And I like Antwaan Randle El and Ike Taylor on the kickoff returns. ... We are trying to get Freddie Milons comfortable. He got here late. But he is getting more and more reps. It is going to be a week-to-week decision."

So impressed was he by G Alan Faneca's play Sunday that Cowher nominated him for AFC Offensive Player of the Week. "He had two blocks that I have not seen in a long time in this league," Cowher said. "I have never seen a game by an offensive lineman any better than that. Offensive linemen usually don't stand out, but he stood out. Those two hits were impressive."

Jason Gildon won't be pitching the ball back to a teammate the next time he intercepts a pass. Against Cincinnati, Gildon made a diving interception, got up and heard teammate Joey Porter beg him to lateral the ball. He did, but it bounced off Porter's facemask and Porter recovered at the Steelers' 8. "You don't do that when you have a chance to get off the field," Cowher said. "It was not that clean. I know Joey Porter just got back and everyone was welcoming him back and he thinks everyone is supposed to listen to him, but when he says, 'Give me the ball, give me the ball,' you just ignore Joey in those situations and you go down."

The Steelers injury report: Questionable -- RB Verron Haynes (knee); probable -- CB Chidi Iwuoma (concussion), OT Marvel Smith (shoulder), C Jeff Hartings (ankle), S Chris Hope (groin), TE Jerame Tuman (chest bruise), TE Jay Riemersma (chest bruise)

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