Wednesday, September 24, 2003

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

That was a nice little run the Steelers had Sunday in Cincinnati, when their ground game finally came alive.

They can hold onto the memory of it for a few weeks because the Steelers play Tennessee this Sunday, and moving the football against the Titans on the ground is like moving down the Monongahela in a Hummer.

The re-emergence of the running game energized the Steelers in Cincinnati, and now it's back to what can work against the Titans, the pass.

	More Steelers Coverage: Steelers Report: 9/24/03

Tennessee ranked No. 2 in the NFL last season against the rush, right behind the Steelers, and the Titans are No. 1 after three games this season. They rank No. 11 against the pass, not bad but a better alternative than trying to run the ball on them.

"They are very strong up front," Steelers coach Bill Cowher said, "and they have a hard-hitting defense ... two safeties, [Lance] Shulters and Tank Williams, who play like linebackers. They do a good job of presenting different looks for you, eight-man fronts, so to speak."

Those eight-man fronts beg teams to pass, and the Steelers have obliged. In two games last year, the Steelers did not even try to run on the Titans. Amos Zereoue ran nine times and Jerome Bettis four in a 31-23 loss Nov. 17. The Steelers ran for only 45 yards and threw for 318 yards. In their 34-31 playoff loss in Tennessee Jan. 11, the Steelers rushed for 67 yards and passed for 257.

So, after a nice little return to what Zereoue called "old-style Steelers football" three days ago, they likely will go back to their newfangled passing game, what they do best against Tennessee.

"I think we feel really comfortable and confident throwing the ball," Cowher said yesterday. "I think the one thing you have to be able to do is run the ball when people move the safeties back and they start lining up 10 and 12 yards deep and give you the two high looks."

They don't have to worry about Tennessee doing that if the Steelers come out in a running formation. Coach Jeff Fisher was a protege of Buddy Ryan, architect of the 1980s Chicago Bears' famed "46" defense. He coached under Ryan with Philadelphia and the Houston Oilers and continued to play the 46 when he became head coach of the Oilers during the 1994 season.

Offenses rarely allow the Titans to use the 46 anymore because they know if they line up with two backs, a tight end and two receivers, that run-stopping defense will slam them. So, they line up with one back and three receivers or other passing looks to force Tennessee into its nickel defense.

The Titans played their nickel about 65 percent of the time last season because teams refused to try to run on them. In their 27-12 victory Sunday against New Orleans, the Titans used the nickel for 34 of 41 defensive snaps. Rookie cornerback Andre Woolfolk, their No. 1 pick, played in the slot in that defense for the first time after recovering from a dislocated big toe.

That's not necessarily a bad thing for the Steelers.

Two years ago, Plaxico Burress scorched Tennessee in Heinz Field by catching six passes for 151 yards in a 34-7 Steelers victory. One month later in Nashville, Burress caught eight passes for 114 yards, Hines Ward caught seven for 99 yards, and the Steelers again prevailed, 34-24. The Steelers managed 90 yards running that day.

Those are the only two Steelers victories in the past 11 meetings against Tennessee.

Since the Steelers have the No. 1 passing offense in the AFC, they won't be bashful throwing the ball. Even when Maddox was temporarily paralyzed at Tennessee in November, Kordell Stewart came on and continued to throw on the Titans. He completed 13 of 17 passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns in virtually one quarter of play.

Cowher insists his team will have to run Sunday despite the evidence.

"We need to re-establish and continue to get the running game going on a consistent basis, and it will open up things in the passing game as well."

The only thing that usually works against Tennessee is to take an early lead. If Tennessee gets the lead, it's rarely yielded. Fisher believes in the same thing Cowher does, controlling the clock on offense (they lead the league with a 34:26 possession time) and playing good defense.

"They do a good job with disguising things," Cowher said. "But I think that is something, going in, that you know that if you have to throw the ball against a two-high look, you are going to have to be very patient.

"You are not going to be able to get many balls down the field. Not that you can't throw it, but it is just going to be more of a methodical approach to it. That is what they are going to do. They are going to give us some two-high looks, they are going to bring the safety down and blitz us, and it becomes a chess game more than anything else."

What it really promises to be is a passing game more than anything else, at least on the Steelers' part. They can try to re-establish the run Oct. 5 against Cleveland.

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