Not that the Steelers haven’t been “back” before, trying to recapture the 1970s glory of Terry Bradshaw and Mean Joe Greene. It’s just that this time, “Blitzburgh” – signifying the Steelers’ gambling defense, which led the NFL with 55 quarterback sacks – seems the real deal. These Steelers won 12 games, even with Dallas and behind only San Francisco. Their frigid, nasty Three Rivers Stadium gives them a huge home-field advantage through the AFC playoffs. “Forget us,” says the team’s current mean Greene, the blond-tressed, sack-crazed linebacker Kevin. “Our crowd comes to play.”
Their bright maniac of a coach, Bill Cowher, 37, has constructed the Steelers not only to make the AFC competitive in the Super Bowl but to actually win it. There’s the league’s best rushing attack, highlighting a mistake-free offense – the Steelers had no turnovers in a stunning nine games. There’s a solid kicking game and terrific special teams. Cornerback Ron Woodson is all-time All-Pro at his position and one of football’s most dangerous kick returners. And there’s that oppressive defense, led by Woodson, Greene and one of the NFL’s most underrated natural forces, linebacker Greg Lloyd. “We don’t have the glitz and weapons of the 49er championship teams. But they didn’t have a defense close to this. We have the anti-weapons,” says cornerback Tim McKyer, once a member of those 49er teams. “Anything less than a Supe [the championship] will be a disappointment to this team.”
While the gridiron globe has turned on the NFC’s San Francisco/Dallas axis, the “other” conference has enjoyed a quiet transition. The AFC went out with the old (Buffalo Bills) and in with the new (New England’s quarterback star Drew Bledsoe). TV ratings beat the NFC’s. And the effect of refugees from the older conference finally kicked in.
AFC folks didn’t need Forrest Gump to figure out that NFC East teams won six of the last eight Super Bowls with in-your-face defenses and ball-control running attacks. And if you couldn’t beat ’em, why not join ’em – or get ’em to join you? Take away the Marino Dolphins and the Montana Chiefs, and the best AFC teams are all heavily influenced by NFC East alumni: former Giants coach Bill Parcells, now in New England; Giants defensive coordinator Bill Belichick, now head coach in Cleveland; Giants offensive coordinator Ron Erhardt, now in the same position in Pittsburgh, and former Redskins general manager Bobby Beathard, now GM in San Diego.
Since Beathard redid the Chargers – who live on bowling-ball-bodied Natrone Means’s running and a huge defensive front – San Diego has won its division twice in three years. The Chargers will host the other AFC playoff semifinal this Sunday, hoping that their banged-up star linebacker, Junior Seau, can perform to his all-world standard. However, the Steelers are healthier, colder (not to mention colder-blooded) and thriving in Three Rivers – led by an explosive coach whose slightest glance makes his players . . . uh, yeah, Cowher.
“I talked to this guy on the phone for 10 minutes,” says retired Raider/ now Fox broadcaster Howie Long, of Cowher, “and I wanted to fly to Pittsburgh and suit up.” Says Lloyd: “To make his point, Bill will turn you around and spit in your face. But there’s mutual respect. You just try not to look at him much.”
While the offense remains mundane – quarterback Neil O’Donnell is sometimes booed by the “terrible towel”-waving Three Rivers audience – it is the anvil-jawed Cowher, stalking the sideline, staring down friend and foe alike, ranting, raving, even spitting, who is the heart and soul of the new Steelers.
When Cowher replaced Chuck Noll in 1992, it was significant that he had been a Pittsburgh native as well as a journeyman special-teams kamikaze while a player. He understood the history of the Rooney-family ownership of the club, the special relationship between team and town. “I want to bring back the pride and tradition long associated with the Steelers,” Cowher said in his initial press conference, “and more importantly, with the people of Pittsburgh.”
Whew! Three years, two AFC Central titles and 32 victories later, the relationship lingers. “I love this game, this atmosphere; it’s the essence of life,” Cowher said the day after the Steelers clinched the division by beating their hated rival, the Browns, a second time. “But you know what the best thing about it is? Now we get to do it all over again.” Those teeth-chattering, towel-waving, fellow maniacal Blitzburghers swarming the confluence of Three Rivers this weekend only hope the Steelers get to do it three more times.
