NFL Feature Capsules - AFC: Slumping Steelers picking up pieces
CLEVELAND — Their calling-card swagger has been replaced by a sudden shakiness that’s unbecoming. Reputed bullies, they’ve grown quiet, unsteady and seemingly vulnerable. That’s what happens when you lose four straight games, two against supposed pushovers Kansas City and Oakland.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a shell of themselves.
Strapped with their longest losing streak since 2003 and with a weakening playoff pulse, the Super Bowl champions are in some serious trouble.
For the first time in a long time, the Steelers (6-6) aren’t so special.
"It’s tough because we haven’t gone through this," quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said earlier this week. "Most of the guys have never had this situation before, so it’s tough and it’s frustrating. But we can’t sit around here and pout and worry about things because that’s not going to change the outcome of the games we just played."
Missing at least one star playmaker and perhaps two, Pittsburgh will try to end a four-game slide and improve its postseason chances on Thursday night when it visits the Cleveland Browns (1-11), who have lost seven straight, 10 in a row at home, 12 consecutive to the Steelers and 18 of 19 to their neighbors from down the Ohio/Pennsylvania turnpikes.
Following last week’s 27-24 loss to the Raiders, the Steelers’ fifth defeat by three points this season, coach Mike Tomlin, who had predicted his team would "unleash hell" in December, instead unleashed on his team by lamenting "a pattern of behavior that’s unacceptable."
Perhaps thinking his team needed a scare, he promised lineup changes against the Browns, but has since backed off a bit. Tomlin still believes in his squad, which hit the season’s midway point at 6-2 and in first place, but he’s troubled by the Steelers’ inability to close out opponents.
Pittsburgh’s defense has been unable to protect a lead in five of the six losses.
"Good teams find ways to win," he said. "Teams that are not good don’t."
Tomlin has issued a challenge to his players and they intend to accept it.
"You’ve got to respond to it," nose tackle Casey Hampton said. "As a man, you’re paid to do your job and you’ve got to respond to it. I think that’s the right move (Tomlin threatening changes). We’re not getting it done out there. Guys definitely need to be challenged. We got to get out there, get a victory and get out of this slump.
"If guys as a whole just do what we’re supposed to do, we’ll be OK."
The Steelers may have to do it short-handed.
Pro Bowl safety Troy Polamalu will miss his fourth straight game with a knee injury. Wide receiver Hines Ward, who leads the club with 72 catches and six TDs, is questionable with an injured hamstring and cornerback William Gay has been limited in practice by a concussion suffered against the Raiders.
Just two weeks ago, Ward’s cross-examining of Roethlisberger for sitting out with a concussion caused an uproar that may still be reverberating in Pittsburgh’s locker room.
The Steelers insist they’re united.
"All we’ve got to do is stay together, that’s what’s most important," offensive tackle Willie Colon said. "We can’t do the finger-pointing thing. We gotta find a way to get through the foxhole. It can happen if you start listening to outsiders and you start getting frustrated. We’re not going to point fingers or blame anybody, we’re going to stay strong, stay as the Steelers and play through it."
After Cleveland, the Steelers will face Green Bay and Baltimore at home before finishing the regular-season in Miami. It’s a favorable schedule for a team looking for a break.
"Last year things went our way, we had some balls bounce for us, and we went on to win the Super Bowl," Roethlisberger said. "This year it’s not bouncing our way, not getting those lucky breaks that sometimes are involved in a football game. It doesn’t mean that good things still can’t come, we just have to fight through anything."
Think the Steelers have problems? It’s worse, so much worse, for the Browns.
To this point, coach Eric Mangini’s first season has been the ugliest in Cleveland football annals. The Browns’ offense and defense are each ranked dead last statistically and there’s little tangible evidence the team has improved under Mangini, who is 2-15 in his last 17 games as the coach of the New York Jets and the Browns.
Already some are wondering whether owner Randy Lerner, who is conducting a clandestine search for a "serious, credible leader" to run the football side of his floundering organization, will retain Mangini.
A win over the Steelers might help Mangini’s case or at least give Clevelanders something to celebrate other than a probable Top 5 draft pick next year.
"I’ve met fans who said, ‘If you can just beat the Steelers that will make our year, no matter what you’re record is’," wide receiver Josh Cribbs said. "We’re not purposely trying to knock them out of the playoffs, but if winning does that, so be it."
Colts teammates respect Manning’s leadership style
INDIANAPOLIS — When Peyton Manning first came to Indianapolis, he wanted to be one of the guys — not some glamorous No. 1 pick.
So the rookie turned down endorsement deals, limited his public appearances and avoided any hint of distractions by focusing almost exclusively on football.
A dozen years and three MVP awards later, Manning’s style hasn’t changed. Yes, he may cut a commercial during the bye week or in the offseason. Otherwise it’s all football all the time.
"What Peyton does is very unique," former league sacks champion Dwight Freeney said Wednesday. "You don’t see him clocking out at 4:30 or whenever practice is over and he takes his work home with him. It becomes his lifestyle from August to January."
Preferably into February, too.
Few have exceeded the lofty expectations at football’s most scrutinized position better than Manning.
When he arrived in Indy, the Colts were coming off a 3-13 season, had a new team president, a new coach and a new quarterback. Manning’s top priority: Establishing himself as the leader, no easy feat for a 22-year-old rookie.
"From early on, he did it very intelligently," said center Jeff Saturday, the second-longest tenured player on Indy’s roster. "He waited for all the endorsements to come from the way he was playing, and I think he felt more comfortable doing it that way."
On the field, Manning’s progression was exponential.
Though he threw 28 interceptions and endured a 3-13 season in 1998, he had 26 TD passes to break Charlie Conerly’s 50-year-old record for rookies. Manning also set rookie marks for completions, attempts, yards and consecutive games with a TD pass.
In 1999, he took a monumental step forward by going 13-3, winning a division title and erasing any doubts about his leadership style.
Now in his 12th NFL season, Manning still has never missed a start, rarely missed a practice, broken all of the Colts major quarterback records, matched Brett Favre as the only three-time MVP, won a Super Bowl and has the Colts on a historic quest.
A win Sunday over Denver would give Indy a record 22nd consecutive regular-season win, a record 114th win in a decade, home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and a perfect 13-0 mark for the second time since 2005.
How has he done it?
"He’s a guy who wants to win very badly and he prepares himself to do that," former coach Tony Dungy said. "That rubs off on people. He’s everything you look for in a player and he’s not afraid to speak his mind. I he’s very old-school in that way, the way quarterbacks used to be when I played years ago."
He takes nothing for granted, either.
Earlier this season, when his young receivers were putting up big numbers, Manning cautioned reporters not to hype their accomplishments because they were still making mistakes.
Behind the scenes, Manning was giving them personal lessons on eliminating the miscues. Each Thursday night, he would spend more than an hour breaking down film with rookie receiver Austin Collie. After practice, Manning and Collie run a modified passing tree to perfect routes.
"I’ll take like two routes per day and throw them till I have a good idea of where he’s going to be," Manning said. "You have to throw it, not blind, but before he makes his break until the rapport is what it is with Dallas (Clark)."
Manning’s skills, as teammates know, go way beyond teaching.
In October 2003, he rallied the Colts from a 21-point deficit in the last 4 minutes for an overtime victory at Tampa Bay. Two years later, he led Indy to a 45-28 victory over St. Louis after falling into an early 17-0 deficit.
In October 2008, Manning did it again — leading the Colts to a victory at Houston after trailing by 17 points with five minutes left. And in November, Manning produced an NFL record five straight comebacks.
Clearly, teammates believe he can overcome virtually anything.
"Our mentality defensively is that we try to win games," Freeney said. "But with the type of offense we have, we just have to get the other team’s offense off the field and good things will happen."
Manning could not have envisioned a better compliment when he entered the league in 1998.
But he has earned it.
"When he first got here, we went through practices scripted," Saturday said. "Now he tells guys where they should be and what he expects. He truly does run the drills in practice. He expects perfection, and I think as a team we’ve on that that mentality."
-- Michael Marot
Bengals hit the road to prepare for Vikes
CINCINNATI — A 22-mile stretch of interstate became the Cincinnati Bengals’ road to the playoffs.
With high winds and no covered practice field, the AFC North leaders had to hurriedly change their practice plans Wednesday for the Minnesota Vikings. They took buses to an indoor soccer complex in a distant suburb.
The lack of an indoor field has been a sore point over the years. Bengals ownership has the right under its stadium lease to cover one of the practice fields next to Paul Brown Stadium, but the team would have to pay the cost. So, there’s no covered field.
Instead, the Bengals (9-3) had to pack up their gear, settle into their bus seats and make a 45-minute ride north, throwing their day out of whack.
"Definitely," quarterback Carson Palmer said. "It’s a pain. It’s a drag. But it is what it is. Just sitting on the freeway for 45 minutes or an hour — we actually sat on the buses for a couple of hours one year because of the snow. It’s the situation we’re in."
In many ways, they’re in a very good situation.
A win at Minnesota on Sunday would secure the division title. They also would clinch if they lose and Baltimore and Pittsburgh lose as well. The Bengals have a three-game lead with four to play, and own the tiebreaker against both teams.
It would be only Cincinnati’s second playoff berth in 19 years. They also won the division in 2005 and lost to Pittsburgh in the first playoff game.
With so much at stake this weekend, it would have been beneficial to adhere to their practice routine. Ordinarily, the Bengals would have worked out on their adjacent grass fields or on Paul Brown Stadium’s artificial turf. Winds approaching 50 mph and a threat of rain prompted coach Marvin Lewis to scramble Wednesday morning to find an indoor place.
"I wish we didn’t have to do it," Lewis said. "So we’ll do it and just get up and go."
The Bengals practiced on a covered field at Wall2Wall Soccer in suburban Mason, which dubs itself "Ohio’s Finest Soccer Facility." The complex currently is signing up teams for the Queen City Flag Football League, at $450 per team.
The ride on Wednesday went better than some in the past. In December 2004, a storm dumped eight inches of snow on the region and prompted the Bengals to board buses for a practice at the soccer complex. Traffic on Interstate 71 was gridlocked, making for that long commute that Palmer mentioned.
Lewis hoped that ownership would build a covered practice field, but he’s made no headway. The University of Cincinnati plans to build a covered field next year, part of its effort to try to keep football coach Brian Kelly. The school had approached the Bengals about a joint venture, but couldn’t come to an agreement.
Palmer said players figure they’ll never get their own covered field.
"I think everyone in the locker room understands our situation, and you have to find a way to deal with it," Palmer said.
They’ve been looking forward to this game for a long time. After making it through a stretch of three games against struggling teams — Oakland, Cleveland and Detroit — the Bengals get to play first-place teams back-to-back. After Minnesota (10-2), they play at San Diego (9-3) in a game that will go a long way in determining home-field advantage. The Bengals and Chargers are tied for second-best record in the AFC.
As a first step, they can clinch the division title in Minnesota.
"There’s definitely a lot on the line," safety Chris Crocker said. "We want to win this game because this gets us in. This is a big game, a big challenge for us. To get into the playoffs — that was a goal. And it’s right here."
The Bengals moved into position to clinch after Baltimore lost on Monday night. Some players weren’t aware that they were one win away from the division title.
"I didn’t really realize it until you said it right now," Palmer said. "I don’t know if guys in our locker room realize it. All we’re focused on is trying to beat a good team, and going into a good team’s stadium and coming together and playing in a playoff-like atmosphere."
Lewis told his players on Wednesday morning — before the unexpected bus ride — that they need to be looking at the big picture.
"It (the division title) has been mentioned one time, but it hasn’t been the focal point," receiver Chad Ochocinco said. "Coach Lewis just stressed how important this game is for us winning as far as having our own destiny in our hands."
-- Joe Kay
Found: Something the K.C. Chiefs do well
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The lowly Kansas City Chiefs are one of the best in football when it’s time to put foot to ball.
Yes, the team that’s 5-32 in the last 37 games has discovered something it’s good at. Under the direction of first-year special teams coach Steve Hoffman, the Chiefs (3-9) have made giant strides in both punt and kickoff coverage, ranking in the top 10 in both.
They’re pretty good in returning kickoffs, too, at ninth in the league with 25 returns of 20 yards or more.
In addition, punter Dustin Colquitt is having a terrific season. After struggling much of last year with various injuries, Colquitt is fourth in the league with a net average of 41.36 yards per punt. He leads the NFL with 32 boots coming to rest inside the 20 and is on pace to tie the NFL record with 42 inside the 20.
His kicking partner, Ryan Succop, may turn out to be one of the greatest Mr. Irrelevant picks in history. Always calm and serene, confident and unflappable, the last man taken in the 2009 draft has made 18 of 22 field goals and leads all rookies with 72 points.
He kicked the game-winner in a 27-24 overtime victory over Pittsburgh and is looking like the answer to Kansas City’s long-festering problem at place kicker.
When Hoffman scouted him at South Carolina last year, he liked Succop’s demeanor almost as much as his leg.
"He just has a certain calmness about him," said Hoffman. "It’s the thing you try to look for when you’re out scouting kickers. A lot of them have the leg strength and the talent to do it. But the thing you have to try do is sift through that and find the guy you think will hold up under the pressures of the NFL. And when I went to work him out, he struck me as a guy who could do it."
To tell the truth, Succop never expected to be drafted at all.
"When I did get drafted, it was a pleasant surprise," he said. "I didn’t look at it as being last. I looked at it as an opportunity, as a blessing. It gave me a shot to come in and make a team this year. I never looked at it like, ‘Oh, no, I’m the last guy picked. Now I won’t have an opportunity to have a career."’
Succop’s consistently powerful leg is a major reason the kickoff coverage average has jumped from 22nd to 10th. Plus, his 18 field goals are the second-most by a Chiefs rookie.
Under Hoffman’s tutelage, the kicking units have consistently made plays all year while Todd Haley’s offense and Clancy Pendergast’s defense have stumbled at times. Jamaal Charles had a 97-yard kickoff return in the big win over the Steelers and safety Jon McGraw blocked a kick and recovered the ball for a touchdown against Baltimore.
Hoffman, a 20-year NFL veteran who is getting his first opportunity as a special teams coach, works closely with Colquitt and Succop. Both swear by him.
"Coach Hoffman is very knowledgeable about kickers and punters," said Succop. "He’s really helped me refine my technique."
Colquitt, a third-round pick out of Tennessee in 2005, has a 38.94 career net average that is second in the NFL since the 1970 merger with the AFL.
"Talking to coach Hoffman is like reading an encyclopedia of kicking," said Colquitt. "I really do enjoy working with him."
The secret to Hoffman’s success may be knowing what not to say when his devoted students strain to hear every word.
"You can get them a little stronger. You can tinker with their technique and get them to hit the ball more consistently," he said. "But I’ve never tried to mess with their mental part of it other than just how they’re approaching the pressures of the game. I try to stay away from the mental part."
-- Doug Tucker
Raiders defensive end makes switch to linebacker
ALAMEDA, Calif. — Oakland Raiders coach Tom Cable seems to have struck gold with his decision to replace quarterback JaMarcus Russell with Bruce Gradkowski. Cable’s experiment with the defense also seems to be working out fine.
Trevor Scott’s move from defensive end to linebacker has gone so well, in fact, it’s surprising someone didn’t suggest the change much sooner.
In the two games since switching positions, Scott has three sacks, four quarterback hurries and five tackles for loss while giving Oakland’s run defense a much-needed lift as well.
"Originally when they first said it, I was kind of shocked just because I’ve never really played it before," Scott said. "But I just took it in stride and ran with it. It was one of those things where you’re thrown into the fire, and sometimes that’s the best way to learn."
The Raiders already knew they stumbled onto something promising when they drafted Scott with their sixth-round pick in 2008.
Playing primarily on passing downs opposite Derrick Burgess, Scott tied for the team lead in sacks as a rookie and parlayed that into what seemed to be a sure lock on a starting job this season. Then Oakland traded its 2011 first-round draft pick to New England in exchange for defensive lineman Richard Seymour and Scott’s hold on the starting job was gone just that quickly.
He still played regularly as a part of the Raiders’ defensive line rotation and even spent a handful of plays each game standing up like a linebacker while moving up and down the line of scrimmage.
In the days leading up to Oakland’s Thanksgiving Day game against the Dallas Cowboys, though, word made its way into the Raiders’ locker room that Scott would be shifting to weakside linebacker while the previous starter at the position, Thomas Howard, would slide over to the strongside spot.
Now there may be no going back.
Scott’s three sacks in two games gives him five on the season, matching his total from a year ago and tying veteran defensive end Greg Ellis for the team lead.
Howard, meanwhile, seems to have settled in at his new position, settling an area that has been an issue for Oakland for the past decade.
"It gives us a chance to have what we want in terms of coverage and have what we want versus the run," Cable said.
Scott is still adjusting to the move after spending his entire high school and college careers at defensive end.
"When you have your hand on the ground, your vision is limited pretty much to the guy in front of you," Scott said. "Standing up you see the big picture. You really have to know your keys because there’s a lot of stuff going on that you’ll see. It’s a whole different world playing linebacker."
For Scott, the biggest adjustment has come in playing every down. At defensive end, he usually spent first and second down on the sidelines then came in on obvious passing downs to rush the quarterback.
Now he’s in on every play, blitzing, dropping into coverage and doing whatever else the weakside position calls for.
"If this is the position they want me in, I have no problem with it," Scott said. "I like it, I have a lot of fun. The big thing is I’m in there every down. That means the world to me."
NOTE: Left guard Robert Gallery is seeking a second opinion after injuring his lower back in last week’s win over Pittsburgh. "At this point it does not look good," Cable said. "We’ll know more tomorrow."
T.O. to test fashion by signing with modeling firm
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The catwalk might never be the same now that Terrell Owens has signed a deal with a modeling agency.
Having already launched a reality TV show and promoted his own breakfast cereal, the Buffalo Bills receiver is ready to try fashion after signing a deal with Wilhelmina Models this week.
"Well, I'm always putting my hands in and feeding into something," Owen sidaferprctceWeneda, otngWihemia aprochd im with the offer. "When you've got some good looks like myself, you've got to take full advantage of it."
In a release issued by Wilhelmina, the firm described the partnership as a natural one given Owens' popularity.
"Owens has achieved what most athletes can only dream of: record books highlighting his name, fans sporting his jersey and a nickname of just two letters that is recognized by sports enthusiasts nationwide," said Wilhelmina, which was founded in 1967 by supermodel Wilhelmina Cooper, and currently represents more than 1,000 models.
The firm, which has offices in New York, Los Angeles and Miami, signed Owens to its sports division, which also promotes boxer Roy Jones Jr., NBA star Andrei Kirilenko and U.S. speedskater Allison Baver. Wilhelmina will represent Owens in seeking endorsements and sponsorship deals in personal care and fashion industries.
It's Owens latest foray outside of football. Earlier this year, he co-produced a reality TV show that was broadcast on VH-1, and has already been picked up for a second season. This summer he promoted a breakfast cereal, called 'T.O.'s Honey Toasted Oats,' which was produced by Pittsburgh-based PLB Sports, and sold in western New York.
Owens also markets his own brand of T-shirts.
All of this doesn't mean Owens, who turned 36 on Monday, is ready to retire after 14 NFL seasons.
After signing a one-year $6.5 million contract with Buffalo in March, days after being released by Dallas, Owens said he intends to continue playing for at least two more yers
" felgrat Im uthee unin aoud ndhain fn," he said. "If I can go to a team where it works for me, then I feel like I can succeed and be productive."
And he won't discount returning to Buffalo. After a terrible start to the season, Owens' production has picked up. Of his 43 catches for 690 yards and three touchdowns receiving this season, T.O. has 20 catches for 407 yards and two scores in his past four games.
"I'm not going to limit myself in discounting any type of situation," he said. "For me, I know I can play."
He noted his future in Buffalo is uncertain because it'll partly depend on whether the Bills are interested in re-signing him. And much of that will depend on who takes over after coach Dick Jauron was fired last month and replaced by defensive coordinator Perry Fewell, who will finish the season on an interim basis.
Buffalo (4-8) is all but mathematically eliminated from postseason contention as it prepares to play at Kansas City (3-9) on Sunday.
It's a busy week for Owens. He hosted a birthday party in New York City on Monday, with proceeds from the event going toward T.O.'s charity, the Catch a Dream Foundation.
On Friday, Owens will host a Christmas party for 81 Buffalo-area families at the Bills facility.
-- John Wawrow
Ravens’ secondary is primary problem for Harbaugh
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Baltimore Ravens’ shaky secondary has become a primary concern as the team strives to stay afloat in the crowded AFC wild-card race.
Playing in Green Bay on Monday night without injured safety Ed Reed (hip) and cornerback Fabian Washington (knee), the Ravens were called four times for pass interference and allowed Aaron Rodgers to pass for 263 yards and three touchdowns.
Not surprisingly, Baltimore lost 27-14.
The Ravens (6-6) trail Jacksonville by one game in the duel for the second and final AFC wild-card spot. None of the four teams left on Baltimore’s schedule owns a winning record, but if the Ravens can’t improve their pass defense — beginning Sunday at home against Detroit (2-10) — it might not matter.
"Lack of talent isn’t the problem around here. It’s sad, but it’s kind of been the story of our season: We’ve just been inconsistent," cornerback Domonique Foxworth said Wednesday. "There will be spurts of games or plays where we play well as a defense, then there will be a hiccup here or there. Unfortunately, we’re not good enough to play through those hiccups. We’ve got to eliminate those."
Reed, a five-time Pro Bowler, was a late scratch Monday with a hip injury and is questionable for Detroit. Washington is out for the year after tearing his left ACL. Against Green Bay, second-year pro Tom Zbikowski took over for Reed at safety and rookie Lardarius Webb lined up opposite Foxworth at cornerback.
For that combination to have success, the Ravens needed a solid pass rush. But linebacker Terrell Suggs missed a third straight game with a sprained right knee ligament, leaving Rodgers comfortable enough in the pocket to connect on 26 of 40 passes.
"If our secondary is struggling, the pass rush needs to step up," linebacker Jarret Johnson said. "We didn’t help them out. I’m obviously one of those guys that has to get to the quarterback, and we didn’t do that."
The biggest flaw in the defense, however, has been penalties. Those four pass interference calls against the Packers totaled 80 yards, and two of them came during touchdown drives.
"We kind of cleaned it up for a couple of weeks and it showed up again in the Green Bay game. It’s on us. We take responsibility for it," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "There were one or two of them in there you look back and you don’t understand, maybe, but there were the other ones that you completely understand the way it’s being called this year.
"Guys are doing what you can’t do. You can’t grab a guy’s wrist, you can’t grab his arm, you can’t hook the arm. We don’t even want to get involved with any of the hand-wrestling anymore," Harbaugh said. "That’s something we have to take control of and not let happen anymore. It penalizes you too heavily."
Unfortunately for the Ravens, there’s been plenty of blame to pass around.
"It hasn’t been their guys are better than our guys," Foxworth said. "When we’re watching the film, we can easily circle what happened, where the breakdown was. It’s not where it’s one person breaking down all the time, which would be an easier situation to solve. It’s here, there, up front, in the middle, back deep. It’s been a series of breakdowns throughout the course of last week’s game and throughout the season."
The rule book in its current form isn’t helping matters, either.
"That’s something they have to look at this offseason," Washington said. "Sometimes it’s just receiver and DB battling for position. It’s not actually holding or something like that. If they’re going to call that type (of contact a penalty), it’s virtually impossible to cover those guys."
Said Foxworth: "The rules get tighter and tighter on DBs. It’s how the league goes. Some of those calls that happened last week, they were calls we haven’t really seen before. We’ll stop doing that now and see what else they take away in the future."
-- David Ginsburg
