STEELERS HEAD COACH BILL COWHER PRESS CONFERENCE
TUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2006

AFC WILD CARD PLAYOFFS

Team Pass  members can watch Bill Cowher's press conference.

 

Coach Cowher:  I will give you the injury update going into the game on Sunday. We have two players that are questionable: Andre Frazier with a hamstring and Travis Kirschke with a back. Four players are probable: James Harrison with a heel, Chidi Iwuoma with a shoulder, Ben Roethlisberger with a thumb, and Deshea Townsend with his knee. Basically, we are about as healthy as we have been all year going into the game.

 

We are excited about being in the playoffs and the opportunity that we have, recognizing the tough journey we have in front of us. That is the way it is. Everyone starts 0-0. We are going down to play Cincinnati for the third time. They are a good football team. They won our division and beat us here in Pittsburgh. We were fortunate to win the first one down there. I guess it is the rubber match, so to speak. It will be a big challenge for us as they are a good football team. At this time of year, we all know what is at stake. We will see what happens and we have to get a good week of preparation in and we have to play better than we did last week, and play better than we did the last time we played them for us to move on. I think we all understand that.

 

Is there a different psychology between the way you went into playoffs last year knowing that you would be at home with a week off as opposed to this year?

 

I don’t know if it is a different psychology. There is no sit back and reflect a little bit or healing of wounds, we just have to keep playing. We are playing a good football team. Like I said before, it is a team that we know very well. They know us very well. I think at this time of year, you have to be playing good football. The last time we played these guys we had four turnovers and on our kickoff coverage, we gave them the ball at the three-yard line at one time, mid-field at another time, we were not very good at covering kicks. If you do that against this football team, who is as explosive offensively as they are, and it is an uphill battle. We were really fortunate that it was only a seven point game considering all those things that I just talked about. I don’t know if there is any kind of psychology that goes into it, as much as it is right now preparing to play a very good opponent.

 

Can you talk about Ben Roethlisberger and the difference between him now as opposed to this time last year?

 

Just the experience factor, number one, having gone through it and having played in big games as he did a year ago in the playoffs. I think the biggest thing is that it is his second year. The first year for any player is a long year. For a rookie, it is even longer because you are getting ready for the draft, everything you went through a year ago. There was no question that there was a degree of fatigue that I think was there with Ben that he was fighting through that this year going in, I don’t think that there is a world of difference in terms of how he feels and where he is at, mentally and just from an experience standpoint and also from a health standpoint.

 

Is there an advantage to playing a team that doesn’t have a lot of playoff experience?

 

They have some players on there that have been in the playoffs before. Their coach has been there before. It is hard to say. We understand what it is like to play in the playoffs. It goes up another level. The speed of the game will go up faster, the intensity, the magnitude of each play becomes greater. Our preparation this week has to indicate that. It is hard to say, but there is enough experience over there to negate any advantage that we would have.

 

How would you measure the improvement of the take-away ratio, penalties, and special teams over the last four games?

 

I think it has been pretty dramatic. I don’t have the actual numbers right here in front of me, but I know we are in the plus side on turnover take-away. I know penalties have been down. What can I say about the special teams?  They have improved. Like I said last time, we were coming off the game where all those things reared their ugly head against Cincinnati, and special teams is going to be very, very important again. Tab Perry is a very good returner, as we well know. Their offense is too good to shorten the field. They are very explosive and are playing at a very high level. If we shorten the field on them, it just makes it that much tougher as it proved to be last time and that is true with the turnovers. The turnovers led to some very good field position for them the last time and we were not able to take the ball away. I think with our last game against Cincinnati, all those things that we just talked about were at the all time low in terms of how it unfolded that particular day.

 

How much has Carson Palmer improved?

 

I think he has played well all year long. Obviously, he is a Pro Bowl player. His numbers speak for themselves. He is playing with a lot of confidence and he is, without a doubt, the catalyst for what they do, they have gone a lot with the audible system now, allowing him to check off and see certain things. Our ability to try to create some indecision with him will be very important for us. There is no question that he is playing at a very high level.

 

Can you talk about Willie Parker?  Can you talk about what you saw that others did not?

 

Willie has the one thing that we never had, his speed. I think when you talk about the other element of Willie, he is a young back. He needs to be able to go through plays. He needs to run plays in a game to be able to see them unfold. Maybe now and then he may miss a cut here and there, he has had a chance to watch Jerome (Bettis) through most of this year run, I think that has helped him immensely. There is no substitute for him getting out there and running plays. To do it in practice is one thing, but to go out there on game day, to be able to experience that and be able to see that coming back in here on Monday, he can see cuts that were missed here and there. I think that was something you had to be patient with, because the one thing that he does have is that he has that ability to give you big plays. For a team that runs the football like we would like to run the football, to be able to have a big-play player back there is a bonus. He shows that ability to do that. It is nice to have a complement of backs that we have in the quartet, and we have needed them all this year, even Duce (Staley). We had a period of time there at Green Bay, he had to come off the bench and he gave us a big list in that game. We wouldn’t be sitting here today if it wasn’t for that. Verron (Haynes) has filled in admirably in that third-down role, and we all know what Jerome gives us in terms of what he gives us on game day. So it is a make up that kind of unfolded the way it did and they all kind of accepted and embraced the roles that they have and consequently, it has been a very productive backfield.

 

Have you seen that development in Willie Parker in the last couple games?

 

I think if you look at him early in the season to where you see him now, there is no question. The one thing you see, when he makes a decision, he is going north and south. You see him hitting the pile and going forward. I know there were questions as to can Willie Parker run inside. I think he has answered a lot of that doubt through the year. I think a lot of that has been from watching Jerome. He is able to watch Jerome make some of the cuts that he has made and be decisive and then Willie is hitting it and moving it. At times, maybe he is a little patient a little long, but other times you want him to be a little more patient. So there is that fine line, don’t try to over coach him, that is the thing I tried to say be careful of, just let the kid run. He will learn, and he will just get better the more he does it. So I don’t think there is any question, if you put on some tapes of him from the beginning of the year to where he is at the end of the year, there is a significant difference in his reads of certain plays and his style of running has improved dramatically.

 

How did Willie Parker respond to his benching after fumbling twice against Cincinnati?

 

I think the message was real clear when he was standing next to me. You can’t do that. You can’t turn the football over. Some things around here won’t change. He knows that. It’s not a question of a lack of confidence. You just have to have an understanding and be accountable and he’s done well. We can’t beat ourselves. If we don’t beat ourselves we’ll be a tough football team to play. That’s the one thing that we have to make sure we do, is take care of the football. That’s looked upon in a very important light around here.

 

Have Cincinnati’s latest losses been the result of them clinching the playoffs early?

 

I don’t worry about them. They’ve earned the right for a home playoff game. Last week’s game, I’ve seen that happen before. I wouldn’t give too much credence to that. This is a good football team. They’re playing at home. It’s a playoff game and they will have everybody healthy. They know us and we know them. We’re not going to get caught up in people’s perception of how they’re playing. The last time we played them they beat us and beat us pretty good.

 

How important is it for your team to be playing well going into the playoffs?

 

You’d like to but at the same time, in the playoffs, everyone’s starting 0-0. That’s the bottom line. I don’t think that you’ll get too caught up in what you did in previous weeks. You’re looking at quality opponents. There are only 12 teams that make the playoffs, six out of each division. They [Cincinnati] got there for a reason. It’s because of the sum of what they’ve been able to do during the course of 16 weeks. You earn that right. You get the playoffs in the National Football League you have to play your way into it. I don’t look too much into the last couple games as much as what that team has done through the course of 16 weeks to put them in this position. They won our division and beat us here to do so. That being said, we understand the challenge ahead of us.

 

Are you pleased with where your team is?

 

We’re happy to have a chance. We had to fight very, very hard to get into this tournament. We’re in it and right now, it is single elimination. We’ve been in that mindset that last few weeks. We have to play better than we did a week ago. We have to play better than we did that last time we played these guys. That’s the only thing that I’m looking at. Our players understand that; I know they do. We’ll have a good week of work and go [to Cincinnati] and give it the best shot we can.

 

  

Do these last four games wear down a team or energize a team?

 

I think you have to be energized around this time of year, getting into the playoffs, the reality of what’s at stake and it’s a very clear path. Our guys haven’t been around for two days but a lot of guys have been in and out. I think they’re all energized. If you can’t get energized at this time of year then you’re in the wrong profession. I don’t think that will be a problem.

 

Will you try shorter kickoffs as you did against Minnesota?

 

You have to be able to do that. It’s all strategically part of the kicking game. At times we may [kick short], at times we may kick it off, at times we may squib it; we may bloop it. Whatever we can do to disrupt their return game and do whatever we feel gives us the best opportunity to get the best field position we can get.

 

What is it that makes you a good road team?

 

We’ve been a pretty good team for a couple years. I don’t know if it’s any better on the road. We probably have the same record at home. Our football team has some experience. We know its going to be loud. We have to deal with that element of it. We had a chance this year to experience the next level of loudness in Indianapolis. I’ve never experienced anything like that before. It’s going to be loud down in Cincinnati. We understand that going in. It’s a challenge. You go on the road then you’re an underdog. We are going to be an underdog in this game, as we should be. That being said, you go out there and you have to play hard. You have no margin of error but you have to play together. We understand the challenge with that. They understand what goes with that, the preparation has to be greater during the course of the week. They seem to accept that. It will be a big one this week.

 

Does being a close team help them with an us vs. the world mentality?

 

You have to have success. Success brings a team closer. Overcoming adversity can bring a team closer. [We have] a team that respects one another. There are a lot of guys who have accepted roles and embraced those roles even though they may want to play more. I think there’s an unselfishness that permeated down through this team based on the good veteran leadership that we’ve had. That being said, they also understand what it takes this time of year, whether it’s on the road, the opponents you’re playing week in and week out. We’re going to need that kind of leadership and the same type of approach this week in our preparation.

 

Will the team’s familiarity have any bearing on one team taking control early?

 

I don’t know if it has any bearing on it whatsoever. Certainly when you look at their football team, they are an explosive football team and they are a big play football team. We need to be able to take away the big play and try to slow down that offense and allow us to stay in this game as long as possible, and keep it a four-quarter game. I don’t know if familiarity will play into that element of the game. It has nothing to do with their offense. Their offense has been pretty good.

 

 

Can you comment on all the recent coach firings?

 

You realize that we’re in a performance-now business. When three coaches that were in the playoffs last year and get fired the next year, there’s no margin for error. I understand that. What keeps you going is to not be a part of Monday. I know that if you don’t win now you could very easily be there. I understand that. We all understand that when we get into this business. They’re good football coaches. It’s a tough time. They’re a lot of people affected by that. You’re talking about staffs of 15 or 18 assistant coaches that go along with those seven or eight [head coaches]. A lot of people’s lives get disrupted. You have to win. You have to perform. You talk about players having to do it. Coaches have to do it, too. I understand that. If you sit there and get complacent as a coach then you’re going to find yourself being one of those guys. That’s what keeps me going every year.

 

Is Carson Palmer doing more audibling than a few weeks ago?

 

I think he’s done it more in the second half of the season. He did it in our [second] game and I think he’ll do it again in the next game on Sunday. He’s good at it. He’s done it more in the second half of the year, that I’ve seen, more so than the first game we played them [in Cincinnati].

 

Can you talk about the Bengals defensive takeaways?

 

[They are] very opportunistic. Deltha O’Neal, Torry James, Odell Thurman, they’ve got playmakers there. [David] Pollack’s been playing. He played very well against us in the last game. Those two [defensive] ends can rush and create pressure. It just seems like when the ball is in the air, they’re catching everything. They’re catching everything like we drop everything. It seems like we drop every opportunity there is. We do a great job of batting it down and [Cincinnati] catches it. They’ve taken the ball away [with] fumbles, interceptions. They’ve been very opportunistic. They’re turnover-takeaways is a plus-24 (+24) or something. It’s ridiculous. It’s unbelievable. They’re not turning it over. The quarterback’s making good decisions; they don’t fumble the ball. You have to be patient against them. Four times we turned it over last time. You can’t do that against that team with that offense.

 

Has Dan Kreider gotten better the last couple of weeks?

 

Dan, in my opinion, plays well every Sunday the way he played last week. Sometimes people notice it. He is a good football player. He’s been an integral part of our football team. We give him a couple runs a couple times a month. He doesn’t say a word. He goes about his business. He’s a very consistent football player who’s an integral part of what we do offensively. I think all the players have a tremendous amount of respect for what he does and the job that he has.

 

What is the balance for your assistant coaches between getting work done and getting a head coaching job?

 

I’ve never had a problem with that. Coaches will get it done. It’s flattering to be wanted. I would never stand in the way of any of our coaches if they have a dream of becoming a head coach. If I can help them in anyway I would certainly do so and will do so. We’ll work within what the league structure is, whether that is next week or whatever time frame it is. I will have no problem with that. Coaches know that you’re a product of what you do on the field. So if anything it gives them more incentive. I’ve always thought that way having gone through that process myself. We’ll work within it; see what happens and certainly our focus this week is clearly on Cincinnati.