STEELERS VS. BENGALS
Sunday, October 28,  2007
at Paul Brown Stadium

BENGALS CONFERENCE CALLS

HEAD COACH MARVIN LEWIS

How important of a game is this to you?

 

It is very important.  Obviously, we didn’t get off to a good start and so it is an important game and then the Steelers did, so we fell behind quite a bit so it is an opportunity to win both a division game and a game against the team that is winning the division.

 

Can you explain why each team has had success in the other team’s stadium?

 

I don’t know that.  The one thing I would say is obviously there must be a calmness that comes over the players because they don’t seem to be necessarily psyched out by that, they just continue to play.  I think that is a good thing that they are able to focus, concentrate and kind of take the crowd and the noise and everything out of it and play winning football.  Every game has been a close game pretty much that we have won, I think so there is something to that.

 

Has this been your toughest season as a head coach, keeping this team together?

 

No, not really.  Our team hasn’t fallen apart, we have had a lot of injuries and a lot of different guys and have a lot of new guys.  With a combination of the young rookies that made our football team this year and all the injuries that we had to replace with guys that didn’t go through training camp with us.  We have four or five players that were not in camp.  So with all that said, it is actually been good that the nuts and bolts of the team have continued to move forward and so forth and know that if you keep playing, we can win some of these games.  We are a little bit under-manned with injuries that as you get healthier, than you can look to finish a lot stronger.

 

What is the situation going to be at running back on Sunday?

 

I think we will have an opportunity to make a decision on Rudi (Johnson) and so forth, so we’ll make those decisions come Sunday afternoon.

 

Based on the way (Kenny) Watson played, do you feel less inclined to have to rush Johnson back?

 

I don’t ever want to rush a player back.  I think the player has to show me that he is ready and then I have to make that decision.  But Kenny actually did nothing different than we expected Kenny to do so that is why Kenny has been here.  Every chance he gets an opportunity, he does well.

 

Is Chad (Johnson) a distraction at all on your team?

 

No, he is not a distraction on our team.  I think people want to continue to say that something has to be wrong.  There is always an excuse or reason given when you don’t win.  Unfortunately, right now he has been kind of put in that situation.  But his teammates know how hard he works and how hard he practices and the fact that he never misses a practice or anything and that is the way he is every day.  He wants to score touchdowns and celebrate and as long as he does it within the context of the rules, I have no problem with it.  When he goes outside of the rules and you can’t have the foreign things on the sidelines and he knows that, so those things he kind of got away with one, but since then it has not been an issue and I don’t think it will be an issue again.

 

What is your opinion on how Ben Roethlisberger is playing?

 

He is playing really good.  To me, what Ben has been able to do this season, I know he was excited with Bruce (Arians), and the fact that he was going to get a chance to throw the football a little bit more and they have done that.  The thing that has impressed me is he is avoiding the rush and when things break down, he has been making plays.  He has continued to make plays with his feet and get up and made good positive plays and keep drives alive, keep field position moving and he is playing really well.

 

Because of that, do you have to rush him differently?

 

Yes.  He makes so many plays when he is out of the context of the play and outside the pocket and so forth, you have to be conscious.  I told our guys today that he is a big, big, big Doug Flutie right now and they have to be conscious of that and keep him under raps. 

 

From what you saw of the Denver-Pittsburgh game, how was Denver able to take advantage of the Steelers defense a little bit?

 

I don’t know about taking advantage.   I think their quarterback also ran around and made a couple plays.  He made some unconventional plays that were able to keep drives alive and convert some third downs and I thought that seemed to be the difference there, that he just kept some things alive.  He hit some guys after he moved and he was able to find the open receiver and they made the catches.

 

What are your thoughts on Mike Tomlin?

 

I think Mike has done an excellent job.  He has taken over the football team, put his mark, his stamp on it from the time he started and with the changes that he has made.  He has the guys believing in him and obviously he had huge shoes to fill and he has come in and done it well.

 

Do you see many of those changes on defense, or does it look the same to you?

 

I don’t see a lot of changes defensively.  I think things that they continue to do under Dick LeBeau, they still continue to do and their players are playing very fast and at a very high level.

 

Why has T.J. Houshmandzadeh been the one catching more of the touchdowns this year?

 

T.J. has had a good year and it is the first time T.J. has played very game so far . I think that is one reason, and the fact that things, as they work and coverages roll different ways, T.J. sometimes can get singled up and he has made good on every opportunity he has had.  This is the healthiest he has been and for the last two weeks, he has been able to practice every day of the week.  He entered the season with a little bit of a sore knee and he has pushed through it and since the bye, he has come in and has done well.  He just keeps getting better.  He is a smart guy.  He is tough as nails and so I am glad.  He has worked hard.

 

 

Mike Tomlin suggested this week that you may have discovered something with (Robert) Geathers, what has he brought?

 

He is an athlete.  Obviously, with my background and how we used to look at guys and draft guys in Pittsburgh when I was there, Robert would fit that mold and that is what we have been looking for.  We drafted David Pollack a couple years ago in order to do that and unfortunately David got injured so he is not with us this year and so we were really missing that piece of the defense, a guy that can really set a tempo off the edge and make things happen.  Robert gives us that.

 

Why do you think this rivalry has become so bitter?

 

I don’t know.  Obviously, I coached there and grew up in Pittsburgh so I want to have a good showing every time we go.  It is a division game, we were fortunate enough to win the division two years ago.  The Steelers won it the year before that.  So we just kind of took what they had and won it once.  Last year, Baltimore won it.  I think the division is a close division.  It always has been a physical division and I think that makes a difference.  The teams over here play physical football.  That’s why we generally fare well when we go outside our division to play.

 

Can you talk about how your young cornerbacks have played?

 

Our two young guys, Leon (Hall) and Johnathan (Joseph), they are learning.  They are getting better.  They need to play at a very high level this week. They are playing against a really athletic and fast group of wideouts that do a great job catching the football and also running after the catch.  So we have a big challenge this week.

 

Is it an automatic that you will accept Chris Henry back on the team, or does he have something to prove to you?

 

He has to prove that he can be a productive part of the football team.  Chris has had a lot of things to take care of in his life, both personally and through the NFL.  Today was his first day he was able to come back and practice.  There comes now the opportunity to earn his spot back as far as being on time, being where he needs to be within the scope of what we do every day.  He obviously is doing things right NFL-wise in order for them to let him come back and begin practicing this week with this week and next week that he is still on suspension, so I am encouraged by that.  I know he has gone through a lot and I keep explaining to him that he is nearly at the end of the line so make sure you finish this thing the right way and do things and when you come back and you are allowed, you have to make sure you do things right because we am not going to, as I have said many times, base things on a guy if we can’t count on him, I cant count on him.  It is as simple as that.

 

What are your thoughts on Carson Palmer?  He has had nine picks, that is a lot?

 

It is and three of them have come at the end of games, unfortunately.  So those are things you would like to avoid but you know at the end of a football game when he is trying to make something happen.  I think that is three of them.  We had one bounce off a player and another we had a miscommunication on a route.  We have had more turnovers than we had almost this year that we had in one complete season, so we are paying attention to it and we have to keep going in and I am very comfortable with him.  I always remind him he can only score one touchdown on one play and it may take more than one play to do it, so be patient and let things happen. 

WIDE RECEIVER CHAD JOHNSON

I guess you don’t have to get up for this game?

 

No, not really.

 

Is this as bitter a rival as everybody has made it out to be?

 

Yes, I think so.  It is one that the entire city gets excited for.  We get excited for it.  It is what we call our chin strap game because you are going to need two chin straps because it is always a physical battle every time we play Pittsburgh.

 

Why do you think the Steelers have come to your place and been so successful recently?

 

I have no idea. 

 

Does that bug you a little bit that they have been able to come into your place and win?

 

Of course, you always want to be successful at home and win as many games at home as you can and they have been able to beat us a couple times coming here.  So in order for us to fix it, we are going to have to win.

 

Is there a major difference between the defense last year under Bill Cowher and the defense this year with Mike Tomlin as head coach?

 

There is no difference.  They are damned good.  They are very good.

 

Are they the best defense you see?

 

Yeah, one of them, easily one of them.

 

Mike Tomlin says Ike Taylor will not shadow you as he has done in the past.  Does that make a difference to you?

 

No, it doesn’t matter.  It doesn’t matter who is on me. 

 

What kind of player is Ike Taylor?  

 

Very good, very good.  I respect him a lot.  He is one of the better corners in the NFL.  I am really looking forward to the challenge.  Any time you go against a defense of the caliber, it will let us know where we are as an offense.

 

What did you make of what you saw that defense do, or what happened to that defense Sunday night in Denver?

 

I didn’t get a chance to watch film yet.  We are just getting out of practice so I haven’t seen any film on the game yet at all.

 

Is this do or die for you guys?

 

I don’t want to say do or die, it is a game that we have to go out here and win.

 

It is one where you have a chance to climb right back into the thick of things in the division, right?

 

Yeah, most definitely.

 

Ike Taylor says you don’t trash talk on the field, how come?

 

Too much energy.  I do all my talking before the game.

 

Are you going to dance or do anything else this week?

 

There is nothing to celebrate right now.

 

When would you allow yourself, back above .500, a couple wins in a row?  What would it take?

 

I don’t know.  I am not really focused on that right now.  I am focused on doing what I can to make sure we get back to .500 and continue to win games.  That is what my focus is right now.

 

A lot of the touchdowns seem to be going to T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Is it because he is open because guys are shadowing you, he is having a breakout year?  What is the reason for that?

 

I don’t know.  You guys know football.  You can figure it out.

 

There was a report this week that you would be traded next year.  Do you believe that?

 

There is always truth to everything that is written, always. 

 

Would you like to be traded?

 

Next question.

 

You sound downcast today.  Are you upset because you are not facing Joey Porter in a black and gold uniform?

 

I love 55.  That would have been fun.  There really isn’t anybody to talk to before the game now. 

 

Larry Foote doesn’t talk back to you at all?

 

Yeah, but it is not the same as talking with Joey. 

 

Has some of the intensity gone out of this game?

 

No, not at all.

 

Why was Joey so good before the game?

 

I don’t know.  It was just something about him that makes you want to go out there and start talking and keep talking.  I guess I’ll find somebody else to pick on.

 

Where did that come from with Kenny Watson last week?  That was a bit of a surprise?

 

Surprise?  It is a surprise to you guys.  Everybody knows he can do it.  I have seen him do it before.  It just so happens that he has had the opportunity to come in and show what he can do.  He looked real good.  He looked very good.