What has changed since the Steelers played the Browns last?

A lot of things. Record, quarterback, you can take your pick. After we played you guys, we traded Charlie Frye and picked a definite quarterback. We acknowledged Derek Anderson as our guy and he became the guy for us to put all of our faith in and we moved forward. Establishing a guy a quarterback has definitely helped this offense, which has also helped the team. It’s just the attitude that even if we practice hard during the offseason, even though we told ourselves things were going to be different, we are going to approach the game different this year, we still have to go out there and physically perform. We have to physically do things, as oppose to saying we were better and saying we were going to do this. I think we have taken a lot of initiative in the last eight weeks and like I said, it is happening good for us so far.

Where there doubt with your quarterback initially?

No, it was nothing like that. It was just a situation where coach (Crennel) never picked a starter. There was never a guy that was going to be our starter. We had Derek (Anderson) one game, Charlie (Frye) one game and we were flipping quarters one game another game to see who was going to be the quarterback. Then there is talk about Brady Quinn. So from the quarterback standpoint, from their mindset, it is hard for them to go ahead and play when they don’t know if they are going to be the guy. A guy like Charlie was drafted here and Derek (Anderson) wasn’t drafted here and they drafted Brady Quinn, who was a hot shot rookie and a first round draft pick, so there was a lot of confusion going on. Nobody could really progress or move forward before they knew what was going on. Then from a players standpoint, it is hard to find out who you are going to get rhythm with. Am I talking to Derek Anderson? Am I talking to Charlie? Am I talking to Brady? Should I get some extra reps with Brady or some extra reps with DA? From an offensive standpoint, it was really difficult, especially with learning a new system. This is the first year we learned this system and we want to have a guy that we can progress with. We don’t want to have a guy for one game, then have another guy for another game. After they made that move, it made a lot of things a lot better and a lot more clear.

Were you guys saying, “Here we go again,” after that first game?

Not at all, because we knew that wasn’t the team we were. We gave Pittsburgh a lot of credit because they did the things necessary that they had been doing in the previous contest against us. They played well. They were given the short field and when they were given the short field, they capitalized. With that said, we knew that was not the team we were. We knew that was not the team we were going to be at the end of the day. We were mad we allowed the game to get out of hand like that and get to that point, but we were never worried, in terms of our season. We said, “It is one game. Let’s learn from this and let’s learn that we can’t say it. We have to go out there and physically be about it. “

Were you surprised at how badly the Steelers beat the Ravens and are they beatable at Heinz Field?

Any team in the league is beatable. It is just a matter of your preparation. It is a matter of the opportunities that you take advantage of and no I wasn’t surprised at all by the outcome of the Monday night game. Pittsburgh is playing well this year. They have done a lot of very good things. They are playing a solid style of football on all offense, defense and special teams and the Baltimore Ravens are playing terrible. Look at what they have done through the course of the season. They are not playing well at all. They are not the Baltimore Ravens people are used to seeing and they played without a lot of starters on Monday Night Football; two corners, Pro Bowl corners and a Pro Bowl tight end. Those things will affect you.

What makes the Steelers’ defense go?

The energy. I believe the energy  that they have. Troy Polamalu is the bell-cow of their defense. Ben Roethlisberger is the bell-cow of the offense, but it is just a lot of energy. You guys are playing with a lot of excitement, a lot of energy and a lot of love and enjoyment for the game. For the defense, they just get guys off the field. That is their whole mentality. Troy has gone public saying that. He said the way to beat them is to keep their defense on the field, because that is what their strength is. They get guys three and out. They get them off the field. They get their defense off the field. They keep their defense rested and they put the ball in the offenses hand quite a bit and they have a good offense. The more you do that, the more you demean a team until they give up. They can be beat. It doesn’t matter where you play them. If you do the necessary things, like Arizona and Denver and if you do these things right you will beat them.

How big of a game is this for the Browns?

Each week, all of our games are huge. Our most important game of the year is always our next one. It just so happens that this weeks game happens to be against our rival, interdivision opponent, where we’re trying to tie or lead or move ahead a little bit in terms of a spot in the division. We’re trying to move up, trying to tie you guys. This is going to be a big game for us. It is going to be a good test. We have obviously won some games in a row, but this will be a great match at a great time for us to see where we are.

Are you guys fan favorites?

I don’t worry too much about that. That is not my field of expertise. That’s not why I play the game. I don’t know. The Cavs went all the way to the finals. The Indians went to the World Series. With that said, we have a lot to live up to and play for, as far as getting to that stage. Right now we are just trying to take it game-by-game and see where that gets us.

Does it feel good to be 5-3 coming into Pittsburgh?

It definitely feels good. This city has been waiting a long time for a winning Browns’ team, even through the Cavs and Indians doing their thing. This is still a Browns town and a football town, so the fact that we’re winning some games and have a winning record right now, this town is beginning to come alive. It is beginning to light up. There have been a lot of good things and it has been fun to be here, because I have been here for three years before, where it wasn’t so fun. We weren’t winning any games and there still was a lot of respect and a lot of support out there, so I am glad to be having a winning season so far and we’ll see how it plays out.

Can you talk about Kellen Winslow and how you two compliment each other?

Kellen and I are best friends when it comes to being on the field. He and I get each other open. He and I allow each other to do some of the things that we do. You key in on me, which means you have to play a zone like coverage, which leaves the middle of the field open a lot of times, which is where his playground is. If you key in on the middle of the field and try to stop the run and try to stop Jamal (Lewis), you leave myself and Joe Jurevicius and Tim Carter one-on-one and Kellen one-on-one. We have a lot of compliments offensively period, not just Kellen and myself. It is hard to stop us as a whole. It is very hard. It is going to be fun and I love playing with those guys because we love to work together. We all work well together in getting each other open.

What did Pittsburgh do in Week 1 to keep you guys in check?

We played bad. It is not necessarily about what Pittsburgh did. We played bad. We knew what they were going to do. We knew they were going to run in the game and apply some pressure. We knew they were going to play jump coverage to me sometimes and we practiced it. Everything we practiced against, they did. They didn’t give us any magic coverages and they didn’t give us any magic blitzes. They did exactly what we practiced against, but on game day we just folded. We did not play how we practice. We did not play well and Pittsburgh beat us. We know that and going into this game we know what we did wrong. We just didn’t play.

Is there anything you can gather from Ricardo Colclough?

That is one thing about me. I don’t know about somebody else’s standpoint, but I never care about whoever comes from one team and asking him what you can gather about this guy or what can you tell me about this guy, because I do film study myself. I don’t need the word of an outside guy giving it to me. I am talking about studying my film every night. I put in about an extra hour and a half at the house, when I am bored, doing nothing else but playing with my Rottweiler. I am watching film. I’m checking out Ike Taylor. I’m watching Troy Polamalu come in and come out. I’m watching all of the little late hits that (Anthony) Smith does. You know the little late things, so I know to keep my head on the swivel. I watch all these things, so I don’t need a Ricardo.

Do you think Anthony Smith is a dirty player?

No, I don’t think Anthony Smith is a dirty player. I just think he is young and full of energy. He is energetic and likes to let people know that he’s there. He likes to let people know he will hit you, just to keep your head on a swivel. Just so you’re worried about him and not so much the football and when the ball comes, you might be looking at him and the ball might get intercepted. I don’t think he’s a dirty player at all. I just think he is full of energy and loves the game.