It doesn't matter to me that the Steelers have thoroughly manhandled teams such as the Browns, Bengals, the Vinny-less Jets, and the suddenly stinky Jaguars. What matters is that they have given up a measly 16 points during their 4 game winning streak.

Words such as "Swagger", and "Dominating" are being heard for the first time in a couple of years. And to me, it sounds pretty good.

They have shut down the likes of Eddie George, Corey Dillon, and Curtis Martin. They have laid a beating on the opposing QB's, and have sent 3 of them to an early shower. The swagger is back, and the Steel Curtain is being taken out of storage.

They are back to playing "Steelers Football", and the rest of the league is starting to take notice.

Jason Gildon once again led an agrresive unit that found themselves in the Browns backfield more often than Browns RB Travis Prentice. They may only be the expansion Browns, but the Steelers held them to 104 total yards of Offense. 104 TOTAL yards! I don't care who they were playing. That is a pretty astounding figure. Jerome Bettis had 105 yards rushing himself.

In fact, the Browns only passed midfield once, and that was thanks to an unnecessary roughing penalty against Troy Edwards on a punt return. The Steelers had the ball nearly twice as long as the Browns with 39:35 of possession time to just 20:25. Their defense snuffed the Browns' running game, and crippled their passing game.

Doug Pederson, was 9 of 20 for 61 yards with three interceptions. I don't think Tim Couch would have fared much better. This Defense is playing error free football, and gaining confidence by the week.

That being said, if the Steelers want to continue their walk to the post season, they better find some offense in a hurry. Kent Graham was rightfully benched early in the 2nd quarter, and handed the reigns once again to Kordell Stewart. He didn't fare much better completing only 7 of 13 attempts for 74 yards. Pretty pedestrian numbers for a starting QB in the NFL.

But, that seems to be Bill Cowhers game plan when Kordell is in the game.

Here is what Cowher had to say after the game. "It's not pretty football, it's not ... Rams football, where you expect guys scoring every two to three minutes. We're using up a lot of the clock, and that's how we play the game ."

He's right, it's not pretty. But one of these days the Steelers are going to actually have to score a few TD's to win the game. When that happens, I hope the Offense will be ready to respond. So far, it has been a good game plan. Run the Bus. Bring in Kris Brown to kick the field goal. Let the Defense shut them down. Mix in the occasional Bettis TD run. Repeat.

That has worked good during the 4 game winning streak, but one of these days our high priced, 1st round pair of Wide Receivers are going to have to start producing. My guess is that it better happen this week in Baltimore. You just know their swarming Defence is going to do just what it did in the first meeting. Stuff the Bus, and force the QB to make some plays in the air. In the first meeting, the air attack was grounded as well. The result- Baltimore 16 Pittsburgh 0.

Cowher has decided to go with Kordell in this game. Good decision. If Kordell can't get anything going with his arm, he might be able to with his feet. I don't expect a lot out of our Offense this week. Baltimore is too stingy. But I do hope that our team continues to grow, and the Offense gives us a ray of hope that they are ready to explode. One or two big plays may be all we need.

Our Defense is pretty stingy too.

by SteelerGil (October 23, 00)