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Tuesday, January 14, 2003

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

The Steelers' season that ended Saturday fell short of expectations, but it was a gratifying one for team president Dan Rooney, who lauded the job done by Coach Bill Cowher.

	Bill Cowher reacts to a call Saturday during the Steelers' overtime loss against the Tennessee Titans in a divisional playoff game. (Matt Freed, Post-Gazette)

"I was very proud of them," said Rooney, who does not foresee large changes in personnel. "I thought this team played really, really well. They gave it everything they had."

The Steelers, preseason favorites to win the AFC championship and advance to the Super Bowl, fell two steps short of that when they lost in overtime at Tennessee, 34-31. As they had done several times this season, including their first playoff game against Cleveland, the Steelers came from behind, but they lost a three-point lead in the fourth quarter.

The Steelers began the season behind, as well, losing three of their first four. But they lost only two of their remaining 12 games to finish the regular season at 10-5-1 and win the AFC North Division.

"They played this game, the Titan game, better than any of the other teams against the bye," Rooney said. "They performed. ... We came back and showed that we have the ability to come back. I'm pretty proud of them. I think we have a lot to look forward to."

Rooney gave credit to Cowher for holding the team together when it opened at 1-3 and, among other things, for changing quarterbacks from Kordell Stewart to Tommy Maddox late in the third game of the season.

Rooney told reporters he believes Cowher remains a coach who can take a team to the Super Bowl, which the Steelers have not won the past 23 years.

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"Very, very much so," Rooney said. "I think Bill did an excellent job, maybe one of his best jobs.

"The way the thing came out, everybody had us on a plateau that we were automatically in the Super Bowl without playing any games. We struggled a little bit in the beginning because of the changes in the way people were attacking us. He came on and brought them back.

"We changed quarterbacks during the year, we had the ability to come back in games, and really did well. This is a tough league. There's a lot of competition. If we beat the Texans, an expansion team, maybe we had the bye. It's a very, very close competitive league. I think we were right there and Bill Cowher did a great job of keeping us there and motivating the team."

The 24-6 loss to Houston Dec. 8 was a low point of the season and prevented the Steelers from holding the top seed in the AFC and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. It forced them to play Cleveland in the first round Jan. 5, when they came back from 17 points down in the second half to win. But they had to play six days later in Nashville against the second-seeded Titans, who had not played since Dec. 29 because they earned a bye.

Two teams in each conference earn first-week byes -- the only major sport that uses them in the playoffs. Rooney would like to see that changed, although he's not sure how it would be done without adding two more teams to the playoffs, an idea he's against.

"I had something to do with it so it's hard to yell, but the bye really gives an advantage to a team," Rooney said. "Every team that had the bye won and every team but us got blown out. We can take that solace but still it's a loss. The bye is a tremendous advantage to a team. We should definitely look at it. I'm not for adding more teams or things like that, but we have to figure out a way to do that. I don't know how, exactly, at this time."

Rooney also wouldn't mind a change in the overtime rules.

"We've talked about maybe giving the team that loses the toss a chance to get the ball. You can put some restrictions on it. For instance, you could say if a team wins the toss and goes down and scores, the other team gets the ball but they have to do better than the other team. For instance, if they kick a field goal, you have to score a touchdown, things like that. There will be discussions."

Obviously disappointed at the overtime loss Saturday, Rooney would not criticize referee Ron Blum for calling a penalty on Dewayne Washington for running into Tennessee kicker Joe Nedney, a call that virtually assured the Titans of winning in overtime with a 26-yard field goal.

"There's no question there was contact and when there's contact he can make the call. I think in a situation like that it would have been better had he not made it but, hey, that's the way things are. ... I think the officials do a pretty good job. You get mad at them and things like that. I think there is some room for improvement. I think we should do what we can to help them but, basically, I'm not on the officials and say we should overreact because something happened in the Giants' game. ... I think we have a good league, a good business and we shouldn't be fooling around with it."

Neither will he fool around much with his roster, which has made the playoffs the past two seasons.

"I think this team is not an old team by any means," Rooney said. "I think they can go on from here and do well."