COACH JOHN HARBAUGHWhat did you see from Pittsburgh offensively against New England and do you expect to see any of that tweaked approach that they did differently?I think is it is going to be real unpredictable if you are asking me how many times we think they are going to run or how many times they are going to throw. The plans do pretty much vary from week-to-week depending on who they are playing, and situations and circumstances in the game change it as the game goes on. So that is pretty unpredictable. But I am sure their game plan will be very specific to us in all three phases, just like they do every week against everybody.
Do you feel like the win over Pittsburgh in Week One meant more than just one victory for you guys?No, it counts as one victory. They don't give you more than one when you win a game.
Is it as simple as whoever turns the ball over less is going to win this game?I think that is going to go a long way, obviously, in determining it because I think it is pretty much true in almost every game when you have two evenly matched teams, and it has definitely been the case historically in this game. But there will be more to it than that, obviously.
What did you see from Ben Roethlisberger from Week One to now? Is he a totally different quarterback in your eye?No, I think he has always been a great quarterback. There are always games that you have that are tough for you. Guys fight every week to be the best they can and he is the best at that, as far as I am concerned. He is as good as anybody in the National Football League. He is a great quarterback, he has proved it, and he is playing the way he always plays. He is just a great player.
How does it affect your game planning when there is all the uncertainty on how the Steelers will line up on defense and use their linebackers?It doesn't change much for us. We know what we know and we can't know what we can't know. So we will prepare for their defense. I think you prepare for all possibilities. You assume those guys will be in there. My assumption is always that the guy is going to play, so we will just see how it goes.
LINEBACKER TERRELL SUGGSDo you think the Steelers will try to do something similar to your team, like they did against New England?Who knows? We really don't know what the game plan is until we are in the mix. Considering what happened in the game, we are expecting a lot from them. We are going to act accordingly and play accordingly.
Why have you played your best football against the Steelers?I consider Heinz Field my Madison Square Garden, in my eyes. If you are an opponent and you want to go into a hostile environment, what better place than Heinz Field. I am definitely the bad guy. I think throughout the league, with your guys' fans, I don't think there is a player that they hate more than me. But I love that. I love playing at Heinz Field, even though the fans hate me. Everything about the game, they bring it. They are a big part of the game. We are even looking forward to that song (Renegade) in the fourth quarter. It's going to be fun.
How much of a difference does Max Starks make?I have always thought the highest of Max. I always thought Max was really good. When they let him go I was surprised. He's back. He is my enemy but even enemies can show respect. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Max.
Is the Steelers' offense more threatening this season than last season, particularly with their young receivers?They've always had the burner. They've always had a (Mike) Wallace. He's definitely going to try to pop the top on the defense. He opens a lot of things up for them with his speed and his threat of the deep ball. Heath Miller is definitely one of the finest tight ends in the NFL, so you have to deal with him. Just with the quickness of 84 (Antonio Brown) and 88 (Emmanuel Sanders), they always pose problems. This is the only team that I've ever considered having our hands full with, because with the pass and run alike. There are a lot of teams that do one thing better than the other but they are pretty good at doing both. This is definitely a heated, hated rivalry. We are built for them, and they are built for us. I think we are the only two teams that can play each other the way we do.
Is having a good defense the only means of survival in the AFC North?The defense is a means of survival in every division, if you don't have the pretty boy from up north. If you don't have him, then you better have a good defense. It all showed last week. Even that won't get it done for you. If you are 32nd in defense, you are not going to be a pretty good team at all. Usually you have a chance if you have the NFL's golden boy on your team but with that aside, you definitely have to have a defense to make any kind of run.
