Steelers Notebook: Less time in thin air, the better
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=230 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=210><CENTER>
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</CENTER></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Bill Cowher won't take his team into Denver until around 3:30 p.m. Saturday, not enough time to get used to the thin air but also not as long to be affected by it either.
Former Steelers coach Chuck Noll stopped taking his team to Denver two days before it played the Broncos and got them there the afternoon before. He said experts told him if you don't have at least a week to get used to the mile-high altitude, it was better to spend as little time in it as possible.
"The biggest thing is hydrating [and] making sure you get enough food in your body," said Cowher, whose Steelers teams have played in Denver twice, most recently in 2003, and who traveled there annually as Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator for three years. "We'll stick to our normal schedule, a lot like New England did last week. We'll get out there late Saturday, and we'll play Sunday. I don't think it will have much of an effect."
Cowher was Cleveland's secondary coach in 1987 when the Browns played the AFC championship in Denver. The league required the visiting team then to be in town by Friday. Browns coach Marty Schottenheimer decided to take them on Tuesday to Albuquerque, N.M., so they could practice a few days in the thin air before moving on to Denver.
Did it help?
"We lost the game," Cowher said. "The Fumble. Everybody remembers The Fumble drive. I guess that answers that question."
With Denver leading 38-31, Cleveland's Ernest Byner fumbled at the 3 with a little more than a minute left and the Browns lost.
Cowher said he also didn't recall the thin air affecting the Steelers' 17-14 loss in 2003, when injuries forced him to shuffle offensive linemen around on virtually every series.
"I didn't think that it was," Cowher said. "That's when we were substituting linemen instead of receivers on third down. I don't think [the thin air] will be much of a factor."
Said cornerback Bryant McFadden, "As long as we have our oxygen tanks on the sideline then we'll be OK."
They're in the money
Each Steelers player and coach has earned $73,000 for winning the first two playoff games and can double that with two more victories.
Each player in the wild-card playoff round earns $17,000 and another $19,000 for the divisional playoff round. Each player in the AFC championship game makes $37,000.
The winner of the Super Bowl then makes another $73,000, while the loser earns $38,000.
While that's good money, it's also less per game for many players than they earn in the regular season.
For example, even Jerome Bettis, who took a big pay cut to play for $1.5 million this season, earned $93,750 on average for 16 games. That means he was paid 18.1 percent of what he usually made during a game in the regular season for the first playoff game. Even the Super Bowl winner's share is less than a regular season game for him. And the Steelers have players who make two and three times more than Bettis.
Quick hits
Denver is 9-0 at home this season, including the victory last week against New England; the Steelers are 8-2 on the road.
Ben Roethlisberger might have made the biggest tackle in Steelers history Sunday, but he couldn't even make the team's official statistics for having done so. Roethlisberger is not given credit for a tackle in the Steelers' stats because all they list are defensive and special teams statistics, and his was made on offense. He was, however, given credit in the game statistics in Indianapolis for a solo tackle, and tight end Jerame Tuman was given an assist on the play under the heading of miscellaneous tackles.
Denver defensive coordinator Larry Coyer was Pitt's defensive coordinator from 1997-99.
Injury report
Cowher listed Roethlisberger as probable again with a thumb injury. Television cameras showed medical personnel working on Roethlisberger's arm in the fourth quarter Sunday. Is his arm OK? "Yeah," Cowher answered. "He's probable with a thumb." The full Steelers injury list: LB James Harrison (ankle) is doubtful; LB James Farrior (calf), DE Kimo von Oelhoffen (knee), Roethlisberger (thumb), DE Travis Kirschke (groin), CB Deshea Townsend (knee), LB Joey Porter (hip), CB Chidi Iwuoma (shoulder), LB Larry Foote (knee) are probable.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=230 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=210><CENTER>
</CENTER></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Bill Cowher won't take his team into Denver until around 3:30 p.m. Saturday, not enough time to get used to the thin air but also not as long to be affected by it either.
Former Steelers coach Chuck Noll stopped taking his team to Denver two days before it played the Broncos and got them there the afternoon before. He said experts told him if you don't have at least a week to get used to the mile-high altitude, it was better to spend as little time in it as possible.
"The biggest thing is hydrating [and] making sure you get enough food in your body," said Cowher, whose Steelers teams have played in Denver twice, most recently in 2003, and who traveled there annually as Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator for three years. "We'll stick to our normal schedule, a lot like New England did last week. We'll get out there late Saturday, and we'll play Sunday. I don't think it will have much of an effect."
Cowher was Cleveland's secondary coach in 1987 when the Browns played the AFC championship in Denver. The league required the visiting team then to be in town by Friday. Browns coach Marty Schottenheimer decided to take them on Tuesday to Albuquerque, N.M., so they could practice a few days in the thin air before moving on to Denver.
Did it help?
"We lost the game," Cowher said. "The Fumble. Everybody remembers The Fumble drive. I guess that answers that question."
With Denver leading 38-31, Cleveland's Ernest Byner fumbled at the 3 with a little more than a minute left and the Browns lost.
Cowher said he also didn't recall the thin air affecting the Steelers' 17-14 loss in 2003, when injuries forced him to shuffle offensive linemen around on virtually every series.
"I didn't think that it was," Cowher said. "That's when we were substituting linemen instead of receivers on third down. I don't think [the thin air] will be much of a factor."
Said cornerback Bryant McFadden, "As long as we have our oxygen tanks on the sideline then we'll be OK."
They're in the money
Each Steelers player and coach has earned $73,000 for winning the first two playoff games and can double that with two more victories.
Each player in the wild-card playoff round earns $17,000 and another $19,000 for the divisional playoff round. Each player in the AFC championship game makes $37,000.
The winner of the Super Bowl then makes another $73,000, while the loser earns $38,000.
While that's good money, it's also less per game for many players than they earn in the regular season.
For example, even Jerome Bettis, who took a big pay cut to play for $1.5 million this season, earned $93,750 on average for 16 games. That means he was paid 18.1 percent of what he usually made during a game in the regular season for the first playoff game. Even the Super Bowl winner's share is less than a regular season game for him. And the Steelers have players who make two and three times more than Bettis.
Quick hits
Injury report
Cowher listed Roethlisberger as probable again with a thumb injury. Television cameras showed medical personnel working on Roethlisberger's arm in the fourth quarter Sunday. Is his arm OK? "Yeah," Cowher answered. "He's probable with a thumb." The full Steelers injury list: LB James Harrison (ankle) is doubtful; LB James Farrior (calf), DE Kimo von Oelhoffen (knee), Roethlisberger (thumb), DE Travis Kirschke (groin), CB Deshea Townsend (knee), LB Joey Porter (hip), CB Chidi Iwuoma (shoulder), LB Larry Foote (knee) are probable.
