Cowher says team needs to keep composure

He's concerned after he felt the team stepped over the line in Cincinnati.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher often talks about walking a fine line, usually to describe the tiny differences that separate winning from losing.
This time, he is concerned his team might have stepped over that imaginary line during a taunting-filled playoff victory Sunday in Cincinnati.
Cowher on Tuesday defended defensive lineman Kimo von Oelhoffen's hit that sidelined Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer with a badly injured left knee, and the coach said there is no basis to call the Steelers a dirty team.
"No one felt worse about it than Kimo or, really, our football team," Cowher said. "We have a lot of respect for that football team."
Lost composure
However, Cowher acknowledged some players lost their composure during the 31-17 victory, which featured several shouting matches and a visible air of tension following Palmer's injury.
Cowher said the Steelers can't afford such lapses in judgment during Sunday's divisional playoff game in Indianapolis.
Cowher didn't name any names, but undoubtedly was referring to All-Pro safety Troy Polamalu, who drew a costly 15-yard unsportsmanslike conduct penalty for jamming a football in the face of Bengals center Rich Braham.
The penalty came after a third-down incompletion, and the Bengals took advantage of it to score a touchdown and take a 17-7 lead they later lost.
"There's a fine line between going in there and being emotional and allowing it to have an adverse effect, which I think happened to us last week," Cowher said. "We settled down more in the second half of that game but we lost our composure at times.
Must keep emotion
"I don't want us to lose our emotion, but we can't lose our composure. There's a fine line and at times we kind of crossed that, but we have to play with that same emotion, that same level of desperation or else we are not going to move on."
No doubt aware some players were watching his televised news conference on their day off, Cowher challenged them to play their best game of the season -- something he said was a must to beat the Colts.
The Steelers lost in Indianapolis 26-7 on Nov. 28 despite limiting the Colts to one touchdown over the final three-plus quarters following an 80-yard Peyton Manning to Marvin Harrison touchdown pass on the Colts' first play from scrimmage.
The Steelers also were bothered by the crowd noise inside the RCA Dome, which led to five false-start penalties.
Cowher's decision to attempt an onside kick to start the second half also proved costly when the Colts recovered, giving them a short field on a drive that ended with Manning's 12-yard scoring pass to Bryan Fletcher.
"We're playing the No. 1 seed in the AFC and in many people's eyes the No. 1 team in the National Football League," Cowher said. "We're going to have to play so much better than we played the last time we played them, and we're going to have to play better than we played last week.
Needs flawless effort
"It's going to take a flawless effort on our part. We're going to have to bring everything we have and more."
To Cowher, that means limiting turnovers and getting the same balance between the run and the pass the Steelers have had while averaging 29.5 points in their last six games. They also need more mistake-free play from Ben Roethlisberger, who has been intercepted only twice during the Steelers' five-game winning streak
The solution to handling the crowd noise is simple, Cowher said: Control the momentum and tempo. The Steelers have been one of the NFL's best road teams the last two seasons, winning 14 of 17, including seven of nine this season.
Another obstacle for the Steelers is their recent inability to win more than one playoff game in a season. They have opened each of their eight playoff appearances since the 1994 season by winning their first game, but have won their second game, either in the divisional round or the AFC championship game, only once.
"When you're in a hostile environment, and you're dealing with the finality of the playoffs, you're the underdog. You are. Face it," Cowher said. "We understand that going in.
"We're going to go in there and give it our best chance. You lose and you go home, but it's been that way the last five weeks. We understand the level of desperation that we have to play at, and it's going to take our best football. We've got to be able to stay focused."
Wilson out
The Steelers will be without Quincy Wilson, the wide receiver and kick returner who will have surgery today to repair a broken fibula. Wilson was replaced by wide receiver Lee Mays, who has spent most of the last three seasons with the team.
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