Hines Ward is under word watch to make sure Colts aren't agitated

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Hines Ward didn't enjoy being Chad Johnson, not even for one day.
Ward, often the Pittsburgh Steelers' most talkative player, spoke to reporters again Thursday after apparently being under an unofficial, Johnson-like gag order from the coaching staff Wednesday.
"There's a lot of story behind that," said Ward, the Steelers' co-MVP and four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver.
Was it something between him and a coach?
"Yep," Ward said.
Safe talk
Ward normally isn't one to issue incendiary comments about the opposition a la Johnson, the star receiver who reportedly was asked by Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis not to talk to reporters before two of the three Bengals-Steelers games this season.
Maybe the temporary no-talk zone surrounding Ward's locker was to make sure he didn't get too chatty before the biggest game of the season.
As a result, Ward didn't say anything that's liable to raise Steelers coach Bill Cowher's ire or wind up on the Indianapolis Colts' locker room bulletin board. Especially not when linebacker Joey Porter had already take care of that by complaining that the Colts "don't want to play smashmouth football, they want to trick you."
Ward himself is one of the NFL's most physical wide receivers, but to him, style matters not. If the Colts can win by playing the way they play, who cares?
"They're fast, from the front four to the secondary, and we've got to counter that," Ward said. "Their linebackers are really strong safeties, they rally around the ball real fast."
Didn't execute
And how do the Steelers counter the speed that bothered them so during their 26-7 loss to then-unbeaten Indianapolis on Nov. 28?
"Just hit it down their throats," said Ward, momentarily sounding like Porter. "They've got great team speed. When we were down 10-7 against them before, we still had a chance in that ball game to go out and make plays. We just didn't do that."
One of the Steelers' biggest failures in that earlier loss, Ward said, was not controlling defensive back Bob Sanders. The 5-foot-8 free safety made nine tackles and frequently disrupted what the Steelers were attempting to do, either by altering a pass route or getting into their backfield.
"No. 21, we've got to contain him -- he wreaks havoc in there," Ward said. "We've got to single him out."
Ward seems as unaccustomed to being in this not-supposed-to-win role as he does to being quiet for a day. This is the first time in his eight NFL seasons in which the Steelers have been a prohibitive underdog in a playoff game.
"They have a dominant team, a great coach, the defense is solid," he said. "But we're not going to go in there and be intimidated by where we're playing."
His opinion
While that loss in Indianapolis was the Steelers' worst all season, Ward said the game was closer than it may seem.
After the 80-yard Peyton Manning-to-Marvin Harrison TD pass on the Colts' first play from scrimmage, their only other touchdown came after Cowher's unsuccessful gamble to start the second half with an onside kick.
Also, the Steelers are healthier now than they were for their earlier game, when quarterback Ben Roethlisberger returned after missing three games following knee surgery.
"Now we're going up to Indy fully loaded," Ward said. "Nobody's giving us a chance. The pressure's on them, it's not on us, because they already beat us."