Bentley, Dyson share notes on how to beat Pittsburgh

KIRKLAND, Wash. (AP) -- The Seahawks are about to thank Kevin Bentley.
Not for beating up and effectively removing Carolina star receiver Steve Smith from the NFC championship. They've already done that during a joyous postgame celebration last Sunday.
No, the Seahawks will soon be glad to discover the reserve linebacker, a former Cleveland Brown, kept handwritten notes on the eight games he played against the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2002-04.
They may even convene a study hall around him before the Feb. 5 Super Bowl.
"Oh, I've got lots of stuff," said Bentley, a 2002 Northwestern graduate who's about to use his degree in communication studies. "I keep all my notes on every game I play."
He and starting cornerback Andre Dyson are the two Seahawks with the most experience playing the AFC champions. That means only they could explain to their new mates why this Super Bowl will be a blue-collar experience -- and not just because of the uniforms Seattle will be wearing.
Dyson, a former Tennessee Titan also in his first year with Seattle, played the Steelers four times from 2001-03 -- including once in the AFC divisional playoffs.
The Seahawks beat Pittsburgh at Qwest Field on Nov. 2, 2003 in their only matchup in the last six seasons.
Smash-mouth football
Bentley and Dyson both played within the same division as Pittsburgh -- though Dyson's Titans quit playing the Steelers twice each season in 2002, when the league went to four divisions in each conference and put Tennessee into the new AFC South.
So what lessons do they have to share?
Tighten all equipment straps. Especially the one under the chin.
"Oh, man," Dyson said, sighing and shaking his head slightly. "That was our grudge match. It used to be a war. No matter when we played, no matter what the score was, it was a war."
Bentley and Dyson also have unique perspectives to offer because they have seen both sides of Pittsburgh's still-dynamic offense: the smash-mouth, running-heavy one and the finesse-filled, creative-passing one.
Most of the Pacific Northwest -- possibly including much of the Seahawks' locker room -- think of Jerome Bettis' rugged runs and a general, mashing style of play when they think of the Steelers. But Pittsburgh ran for just 90 yards while second-year quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw for 275 to beat Denver and win the AFC championship last Sunday.
Different style
That's more like what Pittsburgh was in 2003, when Bentley and Dyson won two of their three games against the Steelers. Then-starting quarterback Tommy Maddox attempted a franchise-record 519 passing attempts and threw for 3,414 yards, second-most in Pittsburgh history.
"And you saw how they played that year," Bentley said Wednesday, referring to the Steelers' 6-10 disaster.
But the next year, coach Bill Cowher rededicated his team to the running game. The Steelers went from 1,488 yards rushing -- its lowest in over three decades -- in 2003 back to a more Steel City-like 2,464 in '04, second-most in the league.
This season, they were fifth in rushing with 2,223 yards. They were 24th in passing with 2,926.
"They used to spread you out and run any play imaginable," Dyson said. "They'd give the ball to anyone. The water boy used to get the ball. They'd line up in all kinds of formations -- it was just a maze.
"But now, they establish the run a lot more. And they still have 'The Bus,' Bettis. It's more power football."
Dyson said the NFC offense to which Pittsburgh appears most similar is division-rival St. Louis because of the Rams' multiple playmakers outside and rugged runner Steven Jackson inside.
To Dyson and Bentley, that means the only finesse the Seahawks may see at the Super Bowl is if they peek out the locker room door at the pregame show. They can forget the halftime act -- that's the rough-and-tumble Rolling Stones.
"I mean, they will come out and try to intimidate you. They'll try to get the big hits early," Bentley said of the Steelers. "But once the game settles in, you just play football."
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