NFL Steelers eye November sweeps

In November, the Steelers usually launch or extend a winning skein that propels them into the playoffs.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Just as in the TV industry, the Pittsburgh Steelers hope it's time for the November sweeps.
If one thing is predictable about the Steelers during coach Bill Cowher's 11-year tenure, it's that November is the time they often launch or extend a winning streak that carries them into the playoffs.
Last season, it was a seven-game streak, one that mirrored another seven-game run in 1994. In 1995, they won eight straight following a 3-4 start and wound up in the Super Bowl. In 1997 and 1992, they won seven of eight.
With only one winning-record team, Atlanta (4-3), on their November schedule, plus the Browns (4-4), Titans (3-4) and Bengals (0-7), the Steelers think they're in prime-time position to build on their current run of three straight victories and four in five games.
The Steelers swept their four November games under Cowher in 1994 and 1995, and were 3-1 in November in 2001 and 1996 and 4-1 in 1992. They went on to the playoffs each of those five seasons.
Steelers won last time
The Steelers play Sunday at Cleveland, a rematch of their earlier 16-13 overtime victory in Pittsburgh.
"We have an opportunity to finally tie this up," safety Lee Flowers said. "We're starting to creep out of that hole we dug ourselves in when we were 0-2, and we want to keep our same focus and same intensity -- and stay out of the papers."
That means no trash talking, no belittling of the opposition and, he said, no self-promotion in which the Steelers talk about the playoffs much too early. Exactly the same mistakes they made before being beaten by New England and Oakland to start the season.
"That's the biggest thing for us right now, to stay humble," Flowers said. "That's where we got ourselves in trouble, when we started thinking we were better than we really were."
Feel fortunate
The Steelers realize how close they were to being 0-3 -- and how close Cleveland came to being 3-0, a start that might have given the Browns the confidence to hold them off the rest of the season.
"We've always played Cleveland pretty well," Flowers said. "But we have to understand they're riding pretty high right now and, if they beat us, they're on top. They've got a lot of incentive right now.
"With a win Sunday, they [the Browns] could start really talking playoffs," Flowers said. "For us, we want to keep our momentum going. We understand the magnitude of this game and that's how we're going to treat it."