STEELERS Maddox reverses passing trend

Pittsburgh now prefers to throw on offense.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Tommy Maddox hasn't just turned the Pittsburgh Steelers' season around since replacing Kordell Stewart at quarterback. He's given them a dramatically different personality.
For the first time since coach Bill Cowher's hiring in 1992 -- and since Terry Bradshaw's last few seasons in the early 1980s -- the Steelers (4-3) appear ready to go down the stretch as a team that prefers to pass rather than to run.
The transition is evident in the growing statistics of receivers Plaxico Burress and Hines Ward and the diminishing numbers of their running backs, especially the injured Jerome Bettis.
Bettis' chances for a seventh consecutive 1,000-yard season took a hit when a sprained knee sidelined him Sunday in Baltimore. He also isn't expected to play Sunday at Cleveland (4-4).
Even if he returns Nov. 10 against Atlanta, Bettis must average 85 yards over the final eight games to reach 1,000 again. That's a demanding pace for a running back who has been healthy for only five games since injuring his groin 11 months ago.
Horrible start
Bettis' falloff is a result not only of the Steelers' poor start, when they fell behind New England and Oakland early and spent most of those games throwing, but a greater emphasis on getting the ball downfield.
Burress made only two catches in two games with Stewart at quarterback, but has 30 catches in four-plus games since Maddox took over. Ward has 46 catches and could break his own team single-season record of 91.
The last four games, the Steelers have thrown the ball 119 times and run it 119 times. That's a big change from last season, when they ran an average of 10 plays more than they threw it.
"Obviously, they are throwing the ball more with Tommy Maddox," Browns coach Butch Davis said. "He has an outstanding supporting cast. He makes smart decisions. You don't see him forcing balls into coverage and making dumb plays."
Luxury lead
The Steelers ran 29 times in winning 31-18 Sunday in Baltimore, with Amos Zereoue gaining 53 yards, but a 28-3 lead gave them the luxury of not having to be creative offensively in the second half.
The fast start resulted mostly from Maddox's hitting his first 11 passes, with Burress making two touchdown catches before being ejected for his role in a second-quarter skirmish.
"Mike [Mularkey, the offensive coordinator] calls an unbelievable game and does such a good job of keeping defenses guessing that it makes it easy for me," Maddox said. "I tell him all the time, you call them and I'll chuck them."
The Steelers' defensive starters said the improved quarterback play is making it easier on them because they're no longer hustling back onto the field following three-and-out sequences by the offense.
"That is the thing I like right now," Cowher said. "We are throwing the ball efficiently, we are running the ball efficiently and we are not turning it over and taking foolish penalties."
Since being held to 37 points in three games with Stewart, the Steelers have averaged 31 points in four games with Maddox. The Steelers are 4-1 since Maddox took over, counting the overtime victory he directed after replacing Stewart late in the fourth quarter Sept. 29 against Cleveland.
"We're putting up a lot more points than we put up in the past," linebacker Joey Porter said. "It's going to be hard to beat us when we're playing with a lead."