Steelers take control in division

Pittsburgh will play just two more teams with winning records.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
CLEVELAND -- Halfway through the NFL season that began with two humiliating losses on national television, the Pittsburgh Steelers (5-3) are rolling toward their seventh division title in 11 seasons under Bill Cowher.
Sunday's 23-20 victory at Cleveland Browns Stadium was the Steelers' fourth straight win and has opened up a game-and-a-half lead over the Browns (4-5) and a two-game lead over the Baltimore Ravens (3-5).
"It was a big game for us to win a division game on the road," said Steelers quarterback Tommy Maddox after improving to 4-1 since replacing Kordell Stewart as starter. "At the halfway point, we are excited about where we are, but we know that with eight games left, we have to continue to get better and continue to play as hard as we are now."
Wide receiver Hines Ward, who caught nine passes for 79 yards and a touchdown, called Sunday's win "very big. We put a lot of separation between us and the second-place team."
In control
The Steelers improved to 4-0 in AFC North games and own the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Ravens and Browns.
"We want to control our destiny -- we don't want to have to depend on anybody else," Ward said.
Safety Lee Flowers and wide receiver Plaxico Burress said the opening losses to the New England Patriots and Oakland Raiders are a distant memory.
"We've got ourselves some breathing room after that jam we created in the first couple of weeks," Flowers said. "We need to stay humble, enjoy this win tonight and get ready for Atlanta next week."
Burress said the 0-2 start is something "we don't even look at anymore. We're just taking one week at a time, one play at a time. That's been our approach for the past five weeks.
"We just need to keep playing together and there is no telling where we will end up when the season is over."
The reason for Pittsburgh's optimism is a weak remaining schedule that contains just two teams with winning records: the Atlanta Falcons (5-3) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-2).
Among the teams coming to Heinz Field over the next eight weeks are the Ravens, Houston Texans (2-6), Cincinnati Bengals (1-7) and Carolina Panthers (3-5).
Road games are to Tennessee (4-4), Jacksonville (3-5) and Tampa Bay.
"We still have got a lot of season left," Maddox said. "We're excited about where we are, but with eight games left, we know we have to continue to work to get better."
Maddox solid
Cowher assessed Maddox's play against the Browns (23 of 42 passes for 239 yards) as "solid. He probably would like to have that pass back right at the end of the first half. We left three points on the field there.
"But Tommy's played well to win football games, and that's how he should be judged."
Cowher was referring to the interception Maddox threw to Browns cornerback Lewis Sanders at the Cleveland 1 late in the second quarter that kept the Steelers' halftime lead at 17-14.
"If we had lost [this] game, we would have felt like we had let one get away," Maddox said. "We had great field position in the third quarter, we moved the ball a little, but we got stuck."
Although Maddox went 10 years between NFL starts, his play isn't surprising the Steelers, Burress said.
"He's just going out and showing everyone what type of quarterback he is. It's not like he just came out of the blue," said Burress of the 1992 first-round draft pick of the Broncos.
"We've been seeing him do it every day in practice," Burress said. "To everyone else, it may be a shock. He's taken advantage of the opportunities presented to him. Right now, he's a damn good quarterback."