AFC NORTH Lewis changes attitudes in Cincy

The former Steelers linebackers coach has helped the Bengals win five of six.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- When coach Bill Cowher arrived in 1992, the Pittsburgh Steelers had one of the NFL's most experienced group of linebackers in Hardy Nickerson, Greg Lloyd, David Little and Bryan Hinkle.
That didn't prevent Cowher from hiring a linebackers coach who had never formally coached a day in the NFL and was the same age as some of his players.
Marvin Lewis, a former high school rival of Cowher's in Pittsburgh who had worked his way through the college ranks at Idaho State, New Mexico and Pitt and was eager to coach at football's highest level.
If the Steelers' veterans were put off by being instructed by someone who played high school and college ball at the same time they did -- Lewis was only 34 -- none ever spoke of it. To them, it was difficult not to respect the enthusiasm, energy and commitment Lewis brought to the practice field each day.
"I saw his approach -- he has always been a student of the game," Cowher said. "We gave him a group of linebackers, and it was a nice challenge for him. He's grown tremendously, and he's never stopped learning and wanting to learn."
Return home
Lewis returns home as an NFL head coach for the first time Sunday with Cincinnati, and it will be under far different circumstances than most Bengals-Steelers games at this time of the year.
This time, the Bengals (6-5) are in first place in the AFC North and the Steelers (4-7) are trying to catch them, not the other way around.
And just as Lewis wasn't intimidated taking over a group of veteran players in 1992, he didn't feel overwhelmed upon being hired to coach what had been the NFL's most unsuccessful franchise since 1990.
"He was new," Cowher said. "I think the best thing they did was kind of cut the ties to the past and bring in somebody new who did not know anything about the past. The players kind of read that. I think they wanted a new body, a new approach. Marvin understood that going in."
Just as the Steelers understand what Sunday's game against their former assistant coach means. Lose, and their season will be all but over. Win, and they'll give themselves another week to try to climb back into a division race they haven't felt a part of for weeks.
Different stories
The Steelers have brought much of their own misfortunate upon themselves -- they figured to have the division all but wrapped up by now -- but they also couldn't have foreseen the Bengals improving as rapidly as they have.
Even if Lewis did. He told his players they'd be in the race, and held to that even when they were 0-3.
"Those guys are believing in what he is asking them to do," Cowher said. "You can see the confidence level with which they are playing. Marvin has done an excellent job in dealing with each issue as it comes up and doing it his way, and the players are respecting him for that."
Bengals linebacker Kevin Hardy, accustomed to playing on winning teams in Jacksonville, said Lewis made small but subtle changes at the team's practice facility. Among them was hanging large action pictures of Bengals players making key plays.
The Steelers have long done that, changing every week the large pictures that line the hallway leading to their practice field.
Looking to rally
Maybe this was a trick Lewis learned during his last Steelers season in 1995. Pittsburgh was 3-4 after losing to Cincinnati 27-9, but rallied to win its next eight and finished the season in the Super Bowl.
This season, the Bengals started 0-3, but have since won five of six to tie the Ravens (6-5) for the division lead.
If the Bengals can find a way to win in Pittsburgh -- they've lost their last three there -- they will have won six of seven going into what might be a showdown for first place Dec. 7 in Baltimore.
"You always hear coach Cowher talk about playing with a swagger," Steelers guard Alan Faneca said. "They're playing with a swagger."