NFL Steelers set plans for Owens

The Eagles wide reciever is expected to draw a lot of different coverages.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Deshea Townsend knows how lonely it can feel when a cornerback is lined up in man-to-man coverage across from a receiver such as the Eagles' Terrell Owens.
"It's like you're out there on an island all by yourself," Townsend said.
Maybe that's why Steelers coach Bill Cowher plans to make sure that Townsend and cornerback Willie Williams have plenty of company Sunday when they try to slow Owens, the NFL's most prolific receiver with five consecutive 100-yard games.
With the Steelers' most physical cornerback, Chad Scott, injured and out, Cowher and defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau plan to mix up their coverages more than normal. What they're not saying is if they will result in them blitzing Donovan McNabb so they play their five-back (nickel) and six-back (dime) alignments more.
Stuvaints to play
"Willie is going to start and, after that, we have all kinds of different combinations going," Cowher said. "We've got [rookie] Richard Colclough playing some, Ike [Taylor] playing some, Russell [Stuvaints] playing some. There will be a lot of different people out there."
Stuvaints is a former Youngstown State player.
The Steelers don't want the 6-foot-3 Owens to be able to constantly exploit the height advantage he has against the 5-foot-9 Williams, who made his first start since 2002 and only his second in three seasons Sunday against New England.
The 5-foot-11 Colclough, a second-round draft pick, and the 6-1 Taylor, a second-year player, match up better size-wise but each lacks the experience of Williams, a 13-season veteran. Taylor was taken off one of the extra-back units earlier this season but made an interception against New England.
"The guys you feel are ready to play, they're going to play," Cowher said. "If they don't have a good week of practice, they're going to have a hard time getting on the field."
Having big season
Owens is a lot to handle for any defense right now, with three eight-reception games already this season and an NFL-leading eight touchdown catches. He made eight catches for 101 yards and a touchdown as the Eagles beat Baltimore 15-10 Sunday, angering some Ravens with a touchdown dance that mimicked the Ravens' Ray Lewis.
Cowher is a lot less worried about Owens' dancing than he is his catching.
"What we play will have a lot to do with Terrell Owens and where he is," Cowher said. "He is not one of those guys you can treat like any other receiver. We will be very much aware of where he is lined up."
So will Townsend, a starter since midseason a year ago who likely will draw the Eagles' other receiver, Freddie Mitchell. Even when he does, Townsend will be conscious of Owens.
"They move him around a lot -- he's in the backfield, the slot," Townsend said. "They make it tough for you to double-team him. You can't do it when he's in the slot. It messes up how you can double-team him. They move him around and get him the ball in a lot of different ways."
Parcells compares
Meanwhile, Cowboys coach Bill Parcells on Thursday favorably compared Bengals second-year quarterback Carson Palmer to Steelers rookie Ben Roethlisberger. Three weeks ago, Parcells called Roethlisberger the best rookie QB he had seen since Miami's Dan Marino in 1983.
"I was very high on Roethlisberger, and this guy's arm is probably better than Roethlisberger's," Parcells said of Palmer, the No. 1 pick in the 2003 draft. "Now, Roethlisberger has a little different cast with him. If you reverse these two players, put Palmer on Pittsburgh and Roethlisberger on Cincinnati, there's a good chance the results would be similar in both places."