Cowher: Our focus is Detroit

It was his regularly scheduled news conference yesterday at the UPMC Sports Performance Complex, but it was pretty clear Coach Bill Cowher was speaking to his players, and to Steelers fans.

Cowher doesn’t believe in revealing conversations he has with his players, because he believes that kind of communication is best kept private. But if anyone really wonders what Cowher said to his team when it returned this morning from a few days off following the 41-0 win over the Browns, it likely was very similar to some of the things he told the media.


“Our focus is on Detroit,” said Cowher. “As I look at this, this is our home playoff game. That is how we are approaching it. If we win this football game, I do know that we will be able to go on and play the next week. We have kind of been in this mode from the time that we started this about three weeks ago. It is an opportunity to utilize this as a home playoff game and to play well in all three phases, and the focus is on winning.

“There will be no talk whatsoever about any other scenario. We are all aware of what the deal is with San Diego. That will have no effect with us.”

The deal with San Diego is this: One of the scenarios in which the Steelers will qualify for the playoffs is if the Chargers defeat Denver in San Diego. The Broncos already have clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs, and the game will be played on Saturday. The Steelers play the Lions at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Heinz Field.

So technically, the Steelers could clinch a playoff spot while they’re in the hotel the night before their game, but Cowher doesn’t want to hear any of that. Nor does he want any of that to creep into his players’ brains.

“Part of the preparation that we will have this week is focusing on Detroit, because that is the one thing we can control,” said Cowher. “That focus is not just done physically, but it is done mentally as we put in the same type of time and preparation that we have done the last three weeks. There is no reason for us to have a letdown. When you get this close and work this hard, that is not even an option. Our guys will be fine in understanding that. We have been in this mode for close to a month now, and it makes it very easy and simple to focus on one thing, and that is Detroit.”

But if the Chargers defeat Denver and the Steelers clinch a playoff spot before their game against the Lions begins, might Cowher be inclined to rest some of his starters, since there is no rest built into the postseason for Wild Card teams?

“With all due respect I’d rather talk about Sunday’s game,” said Cowher. “I think it’s very important you don’t get caught up in all the what-if scenarios. I don’t think that will serve a purpose. Our football team needs to prepare mentally to play this football game like it’s a home playoff game. The fact is if we don’t win we may not go anywhere.

“If you get caught up, deviate from that focus and start looking at other scenarios you start cluttering your mind with things that are very, very dangerous. I think it’s very important that we understand what’s at stake, the mind-set we have to have and the fact that we have no margin of error. It’s been that way; it hasn’t changed my opinion and it shouldn’t change anybody else’s opinion as we get ready to prepare ourselves to play this football game, this week, against a potentially very dangerous opponent.”

The Steelers also are being considered a very dangerous opponent at this stage of the season. The Boston media has expressed the opinion that the Patriots’ easiest path through the first round of these playoffs is to host Jacksonville. The Bengals may be resting starting quarterback Carson Palmer because of a minor injury he sustained in their loss to Buffalo last weekend.

“That’s not for us to make that assessment,” said Cowher about the nobody-wants-to-play-the-Steelers theory. “People are talking about us as if we’re in. We’re going to try to get in. First things, first.”
source : steelers.com