One era ends, another begins. Pittsburgh Steelers: Bill Cowher 1992-

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The 2001 Pittsburgh Steelers Depth Chart: (Rookies in Red. Starters in bold.)

QBs:
Shane Matthews
Craig Erickson
Glenn Foley

RBs:
Tiki Barber
Moe Williams/Emmitt Smith

FBs:
Leroy Hoard
Jake Moreland

WRs:
Randy Moss
Marvin Harrison
David Boston (Slot)
Michael Westbrook
Dennis Northcutt
Jermaine Lewis

TEs:
Tony Gonzalez
Aaron Shea
Kareem McKenzie

Tackles:
Bob Whitfield
John Tait
Damion McIntosh
Jamain Stephens

Guards:
Kevin Mawae
Leon Searcy
Ryan Diem
Larry Allen

Centers:
Dermontti Dawson
Ben Lynch

DEs:
Joe Johnson
Al Fontenot
Regan Upshaw
Ronald Flemons

DTs:
Joel Steed
Jose White
Courtney Brown
David Hoelscher

LBs:
Hardy Nickerson
Levon Kirkland
Marcus Buckley
Scott Galyon
Clint Kriewaldt
Eric Westmoreland
Eugene McCaslin

CBs:
Champ Bailey
Andre Dyson
Terry Billups (nickle)
James Hasty
Robert Bean

Safetys:
Darren Perry
Shaun Williams
Carnell Lake
Melvin Johnson

K:
Olindo Mare

P:
John Jett

KR/PR:
Jermanie Lewis

Practice Squad:
Travis Minor RB (UDFA), Hank Fraley OC, Rodney Bailey DE (UDFA), Eric Downing DT, Idrees Bashir Safety

Position Changes:
None.

Coaches Corner:
Head Coach: Cowher
OC: Mike Mularkey
DC: Tim Lewis
ST: John Harbaugh


Notes:
-Steelers begin play at Heinz Field.

-Moe Williams and Emmitt Smith share #2 RB duties.

-Rookie CB Andre Dyson impresses Steelers coaching and front office.

-Steelers Defensive coordinator Tim Lewis has had the finger of blame pointed at him for the defensive struggles.

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2001 Pittsburgh Steelers Season Schedule

Week 1: @ Baltimore LOSS 20-3
Week 2: @ Cleveland WIN 24-10
Week 3: Tennessee LOSS 17-16
Week 4: Cleveland WIN 37-14
Week 5: Miami LOSS 24-20
Week 6: @ KC WIN 20-7
Week 7: @ NY Giants WIN 20-6
Week 8: Oakland LOSS 34-31 (ot)
Week 9: BYE WEEK
Week 10: Baltimore
Week 11: @ Minnesota
Week 12: Dallas
Week 13: @ NY Jets
Week 14: @ SD
Week 15: LA Rams
Week 16: @ Detroit
Week 17: Arizona

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Week 1: Pittsburgh 0-0 @ Baltimore 0-0

Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Baltimore's Revenge.
Batch and the Baltimore Ravens punched the visiting Steelers in the mouth Sunday, with a 20-3 win. The Steelers had no answers for the Raven Defense lead by linebacker Chris Slade and defensive end Adalius Thomas. The Ravens racked up 5 sacks, 2 ints, 3 forced fumbles and allowed the Steelers a meager 164 yards total offense.

Shane Matthews cmp:21 att:34 yrds:154 td:0 int:2
Joe Johnson tkl:6 sack:1
Champ Bailey tkl:2 int:1

Charlie Batch cmp:20 att:30 yrds:248 td:1 int:1
Warrick Dunn att:22 yrds:94 td:1
Marcus Coleman tkl:2 int:1


Pittsburgh Post Gazette Sports Update:
Safety Shaun Williams will miss next weeks game against the Cleveland Browns with a sprained ankle. Back up linebacker Clint Kriewaldt will all so miss the Browns game with a similar injury. Kevin Mawae's knee injury not as bad as first thought. He will play.

Week 2: Pittsburgh 0-1 @ Cleveland 1-0

Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Rebound.
Coach Cowher wasn't kidding when he said there was going to be some changes in quality of play. The Steelers offense minimized turnovers that cost them the game last week and continued to play solid defense. Tim Lewis said "While our defense isn't turning heads, we're defiantly keeping the ball from moving on a consistent basis". It was a tight game up until the 4th quarter with a 14-10 Steeler lead. Cleveland's fight seemed to go away after a Delhomme pass was intercepted in the red zone by Champ Bailey.On that same play Delhomme tore his ACL and will miss the rest of the season. Pittsburgh went on to win 24-10.

Shane Matthews cmp:24 att:31 yrds:215 td:1 int:0
Tiki Barber att:22 yrds:100 td:0
Leroy Hoard att:6 yrds:17 td:2

Jake Delhomme cmp:17 att:28 yrds:243 td:0 int:1
Chris Brantley rec:7 yrds:107 td:0
Eric Hill tkl:11 sack:0

Pittsburgh Post Gazette Sports Update:
David Boston pulled his quad and will miss the home opener at Heinz Field.

Week 3: Tennessee 0-2 @ Pittsburgh 1-1

Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Turnovers a problem, Titans over come.
Steelers were +1 in the turnover differential in this game. The problem? Titans scored 17 points off of the three Steeler turnovers. Pittsburgh scored 0 points off of the four Titan turnovers. Tennessee wins 17-16.

Shane Matthews cmp:19 att:28 yrds:185 td:0 int:0
Darren Perry tkl:9 int:3
Champ Bailey tkl:5 int:1

Neil O'Donnell cmp:21 att:39 yrds:233 td:1 int:4
Oronde Gadsden rec:7 yrds:118 td:1
Mark Fields tkl:7 sack:1

Pittsburgh Post Gazette Sports Update:
Second year OT Damion McIntosh will be placed on the IR with a torn acl. Rookie OG Ryan Diem will miss 4-6 weeks with a high ankle sprain.

Week 4: Cleveland 2-1 @ Pittsburgh 2-2

Pittsburgh Post Gazette

First Win at Heinz Field.
Champ Bailey and the Steelers defense is making the game of turnovers look easy. With a combined 12 turnovers (leads the NFL) and a +9 turnover differential (also leads the NFL) this defensive unit is succeeding where last years unit was failing. "All those times we let up scores last year... it's not happening now. We're getting those game changing plays" - Levon Kirkland. Steelers win 37-14.

Shane Matthews cmp:17 att:25 yrds:215 td:3 int:0
Randy Moss rec:11 yrds:137 td:1
Champ Bailey tkl:2 int:2

Rodney Peete cmp:10 att:20 yrds:103 td:0 int:4
Tony Bennett tkl:6 sack:0.5
Renaldo Wynn tkl:7 sack:0.5

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2001 Quarterly Report

NFL NEWS:
None.

Standings

AFC East
Miami 3-1
New York 3-1
Buffalo 2-2
New England 1-3

AFC North
Baltimore 3-1
Pittsburgh 2-2
Cleveland 2-2
Cincinnati 2-2

AFC West
Oakland 3-1
Denver 3-1
San Diego 2-2
Kansas City 1-3

AFC South
Jacksonville 4-0
Indianapolis 2-2
Houston 1-3
Tennessee 1-3

NFC East
Washington 3-1
Philadelphia 2-2
Dallas 1-3
New York 0-4

NFC North
Green Bay 4-0
Chicago 3-1
Detroit 2-2
Minnesota 0-4

NFC West
San Francisco 2-2
Seattle 2-2
Los Angeles 1-3
Arizona 1-3

NFC South
Carolina 4-0
Tampa Bay 3-1
Atlanta 1-3
New Orleans 0-4

Super Bowl Prediction: Jacksonville vs. Green Bay

Passing Leader: Elvis Grbac Tampa Bay cmp%:67.1 yrds:1364 td:10 int:6
Rushing Leader: Olandis Gary Denver att:103 yrds:527 td:5
Receiving Leader: Antonio Freeman Jacksonville rec:28 yrds:451 td:2
Sack Leader: Greg Ellis Denver/ Jason Taylor Washington Sack:7.0
Interceptions Leader: Champ Bailey Pittsburgh Int:5

Top College Recruits:
QB- David Garrard East Carolina
RB- Clinton Portis Miami (Florida)
TE- Jeremy Shockey Miami (Florida)
WR- Javon Walker Florida State
OL- Mike Gandy Notre Dame
DL- Dwight Freeney Syracuse
LB- Ben Leber Kansas State
CB- Andre' Goodman South Carolina
S- Ed Reed Miami (Florida)
ST- Dave Zastudil Ohio University

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2001 Quarterly Report

Record:
2-2; 2nd in AFC Central

Injuries:
Damion McIntosh OT Torn ACL IR
Ryan Diem OG High Ankle Sprain 4 weeks


Team Leaders:
Shane Matthews comp%:68.6 yrds:769 td:4 int:2
Tiki Barber att:57 yrds:256 td:0
Randy Moss rec:26 yrds:261 td:1
Joel Steed, Al Fontenot, Marcus Buckley tkl:17, 17, 21 sack:3
Champ Bailey int:5

Notes:
-Tiki Barber has not scored a touchdown this season.

-Steelers defense has been taking the ball away at will.

-Steelers offense seems out of sync at times.

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Week 5: Miami 3-1 @ Pittsburgh 2-2

Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Inconsistent.
The Steelers defense just isn't consistent. Allowing over 200 yards on the ground and 14 fourth quarter points to drop what should have been a victory. Miami just did not quit. Pounding the ground even when down 20-10. Ahman Green found his way into the endzone on a 16 yard td run with a minuet twenty to go making the score 24-20. Miami's defense stood strong and stopped the Steelers as time expired on a hailmary.

Shane Matthews cmp:18 att:29 yrds:207 td:1 int:0
Levon Kirkland tkl:9 sack:1
Joel Steed tkl:4 sack:1

Scott Mitchell cmp:15 att:23 yrds:181 td:1 int:0
Ahman Green att:27 yrds:159 td:2
Lance Johnstone tkl:6 sack:1

Pittsburgh Post Gazette Sports Update:
Courtney Brown fractured some ribs in a car crash. Steelers say he will miss at least 2 weeks.

Week 6: Pittsburgh 2-3 @ Kansas City 1-4

Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Who Are We?
I think the answer to that question is: Average. The Steelers show the NFL they can beat the lesser teams but can't take care of the playoff caliber teams. Even in this game, Pittsburgh scored 17 of the 20 on the day in the first quarter. Then barley managed to get a field goal in the second quarter. Shane Matthews was unstoppable as was Tiki Barber. The defense took care of business and sacked Chiefs QB Jim Miller 7 times, had him on the run several other times and picked him off once. Steelers win 20-7.

Shane Matthews cmp:21 att:27 yrds:210 td:1 int:0
Tiki Barber att:22 yrds:137 td:1
Joe Johnson tkl:4 sack:2

Jim Miller cmp:17 att:33 yrds:219 td:0 int:1
D'Marco Farr rec:8 yrds:118 td:0
Maa Tanuvasa tkl:8 sack:0

Pittsburgh Post Gazette Sports Update:
Second year back up tight end Aaron Shea partially tore his ACL and MCL and will miss up to 9 weeks.

Week 7: Pittsburgh 3-3 @ New York Giants 2-4

Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Road Warriors.
Another good performance by the Steelers defense and quality play by Matthews and the offense leads to a 20-6 win. Joe Horn and Jamal Lewis had the ball moving between the 20's for the Giants, but would stutter in the redzone.

Shane Matthews cmp:15 att:22 yrds:151 td:0 int:0
Tiki Barber att:24 yrds:150 td:2
Jose White tkl:3 sack:2

Kent Graham cmp:25 att:37 yrds:232 td:1 int:0
Kimo VonOelhoffen tkl:9 sack:0
Joe Horn rec:9 yrds:86 td:0

Pittsburgh Post Gazette Sports Update:
Back up linebackers Clint Kriewaldt and Eugene McCaslin both suffered injuries against the Giants. Kriewaldt will miss one week with a sprained ankle and McCaslin will miss one week with a broken big toe.

Week 8: Oakland 5-2 @ Pittsburgh 4-3
34-31 (ot) loss.

Week 9: BYE WEEK