Among the many things Broncos coach Mike Shanahan and Steelers coach Bill Cowher have in common are doghouses for players who pop off about an upcoming opponent.
That may be why Joey Porter apparently is still cooling off, and why there has been nothing close to any trash talk between the teams that will compete for the AFC championship today at Invesco Field at Mile High.
Porter, who called out the Colts before the Steelers’ heart- stopping 21-18 victory last Sunday, then after the game accused the NFL’s game officials of trying to help Indianapolis win, has been uncharacteristically quiet since his coach took him to task.
“You know we have a 15- minute cooling off period after games,” Cowher said after hearing of Porter’s postgame remarks. “Obviously, that’s not enough for some guys.”
But if Porter has been keeping it cool, he’s no different than anybody else on either team.
From Shanahan calling Cowher a “man’s man,” to Cowher calling Shanahan “the best signal-caller” in all of football, most of the talk has been about how much alike the AFC finalists are and how much they admire each other.
When asked about the Steelers’ relentless pass rush, led by Porter and Clark Haggans, both former Colorado State stars, Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer said only that he hopes to avoid them: “My mobility makes me one of those people that likes to get out of the pocket. If they bring some blitzes, then hope- fully I can can make a guy miss and get out of there. They have a great defense, so they are going to have a great game plan.”
Asked about going against super Steelers safety Troy Polamalu, Plummer said, “He’s fun to watch.” If he could play safety, said Plummer, “that’s the way I would want to play.”
All week long, people compared Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward to veteran Broncos wideout Rod Smith.
“He’s one of my favorite receivers in the league to watch,” Ward said. “I don’t really try to emulate anybody, but you know, I can see how they would compare Rod and myself because here we are, we’re still going out there and every time they need somebody to make a play, they can depend on us.”
Somebody tried to get Steelers nose tackle Casey Hampton to say something nasty about Broncos center Tom Nalen and Denver’s extensive use of the chop block. He wouldn’t bite, either.
Nalen, said Hampton, “is real good. I haven’t seen a defensive lineman keep him off a linebacker yet.” And as for the controversial chop block, he said, “that’s a good thing, because when you know they’re going to cut you, you can get your hands down and get off the blocks easier.”
Denver cornerback Champ Bailey, who was almost insulting after the Broncos beat defending NFL champion New England last weekend, saying the Patriots were “just a bump in the road” on the way to Detroit, complimented every wideout and every tight end on the Steelers’ roster, along with second-year quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
The Steelers (13-5) are so good, said Bailey, the Broncos (14-3) are going to have to play a lot better than they did against New England last weekend to make it to the Super Bowl. “If you don’t step it up a notch, then there’s no reason to show up.”
Joseph Sanchez can be reached at 303-820-5458 or jsanchez@denverpost.com.
