PRO FOOTBALL / NFL PLAYOFFS : AFC : Gill Byrd Knows He Will Be on the Spot

San Diego’s Gill Byrd, whose 31 interceptions over the last five seasons are the most in the NFL, expects to be busy when the Chargers visit the Miami Dolphins for an AFC divisional playoff game Sunday.

“I think the onus is going to be on the defensive backs in this game,” said Byrd, San Diego’s left cornerback. “We’re going to have to have some tight coverage on the receivers and allow Dan (Marino) to hold onto the ball maybe a fraction of a second longer than normal and allow our linemen to get into his face a little bit.

“It’s going to be a total group effort. It’s going to be a tough task.”

Miami is one of nine teams Byrd does not have an interception against in his 10-year career. Marino and Byrd came into the league together in 1983, and San Diego holds a 3-1 edge in the series with the Dolphins since then.

The Pittsburgh Steelers beat Houston twice, they beat San Diego, they beat Kansas City. They beat every other AFC playoff team they met this season, except one:

The Buffalo Bills.

Since 1986, when the Bills were emerging from their mid-’80s mess to become the AFC’s elite franchise, no team has dominated the Steelers like the Bills. Buffalo has won four in a row against Pittsburgh, including a 52-34 torching of the Steelers’ secondary last season and a 28-20 victory Nov. 8 that was more decisive than the score indicates.

Jim Kelly passed for nine touchdowns and 653 yards in those two games.

“All we’ve talked about since that game was playing Buffalo again,” cornerback Rod Woodson said. “We gave them two touchdowns--two gifts--the last time and we’ve wanted another chance at Buffalo ever since.”

They get that chance Saturday in the AFC playoffs, the Steelers’ first home playoff game in exactly 10 years, or since a Jan. 9, 1983, strike-season tournament loss to San Diego.