Absolutely No Lead Safe for Steelers : AFC: Buffalo’s record comeback last week might be on minds of Pittsburgh players today, but O’Donnell’s condition is the key.

There is at least one thing the Pittsburgh Steelers won’t have to worry about today: overconfidence.

It doesn’t matter how well they start off against the Buffalo Bills in today’s second-round AFC playoff game at Three Rivers Stadium.

It doesn’t matter if quarterback Neil O’Donnell starts throwing passes like Terry Bradshaw, if running back Barry Foster brings back memories of Franco Harris, if receiver Jeff Graham makes catches reminiscent of Lynn Swann and if the Pittsburgh defense reinstalls the Steel Curtain.

The Steelers aren’t about to start celebrating early.

Not if they were watching the first round of the AFC playoffs last Sunday. Not if they saw the Bills pull off the greatest comeback in NFL history, overcoming a 35-3, third-quarter deficit to beat the Houston Oilers, 41-38, in overtime.

That brings Buffalo into this game on a towering wave of momentum. If anything, it is the Bills who must be careful to avoid overconfidence. When you score four touchdowns in 6 minutes 52 seconds and five in a single half, you tend to feel unstoppable.

Not so, insists Buffalo quarterback Frank Reich.

“The thoughts of last week were over in a hurry for me,” said Reich, who had plenty of pleasant thoughts to savor after throwing four touchdown passes in that comeback. “I’ve had to concentrate on this game against a top-ranked AFC team. It was good that we were playing the Steelers because it helped me get my mind off last week’s game and to where it needs to be. And that’s against Pittsburgh.”

A week ago, Reich was thought to be the Bills’ main liability as they headed into the Houston game.

Buffalo’s starting quarterback, Jim Kelly, was sidelined because of a sprained right knee. Reich, a career backup, had started only six games in his eight-year career.

Was he in over his head?

For the first half, perhaps. But, with Kelly still out, nobody is asking that question this week.

Instead, the question mark hangs over the Steeler quarterback. O’Donnell was the third-ranked passer in the AFC this season, completing 59.1% of his passes for 2,283 yards. He threw 13 touchdown passes and had nine interceptions.

The problem is, he has not thrown a pass in a game since Dec. 6. O’Donnell suffered a broken right leg that day against the Seattle Seahawks, forcing him to miss Pittsburgh’s final three regular-season games.

O’Donnell will start today, but is he 100%?

“That’s kind of the unknown right now,” said his coach, Bill Cowher. “He hasn’t taken a hit and we’re not going to give him practice at taking hits. The only way you’ll ever know is when he gets in there under fire.

“The most important thing is that he doesn’t favor (the leg). We’ve seen no indication of that.”

Although much of the attention is on the quarterbacks, the focus may quickly switch to the running backs, especially if the expected snow showers force both sides to concentrate on the ground game.

In that case, the matchup will pit the Steelers’ Foster, the AFC’s leading rusher, against the Bills’ Thurman Thomas, the runner-up and the NFL leader in total yards from scrimmage.

Few outside of Pittsburgh had paid much attention to Foster, a third-year back from Arkansas, before this season.

Understandably so. He had gained a total of 691 yards in two seasons, scoring two touchdowns.

But the 24-year-old back burst into the national spotlight this season. He finished with a club-record 1,690 yards rushing, second only to the Dallas Cowboys’ Emmitt Smith. Foster scored 11 touchdowns and tied Eric Dickerson’s league record with 12 games of more than 100 yards.

Nobody was surprised at the 1,487 yards rushing or nine touchdowns scored by Thomas, the five-year veteran. It was the fourth consecutive season he has exceeded 1,200 yards rushing. Thomas had 2,113 total yards from scrimmage.

The only question about him today is his hip. An injury he suffered a week earlier flared up last Sunday early in the third quarter, reducing Thomas to a cheerleader as his team made its historic charge.

Thomas is expected back in the lineup today.

The Steelers know Thomas all too well. He gained 155 yards against them and scored a touchdown in the only meeting this season of the clubs.

That November day was nearly the reverse of last Sunday for the Bills. Leading 21-3 in the first half, Buffalo had to hold on to win, 28-20.

That was one of only five defeats for the Steelers, who have revived long-dormant Super Bowl dreams in this town under Cowher, the 35-year-old, first-year coach.

Pittsburgh won four Super Bowls under Chuck Noll, but the last one was in Pasadena’s Rose Bowl against the Rams at the end of the 1979 season.

The once-famous Steel Curtain has gone to rust in the ensuing years. The Steelers haven’t been past the second round of the playoffs since 1984. They haven’t even been in the playoffs since 1989.

And they haven’t had better than a 9-7 record since 1983.

Now, along comes Cowher to replace Noll. And, in his first year, he goes 11-5 and wins the AFC Central.

Pittsburgh is a slight favorite against the Bills (12-5).

The reasons are logical enough. The Steelers are a division winner playing at home.

Buffalo, playing on the road without its starting quarterback, stumbled at the end of the regular season and lost the AFC East title to the Miami Dolphins.

Uh-huh. The Oilers heard the same sad story a week ago.

Pittsburgh isn’t buying it. The only time the Steelers can be expected to take comfort in a lead today is if they have one after time has run out.