It's always a "battle of two loose curs" when the Titans and Steelers tangle

Not as if every game in the logjammed AFC Central is not important, the Tennessee Titans now must prove they still hold mastery over the suddenly ambitious Pittsburgh Steelers.

Dan, Len, Nick, Cris and Jerry say they do not.

All five of HBO's Inside the NFL prognosticators cast votes for the Steelers over the Titans in the upcoming Monday Night Football Bruise Bowl.

That might be good news for the Titans.

Although it wasn't from a chorus as strident, the same five-some vetoed the Titans' chances of making a run through the playoffs to the Super Bowl in 1999.

This, however, is just one game and all you need for a guide is a rudimentary grasp of basic math: 4-1 (Pittsburgh) vs. 2-3 (Tennessee). Plus, it's at Pittsburgh at pristine Heinz Field.

It's the improved Steelers winning with 57 varieties of splash and the distempered Titans lagging along on Alpo puppy chow.

But don't count the Titans out just yet. They may not be amenable to stoking that white-hot glow in the rejuvenated Steelers' furnace. The Steel Town boys may have fooled Tampa Bay, rushing their safeties and such, but the Titans know a thing or two about how to cool down Bettis and Co.

The Titans have held sway over the Steelers in the last seven contests between the two. On the other hand, the three losses -- to Miami, Jacksonville and Baltimore -- came from teams that had beaten the Titans in their previous meetings.

Tailback Jerome Bettis has four 100-yard rushing games for Pittsburgh, but he has had not one against the Titans. In a memorable goal-line stand at Adelphia Coliseum in 1999, Bettis failed in four straight attempts in trying to cross the goal line from 1-yard out.

Maybe, though, the Titans have misplaced those old game books.

A case in point was last week when tight end Erron Kinney lined up at fullback in spots against Detroit. That was because quarterback Steve McNair was having trouble locating the other tight end, old reliable Frank Wycheck. In eliminating blocking duties, Wycheck was thus able to run mostly unabated patterns for McNair to track. Has it come to this? A pass-by-the-numbers playbook primer?

In McNair's defense, injuries at the wideout position have limited his choices.

His counterpart Monday, Kordell Stewart, is making good his umpteenth chance. Relying little on his arm, he is more than getting by in handing off to Bettis and backups Amos Zereoue and Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala. Pittsburgh is averaging nearly 200 rushing yards per game.

Eddie George has not been nearly as effective in running the ball for the Titans. He has been slothful in approaching the line of scrimmage and, once there, has showed no bursts or explosiveness. Nothing, however, has hampered his ability to gaze at himself on the big stadium screen during each and every huddle.

Two yards per carry is not a pretty picture.

No matter the outcome, it is always an all-out battle of loose curs when these two teams tangle.

I'll have the TV sound turned down and listen to the audio via the Titans Radio Network for this one. Doing this creates an odd effect. The play-by-play voice of Mike Keith will inform me what takes place a split second before it unfolds on the telly.

It's the kind of edge the Titans will hope to re-enact.