PITTSBURGH - They are as steeped in tradition as two AFC teams can be, these franchises of Al Davis and the Rooneys, Chuck Noll and John Madden and, yes, the Immaculate Reception. They have seven Super Bowl trophies between them, and each stopped the other from possibly winning more.

Those were the good old days for the Oakland Raiders and the Pittsburgh Steelers, once the NFL's most-feared men in black. The nowadays? They're not so good, with the Raiders (4-12) and Steelers (6-10) each coming off one of their worst seasons since the NFL merger in 1970.

To try to recapture the past, both teams start the new season Sunday in Pittsburgh by renewing a durable rivalry with some familiar old names, albeit in new places.

"We're not worried about what happened before or what happened a way long time ago," Raiders defensive lineman Warren Sapp said. "It's a whole new group of guys."

Actually, the Raiders brought in a whole old group of guys after a year of injuries and infighting under former coach Bill Callahan ruined what was a Super Bowl team the season before.

To repair one of the NFL's worst defenses, the Raiders signed three proven linemen in Sapp (Buccaneers) and Ted Washington and Bobby Hamilton (Patriots); a proven back (Ray Buchanan); and a proven name: Rob Ryan, the son of former NFL coach Buddy Ryan, was hired away from New England to run the defense.

Offensively, they added one Super Bowl quarterback, Kerry Collins, to complement another, 2002 NFL MVP Rich Gannon, and No. 2 draft pick Robert Gallery, who has the demeanor of an old-school lineman. To run the whole show, former Redskins coach Norv Turner was hired.

The Steelers' rebuilding effort also centers around a name from the past: 67-year-old former Bengals coach Dick LeBeau returns as defensive coordinator.

The man who made the Blitzburgh defense all the rage in the mid-1990s lacks the name players of then (Rod Woodson, Kevin Greene, Greg Lloyd), but hopes this less-recognizable defense can make a name for itself with ingenuity and creative blitzing.

"They're still doing a lot of the things here we did in the past," LeBeau said.

Just not as well. The Steelers were near the bottom in sacks (35) and turnovers (25) in 2003, and Cowher felt they were too passive and inactive. But while they changed coaches, they didn't change many players; the three new faces on defense (safeties Chris Hope and Troy Polamalu and linebacker Clark Haggans) all were backups last season.

Offensively, the main additions are running back Duce Staley and first-round quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who probably won't start until next season. The offensive line, so inconsistent a year ago, remains a work of unsteady progress.

"We are headed into a season of unknowns," Cowher said. "How we handle some of the bumps along the way will tell us a lot about the makeup of this team and the character of this team."

No doubt Turner could say the same thing. His offensive line was unsettled days before the opener, with Gallery practicing at both tackle and guard. The running game won't scare anyone and, with 41-year-old Jerry Rice still starting, the Raiders look terribly thin at receiver.

Cornerback Charles Woodson also missed training camp before signing a one-year contract and now must go against Pittsburgh's dangerous Plaxico Burress off no game action.

To compensate, Sapp said the Raiders must get after immobile quarterback Tommy Maddox before he can get the ball to Burress and Hines Ward, who has averaged seven catches and 82 yards in the last three Steelers openers.

"We got to get to him and rattle him and get him off the spot, where he's ... doing some stuff that is not in his game," Sapp said.

Based on the last two seasons, it's hard to tell which direction the Raiders will go in Pittsburgh.

They won here 30-17 in 2002 as Gannon, taking a quick drop and throwing before the confused Steelers could react, threw a club-record 64 times out of their since-dismantled West Coast offense. Last year, Oakland's offense never crossed the Steelers 20 in a 27-7 loss in which Ward suggested the Raiders effectively quit; they were 0-8 on the road last season and have dropped nine straight there.

"You always want to start off the season with a win. You want to start off the season hot," wide receiver Jerry Porter said. "We want to prove last year was an injury-ridden fluke."