ATLANTA (AP) -Maybe the Atlanta Falcons should bring back Dan Reeves as their offensive coordinator.

Who knows? That might be what Michael Vick needs to improve his pitiful passing numbers.

OK, so there's no chance of the Falcons sending out an SOS. to their venerable ex-coach, now retired and doing the occasional radio gig. But Vick was clearly a more effective passer in his one full season with Reeves running the offense than he is now, six years into his NFL career.

It's a rather stunning turn of events, considering Reeves was often criticized for being too conservative in his play-calling.

``He could throw the deep ball as well as anybody I ever saw,'' said Reeves, who still lives in Atlanta. ``He had a great ability to lay it up for the receiver. You always wanted to take some shots deep with him.''

These days, Vick is running a West Coast-style system that relies on short passes and timed routes. Even though this is his third year in the offense, he appears to be regressing.

He goes into Sunday's game against Pittsburgh with a 66.0 rating, 28th in the league behind such illustrious QBs as Cleveland's Charlie Frye, Buffalo's J.P. Losman and even Arizona's Kurt Warner, who already lost his starting job to rookie Matt Leinart.

Vick has completed barely half his passes (59 of 117) for 676 yards, with three touchdowns and three interceptions. Compare those puny numbers to the league's top-rated quarterback, Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb, who has thrown for 1,849 yards and 13 touchdowns with one less interception than Vick.

Better yet, look at what Vick did in 2002 when Reeves handed him the starting job.

First of all, the coach simplified the terminology and crafted a playbook focusing on plays the young quarterback had run at Virginia Tech, while incorporating others that seemed to fit his unique style. Reeves and his staff studied what the Steelers were doing at the time with jack-of-all-trades quarterback Kordell Stewart.

It seemed to work. In his first year as a starter, Vick led the Falcons to the playoffs while throwing for 2,936 yards, 16 touchdowns and an efficiency rating of 83.8. All three remain the best figures of his career and, at the going rate, are in no jeopardy of being surpassed this season.

Of course, the Steelers (2-3) are still worried about containing this one-of-a-kind player. The Falcons have the best running attack in the NFL, largely because their quarterback is on pace to rush for more than 1,200 yards.

``That's going to be the key,'' linebacker James Farrior said. ``You've got to keep that guy in the pocket. If he gets out of the pocket, he can do anything. He's got a rocket arm, quick feet. He's probably one of the fastest people in the league, so we're going to have our problems just trying to keep him in the pocket.''

The Steelers can take a hint from the New York Giants, who sacked Vick seven times last week in a 27-14 victory. They took an aggressive yet disciplined approach, preventing Vick from getting to the edge, and put big hits on him - including a cheap shot as he stepped out of bounds in the closing minutes, leaving him with a sore right shoulder.

Look for Pittsburgh to bring plenty of heat, especially with the Falcons breaking in Tyson Clabo. Guard Matt Lehr is serving a four-game suspension for violating the league's steroids policy and will be replaced by Clabo, who's been cut four times and never suited up for an NFL game.

The Steelers could be without star linebacker Joey Porter, doubtful because of a hamstring injury. But they've still got strong safety Troy Polamalu, the AFC's defensive player of the week in a 45-7 rout of Kansas City that appears to have turned things in the right direction for the Super Bowl champions.

``Of all the players I've seen on film to this point in the season, this guy is the best at any position,'' Falcons coach Jim Mora said. ``He's a spectacular player.''

Against the Chiefs, Polamalu had 10 tackles, broke up three passes and made an interception that led to one of the most memorable plays of the year. On the 49-yard return, Kansas City's Larry Johnson grabbed him by his long black hair - a tribute to his Samoan heritage - and yanked him to the turf.

Polamalu wouldn't mind getting in everyone else's hair.

``If I'm hairless by the end of the season,'' he quipped, ``it's a good thing.''

The Falcons are averaging a staggering 232 yards rushing per game, nearly 74 yards ahead of the next team. Then again, Pittsburgh knows a thing or two about stopping the run, ranking seventh.

All of which points to the need for Atlanta to establish a passing game. Vick has yet to complete more than 14 passes or throw for more than 143 yards in a game, though there's plenty of blame to go around.

Michael Jenkins has dropped potential touchdown passes each of the last two weeks. Before that, it was Alge Crumpler, the normally sure-handed tight end, letting a TD slip out of his grasp against New Orleans. Roddy White, last year's first-round pick, has just eight catches for 69 yards. Ashley Lelie, the speediest receiver in the bunch, hasn't gotten many chances to shine.

Vick must be frustrated when he looks back at 2002, which included an epic 34-34 overtime tie at Pittsburgh. That day, he had a career-best 24 completions for 294 yards - numbers that seem out of reach in the current system.

Most telling, Vick threw for at least 200 yards in six of 15 games as a first-year starter. In 40 games since then, he's done it only seven times.

``There's no doubt he can throw it,'' Reeves said. ``We won a lot of games in the two-minute drill, when teams knew he was going to throw.''

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