Pittsburgh Steelers
Time To Get It On
By Jerry DiPaola

Forget the Patriots. Tom Brady is a promising quarterback with a resume that already appears to outweigh his skills. He has that shiny ring on his finger, but he spent much of the preseason playing like it got in the way of his throwing motion.

Forget the Raiders, too. They're old in so many areas, and they are missing Jon Gruden, their former coach and spirtual leader.

No, the Steelers won't start the regular season 0-2 (wouldn't that make for some wonderfully delicious Tuesdays with Bill Cowher, though?). But they do have more problems than most people might realize.

Before we go too far, let's set the record straight. This is a supremely talented team that is dotted with six Pro Bowlers from a year ago—four on offense—and several wily veterans who contribute like Pro Bowlers (players such as tight end Mark Bruener, offensive left tackle Wayne Gandy, center Jeff Hartings, outside linebacker Joey Porter and cornerbacks Dewayne Washington and Chad Scott). You've heard it so many times, you can repeat in your sleep: With 19 of 22 starters returning and many of them satisfied by nice, new rich contracts, the Steelers should be the favorite from the AFC to reach Super Bowl XXXVII in San Diego.

But it won't be that easy.

First, there is the incredible weight of their own expectations leaning on them like a good friend who has overstayed his welcome. It's nice to be so good, but proving it will be the problem. "Every weekend we have to come with our A game," strong safety Lee Flowers said. "We're going to treat every game like it's our last game."

That can be a good thing, but it also leaves little room for error.

And this is a team that is not immune from making mistakes. At worst, special teams is a disaster waiting to happen. At best, its failure to make a lot of big, game-changing plays gives the Steelers no advantage in that area.

How about that offensive line that couldn't get the running game moving early in training camp, averaging 2.6 yards per carry in the first two games when rookie wide receiver Antwaan Randle El wasn't carrying the football? Gandy hurt his ankle, and missed some significant practice time. That shuffled Oliver Ross to left tackle, handcuffed his ability to properly learn right guard and took a bite out of the team's depth.

Another thought emerges while pondering the Steelers' offensive line: If Gandy is so good—and he appeared to play exceptionally well the past two years, even when he had a torn rotator cuff—why are the Steelers in no rush to extend his contract? Is it his age (31)? Is he overrated? And, if so, should quarterback Kordell Stewart watch his blind side?

And while we're on the subject of pessimism, is the secondary ripe for the picking by any quarterback who knows the soft spots? Maybe not, but maybe so. Safeties Flowers and Brent Alexander are 29 and 31, and not the swiftest of runners, even when they were in their primes. Similar to their thoughts with Gandy, the Steelers seem content with letting Flowers walk away in free agency next year, even though rookie No. 3 draft choice Chris Hope, selected this year to anchor the deep secondary in the near future, has yet to distinguish himself in camp.

Furthermore, Washington and Scott are outstanding cornerbacks, but Scott takes a lot of chances, looking for the big play, and he has been known to bite down hard on the quarterback's pump fakes and get beat by the deep ball. Don't think that Brady, Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon and Cleveland Browns quarterback Tim Couch don't know that.

The Steelers were remarkably free of serious injuries last year, but inside linebacker Kendrell Bell, whose stature and role in the defense is growing, missed the final two preseason games with a high ankle sprain. How long that injury lingers into September could set the tone—a bad one—for the regular season.

On the offensive side of the ball, no one knows for sure if running back Jerome Bettis has one, two—or no—great seasons left in him. And, rest assured, the Steelers need a great season from Bettis, if they are to reach the Super Bowl.

It took Bettis a few weeks of training camp to regain the rhythm he had before geting hurt last year, and the regular season presents another test when defenses start getting serious—and nastier.

But the Steelers still are as good as any team in the AFC and better than most, at least on paper. Quarterback Kordell Stewart is coming off the best season of his career, and the most accurate season by a quarterback in the history of the franchise with a 60.2 completion percentage in 2001. With 64, he's on the brink of throwing more touchdown passes than any Steelers quarterback in history, with the exception of Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw. Only Neil O'Donnell (68) and Bobby Layne (67) stand between Stewart and Bradshaw (212).

The passing game was ahead the running through most of training camp, and wide receiver Plaxico Burress was having a great camp, with seven catches for 114 yards in the first two games (16.2 yards per catch). One disturbing note, though: Hines Ward's outburst about being ignored and taken advantage of by the coaching staff put up warning signs that won't go down until/if he returns to his Pro Bowl form.

But there is more to like about the Steelers than there is to dislike. First and foremost is their approach to the game, thanks to having so many veterans in the starting lineup.

Bruener said the team came together well during their four weeks of training camp at St. Vincent College, much of it spent practicing in oppressive heat.

"We gained the ability to work together, to get reacquainted with each other," said Bruener, a No. 1 draft choice in 1995 who remains one of the best run-blocking tight ends in the game. "You get a little bit of that in the offseason program, but nothing like you get here. You're living, eating, sleeping, breathing football (with) your teammates. You really get to know them.

"It's a way for you to be in the battle, be in the trenches with one of your teammates. It's a way for you to show your teammates what kind of a person you are, as far as how you're going to face adversity.

"We all face adversity every day. We're tired when you walk on the practice field. It's hot. It's miserable. But it's a way for the coaches to evaluate the team. More importantly, it's a way for the players to develop the cohesiveness that we need for us to be effective during the season."

The Steelers lost their first two preseason games, but the 35-34 decision earned by the Washington Redskins was more of a victory for the losers. The Steelers' first-team dominated the Redskins' first team, and helped build a 24-0 lead early in the third quarter before the backups—many of whom are gone now—gave up five Redskins touchdown passes in the last 26 minutes.

The team's confidence, already high after a 13-3 season last year, shot up appreciably after that game. "They would have never moved past the 50, unless we allowed them," Flowers crowed after the game.

More important, the Steelers know what it takes to win and believe they would have been in the Super Bowl last season, if not for some special-teams errors that new assistant coach Kevin Spencer is trying to fix. They are eager for the start of the season, Sept. 9 in New England against a Patriots team that stole that Super Bowl berth when the Steelers carelessly turned their heads.

The Steelers' veterans don't intend to let that happen again.

"I think our team is moving in the right direction," Bruener said. "There are still a lot of things we need to work on, but we are moving in the right direction and we're moving in the direction that we want to move.

"We don't have much time left before our first game. We don't have much time left to work on the things that we need to work on. But it's all coming together. It really is.

Jerry DiPaola covers the Steelers for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.