 The Pittsburgh Steelers returned this 2009 NFL season as Super Bowl champs and opened the season with a win over the Tennessee Titans then followed the Week 1 win with two losses by three points to the Bears and the Bengals. The team has been on a role since, beating the Chargers resoundingly 38-28 and the Lions 28-20. The Steelers now find themselves in third place in the AFC North. The culprit for this underwhelming start has to be the turnovers. The Steelers have given the football up five more times than they have forced a turnover. This is a drive killer and can give teams with a decent offense a chance to win the game. The Steelers offense has not exactly been overwhelming apart from the turnovers. Pittsburgh has had issues scoring despite averaging the seventh most yards per game in the league. The knock on the team has been that they continue to struggle on third and short. Rashard Mendenhall, the feature back, has been labeled soft and this is part of the reason. A team faces far more 3rd and 1 situations than plays that result in 20 plus yard runs. The team is averaging only 22 points a game (14th in the league) and the team record is a perfect reflection of that struggle to convert yards and drives into touchdowns. The Pittsburgh defense has been uncannily average. The unit is giving up 19.6 points a game and has had a little problem stopping the pass. This average pass defense combines with a turnover prone offense to make things extremely difficult for Steelers fans at Heinz Field. For all the criticism Mendenhall has endure, he has run the football for 5.6 yards a carry and three touchdowns. He replaced Willie Parker after it became obvious that Parker is no longer a starting caliber running back. Somehow Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has a 102.6 QB rating despite throwing five picks. He only has 8 touchdowns, but us completing 73.8 percent of his passes and is averaging 8.55 yards a completion. Roethlisberger is proving that he is what he is, a big play quarterback. Roethlisberger has made good use out of the Steelers receivers. Hines Wards, Santonio Holmes, and Mike Wallace each have been targets deep. Ward has emerged as one of the best receivers in football with 33 receptions (3rd in the NFL). Tight end Heath Miller is the favorite target in the end zone. Miller has 29 catches and three touchdowns. The Pittsburgh Steelers are still far from out of the picture. They have an easy game against the Browns before another true test against the Vikings. The team simply has to survive with a decent record until Week 13. After Week 12, the schedule has many more football games that should be easy wins.
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