PSR Showdown
Will The Steelers Take a Step Forward or Backward This Season?

Forward
By Jerry DiPaola
Pittsburgh Tribune Review

Former Steelers coach Bill Cowher did not build a bad team in 2006, the notable exception being the Thanksgiving weekend when the offensive line served up quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to the Baltimore Ravens like a turkey on a platter.

But the Steelers weren't serious playoff contenders, either, and what - really - has happened since last New Year's Eve to make you think the Mike Tomlin version will be any better?

Improvements?

There's little of note, unless you consider the loss of over-rated and hobbled Joey Porter addition by subtraction. Maybe a new body at center, where former Pro Bowler Jeff Hartings struggled last year in his 11th and final NFL season, will help. Replacement linemen Sean Mahan and/or Chukki Okobi may represent a slight upgrade, although nothing dramatic.

It's the same Steelers team, basically, but that's the good news. This is the team that staged a memorable run through the latter part of the 2005 season and won Super Bowl XL.

Cowher, who was masterful through most of his 15 seasons in Pittsburgh, didn't do his best coaching job last year. Still, the talent was there.

You can't find two better defensive linemen on the same team than nose tackle Casey Hampton and defensive end Aaron Smith. Troy Polamalu is the best safety in football. Inside linebackers James Farrior and Larry Foote play mean and with a nose for the football.

Running back Willie Parker, wide receiver Hines Ward and left guard Alan Faneca are among the most productive players at their positions in the NFL. For some reason, critics put more stock in Roethlisberger's only bad season ('06) than his two very good ones that immediately preceded it.

All nine of those players are tested, proven players. The word is: Winners. They have proven it repeatedly throughout their careers.

Optimism for the '07 Steelers goes beyond the players. We don't know much about Tomlin, who never has been a head coach, but he's smart - smarter than Cowher, who was no dummy - but like him in many ways..

Tomlin knows the game, the people who play it and how best to motivate them. For example, he stayed out of the Faneca contract drama in the spring. No need to get on the bad side of your best player when he'll be gone in 2008, anyway.

The Steelers aren't going to the Super Bowl, but they will win more than eight games. Call it 10-6 and an early playoff exit, but call it progress, too.