Limping Into January
Flawed Steelers Prepare for Postseason
By Jerry DiPaola

Those Steelers fans who don't want to admit the obvious-that their favorite team is flawed in many ways-point to the 2006 playoffs as reason to believe there is hope for a return to the Super Bowl.

I'm here to tell you to forget about it.

In 2006, the Steelers (the No. 6-seeded AFC team that needed to win six road games in seven weeks) had Aaron Smith, Jerome Bettis and Willie Parker.

In 2008, they are missing those players and have in their place Travis Kirschke, Carey Davis and Najeh Davenport. Ouch!

In 2006, the Steelers had a left tackle (Marvel Smith) with a strong back and a center (Jeff Hartings) who was playing some of the best football of an impressive career.

In 2008, Smith's back is aching and new center Sean Mahan is bringing something less than the dependability of Hartings (now retired).

In 2006, the Steelers had wide receiver Antwaan Randle El making plays while throwing, catching and running with the football.

In 2008, Randle El is gone and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger must depend on Nate Washington and Cedric Wilson as shaky complements to Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes.

That playoff game at Heinz Field-the first since the end of the 2004 season-doesn't look so appealing now, does it?

Anything in the NFL is possible as the postseason begins, but the Steelers don't appear to have the wide receivers, offensive line or run-stopping ability on defense (with the loss of end Aaron Smith) to compete successfully with the best teams in the AFC.

And that brings us to another point: The 2006 postseason had a New England Patriots team that was a two-touchdown playoff loser to the Denver Broncos. The Steelers never had to face the Patriots at that time. The 2008 postseason has a Patriots team that was threatening to rewrite history and took down the Steelers, 34-13, earlier this season.

The Steelers' best chance for postseason success hinges on Roethlisberger, but his ankle is sprained after he was sacked 47 times in the first 15 games. What makes you think that any playoff opponent will offer a pass rush that the Steelers' underachieving offensive line can handle?

How much does Roethlisberger have left after taking such a beating? Especially without a running game that an opponent can respect.

The loss of Parker to a broken leg-suffered in a victory at St. Louis late in December-might be the most telling blow against postseason success.

Parker, a two-time Pro Bowler, was leading the NFL in rushing with 1,317 yards when he was hurt. He gave the Steelers' running game credibility, and his speed gave the team the ability to score from almost anywhere on the field. In potential games against the high-scoring Patriots and Indianapolis Colts, that's a necessary threat.

Davenport is a good back, certainly not great and surely not a game-breaker. He is not as quick to hole as Parker (it's not even close) and he's not as nifty in tight spaces like Bettis was throughout his career.

He's not the kind of back to lead a team into a Super Bowl, especially behind an average (at best) offensive line.

But let's look at this NFL postseason logically: A Steelers loss in the first or second round of the playoffs is not the tragedy fans would have you believe it is.

It took Bill Cowher three seasons to win his first playoff game, and he went on to coach most of his career in Pittsburgh with a losing postseason record. And history treats Cowher as one of the greatest NFL coaches in the past 15 years, and he someday will find himself in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

If Mike Tomlin is 0-1 in his first postseason (like Cowher was in 1992 with a No. 1-seeded team), it doesn't mean anything other than the team failed to become great. Greatness is reserved for the few in the NFL, especially this season when less than half the teams in the league had winning records after 15 weeks.

Tomlin inherited a team that failed to reach the playoffs in his predecessor's final season, and in less than a year he turned it into a playoff contender that was 7-2 at one time. He inherited a good foundation with a great quarterback, but losing Hartings to retirement and Aaron Smith, Marvel Smith and Parker to injury late in the season might be too much to overcome. The linebackers are aging and the wide receivers can't get open against the better defensive backs.

Tomlin's fault? Maybe some of it sits in his lap, but even veteran coaches find circumstances they can't control, and they just have to live with them until the offseason.

Tomlin's greatest sin in his first few months on the job may have been using his first two draft picks on linebackers Lawrence Timmons and LaMarr Woodley, who were able to contribute only minimally in their rookie seasons. A punter was the Steelers' rookie of the year. That tells you all you need to know about how much immediate help Tomln's first draft class offered.

Maybe Timmons and Woodley will become long-term stars, but that doesn't help the team when it needs the help now.

Tomlin put too much faith in backup wide receivers Nate Washington and Cedric Wilson when the Steelers needed an infusion of youth at wide receiver. He needed more behind Ward and Holmes, and Tomlin or the scouting staff or a combination of both failed to provide it.

Signing Mahan as his marquee free agent also hasn't worked out well.

Tomlin is a good coach, not a great one; the Steelers are a good team, not a great one. Both statements can change - in time. But not in the next few weeks.

The Steelers may lose a big game somewhere along the way this month, but remember this: Cowher went from January, 1992, when he was hired until February, 2006, before winning his first Super Bowl.

Heaven help Mike Tomlin if it takes him that long because fans get more impatient-and the NFL gets more difficult to solve-every year.

Jerry DiPaola is an assistant editor at the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. Jerry has covered the NFL and the Steelers for PSR since 2002.