Against all odds, the Pittsburgh Steelers went from Wild Card to Trump Card in a matter of a few weeks.  One of the last teams given a playoff spot last season, the Steelers went on the road against the Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos, and Indianapolis Colts coming away with a victory in each contest.  The season finished up in Detroit, Michigan where the Steel Curtain hoisted up the Vince Lombardi Trophy after beating the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl.

A storybook ending for all involved; including Jerome Bettis who had never won a Super Bowl, and got to do so in his hometown.  Well, I think that storybook did end last season, as this year’s Steelers might find their work cut out for them to even make the playoffs, let alone win it all again.

With the aforementioned Bettis riding off into the sunset, this year’s Pittsburgh Steelers have a few new faces mixed in with the household names.  Ohio State wide out Santonio Holmes will take his game about 2 hours east on the Ohio/Pennsylvania Turnpike, and will line up across the field from the cagey veteran, Hines Ward.  This slot has been opened up as Antwaan Randle El (ironically, another Big 10 star) takes his versatile game to the Washington Redskins.  The success of both these receivers will hinge on the development of third year quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger.  This season, the red zone will be home to last season’s surprise running back, Willie Parker.  Parker will now be asked to not only take the hits on the goal line, but carry the ball roughly 300 times this season; a tough task for a back only in his second year of experience. 

Roethlisberger, himself, was in the news on his own this offseason, as he was on the unfortunate side of a helmetless motorcycle accident.  Had he been on the Browns, things would’ve more than likely turned out worse, a la Kellen Winslow, Jr.  Fortunately for all involved, Big Ben only experienced some minor injuries to his jaw, requiring a few hours of surgery.  Since the surgery, Roethlisberger has shown little to no signs of his accident.

On the defensive side, the linebacker corps of Clark Haggans, James Farrior, Larry Foote, and Joey Porter could be enough to give opposing teams fits.  With these four, backed up by All-Pro strong safety Troy Polamalu and cornerback Ike Taylor, opposing offenses will have to not only be very successful in terms of execution, but also become very lucky at times.

However, with the strength that this defense provides, I’m not sure it will be enough to compensate for the loss of Jerome Bettis and Antwaan Randle El on the offensive side.  Without Bettis, Roethlisberger will be forced to throw the ball more.  In the past, this offense has been very run-oriented.  Opposing teams know that if you want to win games, you need to make Ben throw the ball.  Until he proves that he can become a vertical threat, I think that the juggernaut that used to be the Pittsburgh Steelers offense will take a back seat to the other strong teams in the AFC.  The Steelers will have to win a lot of games against opposing AFC teams this season if they want to make the playoffs – and the first three games (Miami, at Jacksonville, Cincinnati) will be very telling.