The Steelers play the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday, and that should be the last significant action the starters see until the regular season starts.

The Defense seems ready to return to the dominance of the Blitzburgh days. New Defensive Coordinator, Tim Lewis, has this team playing with the intensity that had been missing the last couple of years. If the season started tomorrow, they would be ready to wage battle with any team in the NFL.

The Offense is a different story. Although this team is at a perfect 3-0, none of the credit for the record can be attributed to the Offense. They have been miserable, detestable, laughable and terrible. That's a lot of bull.

Bill Cower is not ready to press the panic button yet, but some positive results must happen soon. He had this to say on the Carolina game:
"I thought we were somewhat spotty on offense. We weren't able to do anything consistently. We are just going to go back (to camp) and continue to work."

"Certainly we have a ways to go throwing the football. We have some young receivers, and we're trying to get in sync with the quarterbacks. It's a progress in the works. The passing game needs to be more efficient."

That's somewhat of an understatement. The passing game has been non-existent.

Much can be attributed to the lack of continuity on the Offensive Line. The injuries to Jerome Bettis, and Richard Huntley don't help matters either. Still, at this point in the offseason, things should be starting to click. People can blame Kordell Stewart all they want, but Kent Graham, Anthony Wright, and Tee Martin have been unimpressive as well.

To keep things in perspective, the coach had this to say:
"Hey, listen," Cowher said, "we have to develop better on offense. But if you can play solid, fundamental football, not turn it over, not have critical penalties, have a good kicking game, you can win a lot of games in this league. That's where we're at."

Cowher makes some good points. During the first three games, penalties and turn overs have been kept to the bare minimum. That is a sign of a team that is playing with discipline and focus. It is much different than last year when every drive seemed to be stopped by a mental error. The pre-snap penalties killed us. If this team can keep that discipline and focus over the course of the regular season, they will indeed win their share of games regardless of the passing game.

The thing that excites me most about this team, is that the Offense has nowhere to go but up. Although it seems anemic at the moment, we have to remember we have a very young group of receivers. They will only get better with each passing game. Dermontti Dawson has been a huge loss to both the running, and passing game. He should be returning shortly, and that will give a big boost to everyone. We have yet to see what the backfield will produce with Bettis and Huntley in it.

There have been a lot of negatives surrounding this team, but they have shook them off, and continued to win games. The time is running out on this offseason, but I am confident the Offense will turn things around. Let's see how they do when they have all their starters back. Then we can pass judgment.

by SteelerGil (August 14, 00)