1. Discipline: When has anyone seen a Super Bowl team filled with veterans make rookie mistakes over and over. The Steelers have made a habit of making costly penalties, mental errors, and coming into the games flat and unprepared. The blame for the penalties and mental errors is on the players but coming into games unprepared is solely on Bill Cowhers shoulders.
2. Offensive Line: Let’s get one fact out there. This is a old O-Line that needs some serious personnel moves. Jeff Hartings is finished and the management should have seen it coming. Hartings was contemplating retirement after the 03 season because of his bad knees, so the Steelers should not be surprised he is on the downhill of his career this season. The time was bound to happen. Alan Faneca is another problem on the O-Line. The play of Alan Faneca this season is what Steeler fans should expect for the coming seasons. He has been so good for so many years everyone wants to give him a free pass but he has also lost a step. Faneca is not a 1st team ALL-Pro anymore.
3. Special Teams: When will Bill Cowher fire special teams coach Kevin Spencer and take over himself. It may be sooner than we think. The special teams play has been awful in every aspect. Did keeping Sean Morey over Quincy Morgan really help the team?
4. Defense: The Pittsburgh Steelers defense is average at best and has proved it this season. One reason for that is because “The Steeler Way” finally caught up to them. Brett Keisel is not Kimo and Ryan Clark is not Chris Hope. At times the defense has looked spectacular but other times it has looked like a group of worn down veterans who are at the tail end of their careers.
5. Ben Roethlisberger: Big Ben’s play has led to the dismise to the Steelers season so far and maybe their playoff hopes. The talk that the Steelers should not have played him is ludicrous. Do you bench Sidney Crosby is he goes 7 games without a point? No you don’t and the same goes for Ben. If the Steelers have any hope of running off 6 or 7 straight wins to get back in this thing, it will be because of Ben Roelisberger not Charlie Batch.
