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Steelers' start recalls 1995 season
Meanwhile, an offense previously built to run the football struggled while adjusting to a more pass-friendly system.
Sounds a lot like the 2009 Pittsburgh Steelers.
But, in fact, it was the 1995 Steelers who saw All-Pro cornerback Rod Woodson suffer a torn ACL in a 23-20 win over Detroit before losing four of its next six games - including one to Cincinnati.
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Coming off their second consecutive loss, many of the same things could be said about the 2009 Steelers, who are off to a 1-2 start.
With 860 yards passing through three games, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is on pace to throw for more than 4,500 yards, which would obliterate individual and team records.
And the Steelers are still trying to figure out a way to play without Troy Polamalu, who missed his second consecutive game in Sunday's 23-20 loss at Cincinnati.
In that respect, the 2009 Steelers have something to look forward to that their 1995 counterparts did not. While Woodson would not play again until the Super Bowl, Polamalu could return as early as two weeks from now from the sprained knee he suffered against Tennessee.
In the meantime, much like the 1995 Steelers finally settled on moving safety Carnell Lake to cornerback to cover for Woodson, the Steelers on Sunday moved cornerbacks Deshea Townsend and Keiwan Ratliff to safety to spell Tyrone Carter against the Bengals.
The bottom line is that the Steelers are looking to do whatever it takes to hold things together until Polamalu returns.
"When they got in passing situations we did that," said Carter, who suffered a thigh contusion against Chicago two weeks ago. "I don't know if it was (because I was injured.) I just went with it."
With San Diego's high-powered passing attack coming to Pittsburgh next Sunday, the Steelers have to figure out two things. First, they need to find ways to turn Roethlisberger's passing yards into points. They also need to find ways to keep opposing offenses from exploiting their weakness at strong safety.
Roethlisberger has accounted for all five of Pittsburgh's touchdowns this season - three passing, two rushing. But he knows the Steelers' offense can do better than the 47 points it has scored in the first three weeks.
"We feel like we beat ourselves a little bit," said Roethlisberger of the loss to the Bengals. "We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times and came away with three points when we should have scored touchdowns. Some of that is my fault for missing receivers. We'll improve and score some more points."
It was something the 1995 team did well. After averaging 21 points in their first seven games, the Steelers averaged 29.4 over their final nine games, winning eight of them to finish 11-5.
"You have to find ways to put up seven points and not three," said wide receiver Hines Ward. "That's how you finish a team off."
Odds and end zones
Roethlisberger ranks fifth in the NFL in passing yards. ... Linebacker LaMarr Woodley, who had 11.5 sacks last season, has failed to record a sack in his past seven regular season games. ... After missing just six of 56 field goal attempts in the previous two seasons, placekicker Jeff Reed has already missed three of seven attempts.
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