Aug 15, 2015 3 min read

The Steelers head into their fourth, and final, week of training camp at Saint Vincent College today with much to be sorted out.

One thing is for certain: the first-team offense looks to be in mid-season form.

The Steelers rarely had all 11 starters on the field at the same time at Saint Vincent College because of minor injuries or head coach Mike Tomlin giving veterans a day off, but the first-team offense looked like a well-oiled machine in Friday night’s 23-21 loss at Jacksonville.

The offensive starters only played one series but looked sharp, going 80 yards on six plays and scoring a touchdown on a 44-yard bomb from Roethlisberger to Martavis Bryant. They went for a two-point conversion and Roethlisberger completed that to Markus Wheaton to make it 8-0 just under four minutes into the game.

The ball never hit the ground during the drive as Roethlisberger completed passes to four different receivers, counting the two-point conversion.

“We’ve got playmakers all over the field,” Bell said.

Offensive coordinator Todd Haley had to be happy.

“We want to be the best offense in the league,” said Roethlisberger, who finished 3-for-3 for 59 yards and the touchdown for a perfect 158.3 passer rating. “That’s the goal Coach Haley set for us and it’s not easy because there’s always a bullseye on our chest when you were good last year. We still have the tools to do it, but we have to execute. We executed but it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen every night.”

With the talent accumulated on offense, it should.

The Steelers averaged 31.2 points per game over the final 10 games of the 2014 regular season, and that burst coincided with then-rookie Bryant’s insertion into the lineup.

Haley and Roethlisberger have said the goal is to average 30 points per game this season, something that should be within reach.

More important than total points, however, would be finding offensive consistency. Mixed in among the 30- and 40-point games of last season were a 13-point effort in a loss at the New York Jets and a 17-point game in a playoff loss to Baltimore.

Running back Le’Veon Bell didn’t play in the loss to the Ravens, having been sidelined by a sprained knee suffered in Week 17 against the Bengals. It’s something the team is cognizant of, especially knowing their star running back will be out the first two weeks of this season because of an NFL suspension for violating the league substance abuse policy.

That’s why Tomlin will be keeping a close eye on his starting offense in the next two preseason games – against Green Bay next Sunday and at Buffalo the following week. Roethlisberger and company will get more playing time before scaling it back in the preseason finale Sept. 3 against Carolina.

“We have to play 60 minutes of winning football,” Tomlin said. “We are going through this process and work to that. I like the start to that, but it was just a start.”

Reserve running back Josh Harris suffered a foot injury and did not return to the game for the Steelers. … Inside linebackers Ryan Shazier and Sean Spence led the Steelers in tackles with 8 and 7, respectively. … The Steelers will practice at 2:55 p.m. today. It is open to the public.