Steelers a new team with passing attack

Behind Tommy Maddox, Pittsburgh should be more balanced this season.
LATROBE, Pa. (AP) -- He was the centerpiece of their training camp only a summer ago, a reinvigorated star coming off a Pro Bowl season for a team widely predicted to go to the Super Bowl.
Now, as far as the Pittsburgh Steelers are concerned, it's almost as if Kordell Stewart never existed. Nobody wears the No. 10 he was assigned for eight seasons; his name is seldom mentioned in discussions among those who were his teammates for years.
After losing his starting job to Tommy Maddox last season, Stewart was released and has since signed with the Bears.
That's how quickly things change in the NFL. That's how quickly things have changed with a Steelers offense that only slightly resembles that unit during much of Stewart's on-and-off tenure as their starting quarterback from 1997-2002.
More confidence
"I remember when the passing game was a big question mark," said Pro Bowl receiver Hines Ward, who is in his sixth season. "Everybody was depending so much on the running game and nobody really talked about the Steelers' passing game. But we've evolved. We have that confidence in our passing game and I don't think we had that two years ago."
The Steelers' ongoing transition from a running team to a passing team began in 2001, when the emergence of Ward and Plaxico Burress as play-making receivers helped Stewart revive his career. The Steelers went 13-3 and came within a victory of the Super Bowl.
The changeover accelerated once Maddox replaced the slumping Stewart a month into last season, and immediately established the kind of aggressive down-field throwing game the Steelers had long lacked.
The results were dramatic for a long-predictable team that had greatly relied on Jerome Bettis' running to carry the offense. With Ward (112 catches, 1,329 yards) and Burress (78 catches, 1,325 yards) emerging as the AFC's most productive receiving tandem, the Steelers had more success throwing the ball than in any season since Lynn Swann and John Stallworth were their receivers and Terry Bradshaw was their quarterback.
Credits Mularkey
"The coaching staff finally let us go out and make plays," said Ward, who credits coordinator Mike Mularkey for opening up the offense. "I remember when I first got here, we didn't throw that much. If you had two plays and you dropped one (pass), you had a bad day. Now we pass the ball a lot more, and it gives you more chances to make plays."
The offensive overhaul isn't over, either. The Steelers have brought in tight end Jay Riemersma, a skillful receiver, to complement longtime starter Mark Bruener, an excellent blocker.
"I'm hoping with the addition of Jay, things will change," Ward said. "A lot of teams were double-covering Plax and I last year. They just said, 'Y'all run the ball,' they dared us to throw the ball. A lot of teams wouldn't do that to us now."