Steelers OK being out of spotlight

Pittsburgh is not being considered a contender as much as it was last year.
LATROBE, Pa. (AP) -- Going into last season, the Pittsburgh Steelers were widely considered the team to beat in the AFC. They got beat, too -- six times during the season, then again by Tennessee in the divisional playoffs.
Their second playoff disappointment in as many seasons now well behind them, the Steelers don't find themselves as hyped as they were a summer ago or as heavily favored to win their division.
Considering how poorly they played while starting 0-2 and 1-3 last season, that might not necessarily be a bad thing for them. Former Steelers safety Lee Flowers said they allowed themselves to be overwhelmed by the praise heaped upon early last season, then had to fight the rest of the season to overcome their terrible start.
Veterans
With the Steelers now becoming one of the NFL's oldest upper-tier teams, with nine key players 30 or older, they're not hearing the words "Super Bowl" nearly as much as they did last July.
"That's lovely," wide receiver Plaxico Burress said. "I like when people overlook you and say what you can do and what you don't have. I think we know what kind of team we have. It's all on paper, we all know what we can do, we just have to go out and put it on field and show what we're really capable of doing."
Perhaps attempting to make up for the lack of buzz the Steelers are hearing from the outside, Burress said his expectations are considerably higher.
"I think people fear us, to be honest with you," he said. "We can win every game if we want to. It's all about putting our minds to it. If we go out and play football and put everything to the side -- stats and ego and all that stuff -- the sky's the limit for this football team."
Undecided starters
The Steelers are more unsettled than they were a year ago, with starters yet to be decided at right tackle and strong safety, and left tackle Marvel Smith still making the transition from the right side.
However, the Steelers are convinced their offense will be much more stable at the start of this season than it was last season, when quarterback Kordell Stewart never got into a groove. It wasn't until Tommy Maddox took over as the starter a month into the season that they began to move the ball effectively.
"It's kind of hard to stop us if we don't turn the ball over," wide receiver Hines Ward said.
The prime example of that was the Steelers' 24-3 loss to Houston, when the Texans completed only three passes and had only 47 yards of total offense, yet returned three Steelers turnovers for touchdowns.
That game ultimately cost the Steelers a first-round bye in the playoffs, forcing them to play the Browns at home and, only six days later, Tennessee on the road. The Steelers managed to overcome a 24-7 deficit and beat the Browns, but lost at Tennessee in overtime.
"We had some unfortunate things happen as far as the latter part of the season," tight end Mark Bruener said. "It's really proven that you need to show up every single Sunday. Some opponents I felt we didn't take as seriously as we should have, and the proof was in the final score."
Slate may be tougher
Coach Bill Cowher hopes the Steelers take that kind of thinking into a season when, at least based on last year's records, their schedule would seem to be tougher than it was a year ago.
"I think it is a very competitive team," Cowher said. "I think it is a very confident team. I also think it is one that recognizes the fine line between winning and losing. If you go back to where we were a year ago, you're sitting there at the end of the season one win away from having the bye week and we ended up playing two games in six days when we weren't completely healthy.
"I think we recognize that whether it is the first game of the season or [one in] the middle of the season, it is of great significance."
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