Pathetic Steelers plummet quickly

How sad are Pittsburgh Steelers fans this week?
The Black-and-Gold are so bad that we're actually looking up in the standings at perennial NFL doormats (the Cincinnati Bengals and Arizona Cardinals, the poster children for pathetic).
The Steelers have fallen so far from grace that only the one-win wonders in San Diego, Jacksonville and Atlanta are worse.
OK, turnover happens in the NFL, more than in any other professional sports league. But when a team's fortunes plummet this markedly, it's usually because of high turnover of personnel for cost-cutting reasons (see San Francisco 49ers, 1999).
Still have same players
The Steelers are employing many of the same players who won the AFC North Division last year and advanced to the second round of the playoffs. Most of the current squad were starters when the Steelers earned home-field advantage in the AFC Championship Game following the 2001 season.
What in the name of all that Myron Cope holds sacred is going on?
The culprits in the Steelers' 2-6 start are everywhere. Here are some:
U Plaxico Burress -- the wide receiver mouths off because the ball's not being thrown often enough to him, then drops two passes in last Sunday's 23-16 loss to the Seahawks in Seattle.
"Terrell Owens whininess" is spreading throughout the league and Burress has caught a dose. (Raiders cornerback Charles Woodson, who is questioning Coach Bill Callahan's leadership skills after a 2-6 start, is our winner of the first-half All-Pro Whiner award. The 49ers wide receiver isn't eligible since he's All-World.)
U The offensive line shuffle -- like many NFL teams, the Steelers have lost linemen to high-ankle sprains. The solution, as the Steelers' lack of running game shows, is not moving the healthy players out-of-position, then watching them struggle.
U Fourth-quarter turnovers --specifically, the lack of them being produced by the defense.
Soundly whipped
During the current five-game losing streak, the Steelers were soundly whipped by the Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns. But the Steelers had a chance for overtime in Denver if the defense could have produced one big play in the final two minutes.
Sunday in Seattle, the Steelers cut the Seahawks' lead to 16-13 in the fourth-quarter, then watched quarterback Matt Hasselbeck guide his troops on a long touchdown drive.
Cornerback Dewayne Washington was benched (rightly so) for falling down and failing to tackle struggling Seattle wide receiver Darrell Jackson on the 43-yard gain that set up the game's final touchdown.
U Quarterback Tommy Maddox -- even pee-wee players know that with no timeouts remaining, 65 yards to go and one minute on the clock you don't throw 5-yard tosses in the middle of the field.
U Coordinators Mike Mularkey and Tim Lewis -- national experts say these two are in line to be considered for head coaching jobs (only if the Jaguars, Chargers and Falcons are looking to maintain their ineptness).
Whatever worked for gunslinging Maddox last season has been shackled by Mularkey.
And the Steelers' once-vaunted defense scares no one. When Lewis called off the blitzes, Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer easily picked them apart.
Still in contention
As poorly as the Steelers have played in a season that began with them considered Super Bowl contenders, they could actually be in first place 16 days from now.
The Steelers' next three games are against the Cardinals, 49ers and Browns (combined record 10-15). The first-place Baltimore Ravens (5-3) next play the playoff-contending St. Louis Rams, Miami Dolphins and Seahawks (16-8).
But if the Steelers lose Sunday at home to the hapless Cardinals (3-5), perhaps Bill Cowher should start thinking about whether he should draft quarterback Eli Manning or tailback Maurice Clarett with their forthcoming high draft pick.
XTom Williams is a sportswriter for The Vindicator. Write to him at williams@vindy.com.