Victory does wonders for Pittsburgh's psyche

The team's game Sunday is at Atlanta.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Ben Roethlisberger insisted for weeks he wasn't playing as badly as his statistics might indicate. Those numbers were as terrible as the Steelers' 1-3 record, too.
Now that he's had a breakout game, is he is the Super Bowl-winning Big Ben of last season -- or still a work in progress after two major medical problems only a few months apart?
"Hines [Ward] and I have been telling you guys from Week 1, we're close," Roethlisberger said Wednesday. "Eventually if you keep getting closer and closer, you're going to click. Hopefully we can continue to click like we did last week."
Unexpected
The Steelers (2-3) couldn't have been expected to start as poorly as they did, nor could they have anticipated routing Kansas City 45-7 as they did Sunday. Roethlisberger threw seven interceptions and no touchdown passes in three starts -- the only NFL starting QB without a touchdown pass until last week -- before throwing nearly as many TD passes (two) as he did incompletions (three) on Sunday.
That was the efficient, make-few-mistakes Roethlisberger that won 27 of his first 31 starts for the Steelers until losing his first three this season. His passer rating remains so low (60.2) that he is not among the league's top 30, but he hopes that scoring so many points and ending the three-game losing streak will give the offense some momentum.
"We all needed a game like last week," Roethlisberger said as the Steelers began practicing for Sunday's game at Atlanta (3-2). "We got a win. I think offensively we needed that as a group because we came out and played well in all phases of the offense as a group and put together an outstanding performance. I think that was big for us."
Clearly, he hopes this performance quiets those who were saying he had lost too much weight since his motorcycle accident and appendicitis attack, and questioned if he had returned too quickly from his two hospital stays.
Transition successful
"I felt like I've been practicing well," he said. "We've been practicing well and we finally took it out on the field on Sunday. Hopefully we can carry it onto the field on Sunday. As long as we play good on Sunday, that's all that matters to me."
Coach Bill Cowher felt Roethlisberger played better partly because he got better protection from an offensive line that did its job so well the Steelers outrushed the Chiefs 219-38.
The line played its best game of the season despite being without right guard Kendall Simmons (foot burn), who was replaced by second-year lineman Chris Kemoeatu. Simmons is questionable for the Falcons game, so Kemoeatu may start again.
"The way our offensive line is playing right now, I love it," Roethlisberger said. "They're giving me time and protecting me. They'll tell you it's still going to be a challenge for them (against Atlanta). They are a good defensive line and they are going to bring a lot of pressure and they're very fast."
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