Steelers’ new offense becomes concern

It’s scored just 21 points in two games, three with Ben Roethlisberger playing.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — For all the new wrinkles in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense — four wide receivers occasionally on first and second downs, three tight ends in unusual alignments, no fullback on running plays — there’s something lacking in the preseason.

Namely, much offense.

In their last two games, the Steelers have managed 21 points, with only three points scored with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in the game. The offense’s inefficiency is becoming a concern given that Sunday’s preseason game against Philadelphia is the last in which the starters will play more than a few downs.

Parker still missing

Running back Willie Parker’s knee injury that kept him out of the first two exhibition games and the ever-changing offensive line’s instability have something to do with the inefficiency.

But if new coach Mike Tomlin is fretting after watching his offense produce only nine points Aug. 11 against Green Bay and 12 points Saturday against Washington, he’s not showing it. And he’s certainly not blaming the twists that new offensive coordinator Bruce Arians is adding to former coordinator Ken Whisenhunt’s system.

“It’s not necessarily the case because of Bruce’s winkles,” Tomlin said. “It’s just the nature of football. Defenses generally progress better than offenses [in the preseason]. It just takes offenses a little longer to get a rhythm. It’s not an excuse, just the facts.”

Same happened two years ago

Only two years ago, the Steelers proved that preseason problems need not linger into the regular season. The starting offense was similarly nonproductive during minimal preseason playing time, only to score 61 points in the first two regular season games.

Last year, the Steelers passed much more than usual while going 8-8, but that mostly resulted from them frequently playing catch-up after falling behind early.

Wide receiver Hines Ward isn’t convinced Arians is remaking a run-first offense into a passing-dominated system, the way former coordinator Mike Mularkey unsuccessfully tried to do as the Steelers went 6-10 with Tommy Maddox at quarterback in 2003.

“There were a lot of factors that year we went passing crazy — our defense was struggling at the time,” Ward said.

The Steelers believe their offense will begin to resemble Arian’s vision once Parker plays. An irritated knee caused Parker to miss two weeks of training camp, and he was limited to 4 yards on four carries in his first game action Saturday against Washington.