Balancing act: Steelers trying to mix run, pass

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Two games into the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense has mostly been Big Ben and a big question mark.

After winning the Super Bowl mostly on the strength of their passing game, the Steelers still don’t quite seem to know what they want to do offensively.

Are they a running team that can’t pass up the temptation to let Roethlisberger throw on every important down? Or are they making the transition to a passing team that can’t seem to commit to also having its usual strong running game?

Roethlisberger knows what he wants the Steelers (1-1) to be doing in Sunday’s AFC North game against Cincinnati (1-1). He also knows they’re not they’re yet.

“We’ve got to try to score on every possession. We need to take big plays, little plays, and drive the ball up the field,” Roethlisberger said. “We’ve got to find a way to be an offense that teams fear.”

The Steelers, who have run the ball infrequently and not very effectively despite Rashard Mendenhall’s 39-yard run against Chicago on Sunday, haven’t exactly been scary while scoring 13 points against the Titans and 14 points against the Bears. By contrast, they had 48 points in their first two games last season and 60 in their first two in 2007.

The Steelers’ gradual but persistent move away from the run as the driving force of their offense also seems evident. They ran only 22 times against Chicago (105 yards) and 23 times against Tennessee (36 yards). Willie Parker alone had 53 carries in their first two games last season, and he had fewer than 20 carries in a September game only three times in the previous three seasons.

In Chicago, Roethlisberger tried to throw to Santonio Holmes 14 times while going 23 of 35 for 221 yards, or as many times as Parker carried. Holmes finished with five catches for 83 yards. In two games, Roethlisberger has thrown 78 times; the Steelers have run it 45 times.

“You can’t be truly successful unless you have some form of balance,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “Ultimately, though, we’re interested in winning football games.”

The Steelers had a balanced run-to-pass mix during Tomlin’s first two seasons. Last season, they ran the ball 460 times and Roethlisberger and backup Byron Leftwich threw it 505 times; in 2007, the Steelers ran 511 times and threw 442 times.

The shift to a much more pass-driven offense — offensive coordinator Bruce Arians doesn’t even have a true fullback in his system — is significant because, since 1970, the Steelers have about 5,000 yards rushing more than any other NFL team.