Surging Steelers are not getting ahead of themselves

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

There was at time, two years ago to be exact, when Mike Wallace couldn’t wait for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ open week.

Four days off is an eternity in the hectic life of an NFL rookie, particularly if your hometown is New Orleans.

“All that pressure man, as a rookie, you can’t wait to bust loose a little bit,” Wallace said.

So Wallace enjoyed himself. A lot.

Don’t get Wallace wrong. He plans to spend the weekend relaxing in the Big Easy, but only after one of the league’s top young receivers gets a little work in first.

“I’ll get my film in,” Wallace said. “You can’t let that drop. Just because you’ve got a week off doesn’t mean you can just forget what you’re working for.”

Besides, as Wallace points out, there’s always time to party in February, particularly if the defending AFC champions can win their seventh Super Bowl title.

The Steelers (7-3) are in their usual spot atop the AFC North as Thanksgiving approaches and in prime position to make the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons under coach Mike Tomlin.

They’ve won five of six despite a rash of injuries at linebacker, where starters James Harrison, LaMarr Woodley and James Farrior have all missed significant time.

They’ve won despite a defense that is on a pace to set an NFL record for fewest takeaways in a season.

They’ve won despite an offensive line that spent the first two months of the season in constant flux.

They’ve won ugly — a 23-20 escape against winless Indianapolis — and not-so ugly, handily beating New England three weeks ago in the kind of vintage performance that seemed to quell all the questions raised during a 35-7 beatdown at the hands of rival Baltimore in the opener.

“I think we’re getting by,” quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. “We are doing enough things offensively and defensively to win, but I still don’t thing we’re playing to our full potential.”

Not that Roethlisberger is complaining. There are bigger issues, like healing. He sustained a fractured right thumb sometime during last week’s 24-17 win over Cincinnati and will wear a brace over the busted thumb for the next few weeks.

Roethlisberger dealt with a similar injury in 2005. It didn’t stop him from leading the Steelers to their fifth Super Bowl title. The Steelers aren’t quite ready to stamp themselves contenders just yet, even in the seemingly wide-open AFC. They lost both games against the Ravens and got the Patriots at home.

“All we’ve done is put us in position to make the last six weeks count,” wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery said.

The schedule would seem to favor the Steelers.

The only true test appears to be a road trip to San Francisco in mid-December.

They have the offensively challenged Browns twice, the Bengals and the Rams at home and travel to battered Kansas City on Nov. 27.