By Bob Smizik | Monday, 12:15 a.m.
I haven’t done the research, but it’s entirely possible that in the era of NFL free agency no team has been better equipped to repeat as Super Bowl champion than the Steelers.
It’s an NFL tradition that lesser teams regularly pick off the best talent from the better teams. Super Bowl champions frequently suffer the heaviest losses. But here come the Steelers, an organization that is the envy of much of the league, not only having lost just two starters from their championship season but having part-time starters -- almost as good or better -- to replace them.
The Steelers lost solid Larry Foote at inside linebacker and have replaced him with potential all-pro in 
Lawrence Timmons. They also lost cornerback Bryant McFadden, but replaced him with William Gay. Gay was so good in subbing for an injured McFadden last year that he shared the job the remainder of the season after McFadden got healthy.
The Steelers also return punter Daniel Sepulveda, who missed all of last season and who is significantly superior than the two players who punted last season.
This team is so good it is bordering on boring.
Where’s the hot stories? Where’s the controversy?
They’re buried under a mound of excellence.
I was a panelist on KDKA’s ``Sports Showdown’’ last night and the sexiest Steelers topic they could come up with involved backup running back Rashard Mendenhall. Keep in mind that Mendenhall backs up Willie Parker, a Pro Bowl performer in the prime of his career, and what he does or doesn’t do this season isn’t exactly earth-shattering.
But things are running so smoothly with the Steelers that this passes for a major storyline.
When Max Starks fell on Ben Roethlisberger’s foot in practice last week, it was the biggest news to come out of training camp. And by most reports -- although the Steelers are acting like a hockey team in doling out medical information -- Roethlisberger will be fine after sitting out the team’s exhibition game Saturday night.
Even that game, a loss to the Washington Redskins, failed set off any alarms. What happened to the days when a Steelers exhibition loss was enough to throw the sporting public into an advanced stage of panic?
Fans are too sophisticated today. With Roethlisberger on the sidelines, they know the Steelers aren’t the Steelers and there’s no sense in getting upset. Besides, the game was a good opportunity for Charlie Batch to get more snaps, after missing all of last season. So Roethlisberger’s minor injury was actually a blessing.
Everything is working out perfectly for the Steelers.
Even the much-maligned offensive line has avoided criticism or controversy, as it appears to be shaping up as a worthwhile unit, with Trai Essex, long suspected of having starting potential, getting a chance to be the regular right guard.
The age of the defensive line, once a topic of much concern, doesn’t get much play this year after that group’s stellar showing last season.
There have been the ``hot rookie’’ stories. In the first game it was undrafted running back Isaac Redman of Bowie State, who scored two touchdowns in the win over Arizona. Against the Redskins it was Stefan Logan, a free-agent return specialist who played last year in the Canadian Football League. He had 205 yards of return yardage -- four punts for 48 yards and two kickoff returns for 157 yards. But those kind of stories are typical of every training camp.
With the regular season less than three weeks away, the Steelers are primed and ready to defend their Super Bowl title. Maybe then the football season won’t seem so boring.
Unless they go 16-0.
Posted
Aug 24 2009, 12:15 AM
by
Bob Smizik
Filed under: Ben Roethlisberger, Daniel Sepulveda, Willie Parker, Max Starks, Trai Essex, Bryant McFadden, Lawrence Timmons, Larry Foote, Rashard Mendenhall, William Gay, Charlie Batch, Stefan Logan