5 Reasons the Pittsburgh Steelers Shouldn't Be Concerned Heading into Week 2

While the Pittsburgh Steelers played possibly their worst game last week in Baltimore, there's not much cause for concern yet. There are still 15 more games to play, and there's a great likelihood that we don't know much about the 2011 squad just yet.

Here are five reasons not to be concerned as the Steelers head into their Week 2 game against Jeff Reed and the Seattle Seahawks.

Ben Roethlisberger Will Rebound

Ben Roethlisberger is an elite quarterback. Even elite quarterbacks had bad games. Every great from Joe Montana to Johnny Unitas has had that kind of game. They all rebounded. This isn't the first time Ben Roethlisberger has disappointed. He's always rebounded.

The Steelers need him to fix whatever it was that caused him to come apart. Part of it was due to the fact that he was playing behind an offensive line that just didn't gel yet. Part of it was that he just couldn't break through against a defense that finally had his number.

If Roethlisberger rebounds, the Steelers should be fine. I'm going to bet on the guy who's one of the best in the NFL at winning football games.

Don't Bury That Defense

Like Roethlisberger, the Steelers usually tight defense had an awful game Sunday afternoon. Like Roethlisberger, you can't write them off after one week of poor play. This is a defense that's known for finishing in the top 10 and was one of the best defenses in the NFL last season.

There's age here, but you can't make me believe that the Steelers defense just suddenly all decided to get old at the same time. That just doesn't happen. They had a bad day against a determined team. That's all. If they play seven weeks like that, we'll have a reason to worry.

The Steelers defense should rebound quickly against Seattle, and I'd expect them to lean on the Pro Bowl talent in James Harrison, Lamarr Woodley, Lawrence Timmons, Troy Polamalu and James Farrior.

Team History Is on Their Side

The Steelers do their best work as underdogs. They're now an underdog. Warren Sapp and a bunch of others have already written them off. They also usually don't lose consecutive games. After a loss, they usually rebound in a big way.

The Steelers are in a great position to break out now. They're underdogs, they're back home and they're against a lousy and undermanned team in the Seattle Seahawks.

The team has a great opportunity here. The schedule makers have been kind, giving the team five out of six games against subpar teams before their matchups with AFC heavyweight New England and their rematch with the Baltimore Ravens. That's plenty of time to fine tune.

The Bright Spots

There were some bright spots lost deep underneath the 35-7 final score. Those aren't going to carry a team, but they show that the Steelers aren't all bad, even at their worst.

In a game in which everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong, Antonio Brown, Ike Taylor and Rashard Mendenhall stood out.

Brown was great on returns and should be able to successfully circumvent the new kickoff rules and have a big season. He has the look of someone who's going to break a few long runs and will likely score a touchdown or two on returns.

Ike Taylor also had a great game, returning from injury and preventing Lee Evans from catching a pass all day. He played some of the best coverage in his career and was the only bright spot on the defense.

Mendenhall didn't have a big day, but he was very effective when the offensive line was able to block for even a few seconds and showed a great second gear when turning the corner and getting to the edge. That's a great thing for a guy that seems set for a big season.

The Offensive Line Will Come Together...Again

The Steelers offensive line looked bad. That much is obvious. They've been reshuffled (not revamped) during the offseason and aren't quite ready to gel. They haven't even played a full game together yet. That kind of unfamiliarity led to a lot of Sunday's problems.

That line has been in that situation before. The most troublesome issue right now is at right tackle, where rookie Marcus Gilbert is taking the place of Willie Colon, who lasted one game before injuring himself again.

Once the line gels a little more, Ben Roethlisberger will be able to adjust to what they can do blocking-wise. At that point, the Steelers should have a more dynamic offense. It takes time, and unfortunately, the offseason was much shorter than usual.

Give the line another game or two and they should be just fine.