Pittsburgh Steelers: Why the Gold and Black Are the NFL's Softest Team

The 2011 Pittsburgh Steelers are lacking their signature toughness.  Historically, the Steelers are unknown for intimidating play.  They are about featuring a hard-nosed running style, and an attacking defense.  However, this season has been a different story.

The season started with a beating from the hands of the Baltimore Ravens.  In that game, the Steelers surrendered 163 rushing yards.  Ray Rice and the Baltimore rushing attack were able control the line of scrimmage.  This result was more discouraging because of the intense rivalry.

Pittsburgh not only surrendered 163 yards rushing, but were only able to manage 63 rushing yards.  These two stats show that Pittsburgh was dominated in the trenches.  For a team looking to play a tough brand of football, losing the battle at the line of scrimmage is unacceptable.

In the early going, the Steelers rushing attack has been non-existent.  Struggling against the Ravens is one thing, but not gaining rushing yards against the Seattle Seahawks and Indianapolis is scary.  Both Seattle and Indianapolis struggle stopping the run.  However, the Steelers were unable to establish a powerful running attack.

The offensive struggles are due to several injuries along the offensive line.  The unit is missing several starters including Willie Colon.  The inability to get a push off the line has put more pressure on the passing game.  It appears that if Pittsburgh is going to have a winning season, they will need to become more of a finesse team.

The struggles are not only on the offensive side of the ball.  As I mentioned, they allowed the Ravens to run the ball with ease.  They followed up that performance by allowing both the Colts and Texans to gain over 100 yards on the ground.  They lost the game against Houston due to their inability to shut down Arian Foster.

This Steelers team is now 2-2 but facing an identity crisis.  This team needs to find a way to regain toughness, or it will be a long season.

Jon Dove is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report, covering the NFL and NFL draft. Check him out on Twitter @Jon_Dove42.