Steelers still developing offensive persona

[SD2042]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsbu ... 44479.html


Wide receiver Hines Ward has insisted that the Steelers are a running team.

The statistics, at least through the first two games, suggest otherwise.

The Steelers have run the ball only 37 percent of the time this season. That is a stark contrast to the past two times they won the Super Bowl.

Through the first two games last season, the Steelers ran the ball 65 percent of the time. Over the same span in 2005, they went to the ground 70 percent of the time.

Coach Mike Tomlin, however, made it clear Tuesday that he doesn't care about such statistical breakdowns even though the Steelers have long prided themselves on imposing their will on opponents.

Tomlin said he isn't concerned about style points as much as he is with the ones on the scoreboard -- no matter how the Steelers get them.

"I think that the great teams are capable of winning in many forms and fashions, playing to your strengths on a week-to-week basis based on the matchup," Tomlin said at his weekly news conference. "I thought a great deal about that this offseason. You study a team like New England and you watch them walk into a stadium offensively week to week and they can be whatever they choose to be.

"They can beat you with four wide(outs), three wide(outs), three tight ends, and it makes them very difficult to prepare for and ultimately beat. We want to kind of create that persona."

If the first two games are any indication, the Steelers have a ways to go to accomplish that.

They have managed just three touchdowns in eight-plus quarters, and the running game remains under intense scrutiny.