Aug 15, 2008 By Dave Stofcheck 4 min read

The Steelers, at least in theory, should be a better team this season than last.

Through the draft, they’ve upgraded the positions of running back and wide receiver, and second-year pros LaMarr Woodley and Lawrence Timmons figure to play more prominent roles on defense. A devastating injury aside, there’s no reason to believe Ben Roethlisberger will regress. Last season, he tossed 34 touchdowns, and is said to now have a better grasp of offensive coordinator Bruce Arians’ game plan.

As always, the defense should be its usual self.

That leaves the offensive line, where if the season started tomorrow, the starters, left to right, would be: Marvel Smith, Chris Kemoeatu, Justin Hartwig, Kendall Simmons and Willie Colon.

Smith is supposedly healthy and he’s in the last year of a contract, both of which should bode well for Pittsburgh. Kemoeatu is a fourth-year pro, but he’s started just two games and has the task of replacing perennial All-Pro Alan Faneca, who bolted to the Jets during the offseason.

Kemoeatu will probably be scrutinized the most, and he will also probably be the weak link among the linemen.

Hartwig signed with Pittsburgh as a free agent, and likely will perform better than Sean Mahan, and Colon should get better with more experience as a starter. Simmons is a seven-year vet who’s started every game the past three seasons.

Until he broke his leg during Week 15, Willie Parker was leading the league in rushing last season. That tells us the offensive line held their own, at least when the Steelers chose to run the football.

But when it came to protecting Roethlisberger, the line was porous, allowing Big Ben to be sacked 47 times. Over the past two years, Roethlisberger has been taken down 93 times, the most of any AFC quarterback.

This season will be won or lost up front. It’s an old cliché, but it’s truer than ever.

Along with AFC North games, Pittsburgh travels to Jacksonville, Philadelphia, Washington and New England, and host powerhouses San Diego, Dallas, Indianapolis and the defending Super Bowl champion N.Y. Giants.

It’s going to be a long season, and 10 wins against a brutal schedule might be nothing short of remarkable, and at the same time good enough to win the division.

It all will come down to the offensive line. If they can give protect Roethlisberger better than they did the past two seasons, the Steelers could be playing deep into 2009.

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The U.S. men’s soccer team delivered another hum-drum performance this Olympics.

Three games and out.

That was quick.

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Quick quiz: How many of you know where Togo is?

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Who will win more games this season, the Packers or the Jets?

My money’s on Green Bay.

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Back to Togo. Officially, the African nation is called the Togolese Republic, and it borders Ghana to the west.

Why all the fuss? Recently, Togo won its first-ever medal in the Summer Olympics when Benjamin Boukpeti captured a bronze in the single canoe slalom.

Boukpeti’s medal was also the first by a black man in a slalom event, according to the International Canoe Federation.

That’s what I love about the Olympics. The human interest stories are often as compelling as the actual competition.

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High school football season starts in two weeks. If Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, the start of football season ranks a close second.

Whether it’s high school, college or the NFL, football is king in southwestern Pa. There’s not a sports fan who isn’t chomping at the bit once August rolls around in anticipation of the start of football season.

Count me among them.

Until next time.