Aug 21, 2005 By Commentary Mike Ciarochi 3 min read

PITTSBURGH – Those who waited for the lull in the thunderstorms were treated to a pretty action-packed 15 minutes of football Saturday night at Heinz Field. The rest of the game against the Miami Dolphins was entertaining, as well, but couldn’t match the first quarter, which produced:

A James Farrior-forced fumble that was recovered by Chris Hope.

A Hines Ward catch for three yards on third-and-4. That was interesting because Ward received a thunderous (no pun intended) ovation from the home crowd just for being there. At least we hope he wasn’t being cheered for coming up short on a third-down play.

A Willie Parker run for 37 yards.

A missed Jeff Reed field goal.

Another Farrior-induced fumble, this one on a sack and returned 69 yards for a touchdown by James Harrison.

A Ben Roethlisberger interception on an overthrown pass to Jerame Tuman.

Enough offensive ineptitude from the Dolphins to last a season. The Dolphins were 0-5 on third downs and lost two fumbles before the start of the second quarter.

What we didn’t see much of was the Steelers starting offense, which leads to an intriguing question: Is that a concern or not?

Is it worrisome that halfway through the exhibition season the Steelers starting offense has mustered only a missed field goal?

Granted, there are reasons, very sound and logical reasons, not to mention plenty of circumstances.

Isn’t it a good thing that the starting defense has produced a pair of touchdowns? And isn’t a good thing that special teams have matched the defense in touchdown production?

Of course those are good things, but they have come at the expense of snaps for the first team offense.

That may have been a reason why Roethlisberger and the starting offense played until the 3:09 mark of the second quarter, when Charlie Batch relieved and brought a slew of reserves in with him.

But the answer to the question is, no. There is no reason for concern about the starting offense because there are few decisions to be made there. Roethlisberger will start (no upset there), as will Ward and Jerome Bettis and the rest.

Even the other starting position opposite Ward, expected to come down to Antwaan Randle El and Cedric Wilson likely will be a 2A and 2B situation. Besides, with all of the three-wideout sets in today’s NFL, the difference between Nos. 2 and 3 is miniscule.

The decisions to be made regarding this team are related to depth. That’s why it was fortuitous that once Batch entered the game, the Steelers recovered a muffed punt and he got more snaps. It was even bigger when he led the Steelers into the end zone after the special teams created another turnover, Miami’s sixth lost fumble of the game (ugh). That score extended the Steelers lead to 17-0.

The Steelers coaches, though, learned quite a bit about the middle to lower end of their roster Saturday night. Most noticeably, they learned that Willie Parker is dependable enough to perhaps supplant Verron Haynes as the third-down back and possibly overtake Duce Staley as the backup to Bettis. Parker finished with 58 on six carries, a healthy 9.7-yard average.

As far as the starting offense is concerned, there is plenty of time to work on the finer points. The Steelers don’t play a meaningful game until Sept. 11, when the Tennessee Titans come to town.

Sports editor Mike Ciarochi may be reached at mciarochi@heraldstandard.com.