Sep 26, 2006 By Alan Robinson Ap Sports Writer 4 min read

PITTSBURGH – Blame the motorcycle crash. Blame the appendicitis. Blame the quirky schedule or defenses that may be adjusting to him. Whatever the reason, Ben Roethlisberger isn’t the quarterback he was in leading Pittsburgh to the Super Bowl last season. That means the Steelers haven’t been the team they were, either.

The Steelers (1-2) already are in the same predicament they were in December – two games down in the AFC North race, only this time before October has arrived. They’ve got plenty of time to catch up to the Bengals (3-0) and Ravens (3-0), but they realize they can’t expect to come back from deficits every season.

“It’s going to eat at you for a couple of weeks,” coach Bill Cowher said after a 28-20 home-field loss Sunday to Cincinnati.

That’s another problem – the on-again, off-again schedule that may be holding back Roethlisberger from recovering as quickly as he hoped from his summer of medical problems.

He couldn’t play in the Steelers’ early opener Sept. 7 against Miami after having his appendix removed four days before. Then, after looking rusty during a dismally played 9-0 loss to Jacksonville on Sept. 18 – the team’s first game in 11 days – he had less than a full week of preparation for the Bengals.

Now, the Steelers have two weeks before their Oct. 8 Sunday night game at San Diego. As a result, Roethlisberger won’t settle back into the routine of game-week practice again until next week.

Whatever the reason, Roethlisberger’s throws haven’t been his sharp as they were in the playoffs last season – and when he’s been on target, he has had some passes dropped. His arm strength may not be quite what it was late last season, and it didn’t help that he threw into a stiff breeze at times Sunday.

All of this is reflected in the third-year quarterback’s statistics. He is 28th in passing yardage and his 34.3 passer rating is so low, it doesn’t rank among the league’s top 30. Only Andrew Walter (19.0) of Oakland has a lower rating among AFC QBs with more than a couple of attempts.

Roethlisberger is among the leaders in one statistic: interceptions. He has five, two fewer than injured league leader Chris Simms of Tampa Bay.

Team-wise the Steelers aren’t much better, ranking 25th in total offense and 27th in passing.

After leading the Steelers to a Super Bowl championship in only his second season as a regular, Roethlisberger lobbied to be given a greater role in the offense.

“I put pressure on myself to produce and, right now, I’m not doing that,” he said. “I’m going to continue to put more pressure on myself to play better. I need to find that happy medium without trying to do too much. I have to come out and be smart and make better plays.”

Former Lions coach Steve Mariucci wonders whether Roethlisberger isn’t putting too much on himself.

“You hear Ben say he might need to put more pressure on himself to play better,” the NFL Network analyst said. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. He’s recovering from his motorcycle accident and an emergency appendectomy. He’s got to get back into the swing of things and get his swagger back.”

It hasn’t helped that his most dependable target, Hines Ward, hasn’t been himself after missing most of training camp with a sore hamstring.

Traditionally among the league reception leaders, Ward also doesn’t rank among the NFL top 30 with nine catches for 99 yards and one TD in three games. He was held to two catches for 17 yards Sunday. A year ago, he had 12 catches for 219 yards and four touchdowns after three games.

“There were a couple of times they doubled up on Hines, but they were really trying to take away anything to the outside – running guys underneath our patterns,” Roethlisberger said of the Bengals. “That kind of threw us off, we weren’t ready for it.”

Much as the Steelers didn’t seem ready for this 1-2 start.

“We’ll see how we respond,” Roethlisberger said.