Nov 17, 2011 3 min read

It isn’t tremendously surprising that the Steelers carry a 7-3 record heading into their bye week. How they got there and the subtle changes that have occurred to this team are at least a little bit startling.

Who would have thought, for example, that the Steelers would be so strong at wide receiver that Hines Ward is dropping out of the team’s plans?

Who would have imagined that cornerback might actually be a strength, instead of an anchor ready to sink the ship?

Who could have imagined that the offensive line would get better by bringing back Max Starks or that the team could survive, let alone thrive, with three of their top four linebackers missing time with injuries.

But here they are, sharing the AFC catbird’s seat with a Houston team that won the head-to-head matchup, but faces a tough last six weeks without starting quarterback Matt Schaub.

Instead of knit-picking the team’s shortcomings, sports talk radio has been reduced to asking listeners whether the Steelers could or should run the table.

Perhaps the most intriguing storyline entering the bye, probably because it is the freshest, is the disappearance of Ward, the heart and soul of Pittsburgh’s receiving corps for over a decade.

Time has slowed him a bit, but what landed him on the bench is the emergence of other players, most notably Antonio Brown and most recently Jerricho Cotchery.

Brown has caught more passes (26) for more yards (364) over the last four weeks than any receiver in the league. He has become Ben Roethlisberger’s go-to receiver, replacing Ward in that capacity.

Then there is Cotchery, who only caught two passes in last week’s win at Cincinnati, but scored a touchdown and had another TD called back. Cotchery has replaced Ward as the slot receiver.

The running game remains solid, if not totally dependable. The Steelers still average a healthy 4.2 yards per carry, but have failed to run out the clock when necessary the last two games.

Defense continues to be the Steelers’ calling card, despite the losses of linebackers James Harrison, James Farrior and LaMarr Woodley for a combined eight games.

Factor in that defensive end Aaron Smith is out for the season and that nose tackles Casey Hampton and Chris Hoke have missed time, as has Brett Keisel and you get the picture that the defense is in transition, as well.

In the secondary, William Gay has replaced Bryant McFadden as a starting cornerback and the unit has gelled. Despite giving up the winning touchdown to Baltimore a few games ago, Gay is playing his best football.

The only constant has been change.

But the Steelers are still on the right path. Coach Mike Tomlin keeps pushing the right buttons at the right time.

We’ll see whether it carries over into January football and maybe even February football. It’s all still there in front of the Steelers.