Steelers vs Seahawks: 4 early causes for concern

Last week the Pittsburgh Steelers snapped their three-game losing streak with an emotional, last-minute win over the Denver Broncos. This week the Steelers stay home in their final game before the bye week. The Seattle Seahawks are coming to town minus their franchise quarterback Russell Wilson.

Here are our early worries for this week.

Overconfidence

(Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

Sunday was an emotional win for the Steelers in a must-win game. Pittsburgh did a very good job keeping Denver quarterback Teddy Bridgewater in check until the fourth quarter. This week the Steelers will face backup Geno Smith, who, let’s face it, is no Russell Wilson. Nevertheless, the Steelers defense needs to seize this opportunity and not ease back going into the bye.

Big test for the offensive line

(AP Photo/Don Wright)

Last week was the best game the Pittsburgh offensive line has played all season. Can they do it again? Consistency has been the biggest problem for this young group and until we see them do it two weeks in a row, we will worry if they can.

Ben Roethlisberger's health

Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK

Big Ben continues to take a beating in games. He is currently dealing with multiple injuries and sometimes after he takes a big hit, you wonder if it is the one that takes him out of the game. Pittsburgh seems to be turning the corner on offense just a bit and losing Roethlisberger would undo all of it.

Staring up at Baltimore

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Despite winning last week, the Steelers still sit at 2-3 and in last place in the AFC North. This wouldn’t be such a big deal since the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns both lost. But staring up at a 4-1 Baltimore Ravens and seeing how they are playing is no fun. The Steelers can’t look past this week to the brutal stretch of AFC North games coming after the break.

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