The excitement will slowly build in Pittsburgh from now until the first day of training camp.  Some fans will no doubt be in a frenzy by the time that camp opens, eagerly awaiting the day that the season kicks off and they can begin their trash talking once again.  The NFL "silly season" is always the first four games - someone will jump out to a 3-1 record that will be a total surprise but then fall back to earth later.  One team will start 2-2 and all the locals will be going utterly insane, but that team will recover and make the playoffs.  That's what always happens, right?

Some things that I think will bear watching in Pittsburgh this year.

1.  Is the offensive line simply that bad (again)?  The OL was an oft-maligned unit last year despite the success of the team.  How many sacks are directly attributable to Ben himself is somewhat debatable, but there's no doubt he contributes to his own high sack total.  Yet the line played poorly overall, and the fact that the Steelers were so far down the list in terms of running game production speaks to those problems.  The Steelers drafted three lineman this year, including an interesting pick with Penn State's A. Q. Shipley.  Undersized for a center, but athletic and very smart, I think the Steelers believe he may be a high value player at some point.  The line - if totally healthy - isn't one that generates a lot of respect.  But they've shown that at times they can get the job done.  Whether they can over a long season will be the single biggest question about this team.

2.  Super Bowl hangover part 2?  The Pats were the last team to win back-to-back Super Bowls.  They seem to be able to cast off the effects of the prior year, concentrate and win in the succeeding year.  I believe that since the core of talent that has won their second Super Bowl returns, they'll be better able to avoid the Super Bowl hangover.  So far Ben's stayed away from his motorcycle this summer, preferring his Porchse instead.  He's older, wiser, better and entering what has to be the pure prime of his career.  Troy and Hines remain top team leaders, and they'll keep their respective units in line.  The Steelers recognize that every single team they will face this year will be up for the game, looking to knock them off.  But the Steelers character guys on the team will likely ensure that they remain very competitive.

3.  Can Mike Tomlin continue improving?  It was something to see, how Tomlin's maturation process from his first to second year went so quickly and dramatically.  He was really only outcoached once.  His message seems to resonate with his team, and even his post Super Bowl comments suggested that he had already put the win behind him and was now looking to the next year.  Going from "who the hell is he?" to attaining near "legend" status in Pittsburgh took all of two years.  Success does that.  But locals demand success, and Tomlin will have to devise a way to craft a new message this year that continues to resonate with his team.  I think he'll do that.

4.  Willie Parker is 28.  He had a bad year last year due primarily to injury but in part due to sub-par offensive line play.  The word is that Parker has returned to the training form that got him the free agent contract with the Steelers in the first place.  This will be an interesting year.  Conventional wisdom regarding backs is that by the age of 28 they have already started the decline.  By age 31 they are mere shells of their former selves in terms of production.  Parker is likely hoping to get another big contract, and will need a "career" year to assist his argument.  But entering the latter stages of his career will work against him, and the notoriously careful Rooneys will not overspend on Parker especially if Mendenhall works into the game a lot this coming season and is productive.  It will be an interesting year, and Parker deserves some extra attention this year.

5.  Ben Roethlisberger's last post-Super Bowl off-season consisted of trips to Switzerland with his family, a near-fatal motorcycle accident, and emergency appendectomy and a season that was his poorest in terms of production.  This post-season he's been a regular at Pens playoff games, shot an 81 at Bethpage Black on the "Sunday US Open" setup and has been keeping in shape.  A bad season and the taste it left, plus just the usual maturity, have all combined to ensure that he won't have a bad season this year because of poor off-season decisions.  He's entering the prime of his career, and he's such a different quarterback that he defies easy description.  He can run, but doesn't.  He's an adept scrambler, and often times makes his best and biggest plays outside of the pocket and on the run.  Yet he can still throw with accuracy from the pocket.  If his accuracy improves in pure pocket-passing, then he's entered yet another level of skill, and then he would right earn a place among the elite QB discussions.

6.  Lawrence Timmons and Limas Sweed enter their third and second years, respectively.  Timmons has been elevated to starter, and Sweed figures to become the "third" receiver in the 3-wide sets, replacing Nate Washington (departed via free agency).  While both players have high expectations upon them, Timmons has so far been the only one to show really what he's capable of doing.  I think his transition to starter will be almost seamless, and by putting him in there it will take the Steelers linebacking corps to the single best unit in the entire NFL.  For Sweed, his rookie season was generally forgettable.  He didn't dress for the first eight games, and only did so later due to some injuries.  When he was in the game, he made more drops than catches, including the memorable sure-TD drop in the AFCCG.  However, in the eyes of at least this fan, he partially redeemed himself when he ear-holed a Ravens player on a special teams play.  If you can't catch the damn ball, then at least act like Hines Ward and hit the snot out of somebody.  But he'll be expected to contribute this year, and he'd better be prepared for it.

7.  Improvements in the AFC North.  The Ravens, Bengals and Browns have all gotten better in some fashion.  The Bengals had a talented (if character-spare) draft, and their big name stars are working harder than ever this year.  They had an underappreciated defense that slowly got better all year long - a result of some recent good drafts.  If their defense solidifies to within 4 slots of the 16th ranking, the Bengals will be in position to win some games.  Their offense should be dangerous, and putting Coles opposite Ochocinco (I hate writing that, by the way) creates a formidable one-two receiving punch, and a totally healthy Carson Palmer is a dangerous quarterback.  The Ravens lost some key players, and their biggest stars are a year older.  But they again had a highly-regarded draft including picking a cornerstone offensive lineman that very well might start this year.  Ngata is getting better, and anchoring a strong defensive line that protects a great group of LBs.  Ed Reed is still a dominant force in the secondary.  And with a running back by committee approach (all good backs, by the way) plus expectations that Joe Flacco will only improve his play in his second year, the Ravens have the look of a "coming" team.  The Browns defense was simply awful last year and the fact that Romeo Crennell couldn't get his team to play for him probably cost him his job.  They haven't made many splashy moves, but if Brady Quinn begins to show production, then the Browns have a prolific offense that can move the ball against any defense.  Eric Mangini will probably shore up the defense along with Bob Ryan, and like Cincinnati, if that unit improves from cellar-dwellar to mid-range team, the Browns too will be in a position to win.

8.  The Patriots/Tom Brady factor.  Even with improvements in the AFC North, and facing a supposedly "weaker" division in the NFC North and AFC West (okay...that one is the weakest) the Steelers will likely have to keep pace with the offensive juggernaut that will again be the Patriots.  This is a team that most people expect to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl, and the reason for that expectation comes down to Tom Brady.  Without him the Pats were a good 11-5 but missed the playoffs.  With him, they'll be more like 13-3 or 14-2, and in the mix for the AFC's #1 seed.  Getting to the playoffs through Foxboro is not an easy task.  So anyone that thinks the Steelers will walk through the season, the playoffs and into the Super Bowl has to rethink that position.

9.  The Steelers schedule - the 2008 "most difficult" - is now among the easier based upon W/L records of 2008 teams.  Yet I see some trouble.  The Steelers have the first-place record, which pits them against Miami, Tennessee and San Diego.  The NFC North could feature three playoff-competing teams (Minnesota, Chicago and Green Bay).  The AFC West could be a one-horse race now since Denver seems to be disintegrating completely from within.  The Chiefs and Raiders are rebuilding, and while they should be improved (at least KC should be) neither of them are expecting great things this year.  That all being said, it's not an "easy" schedule.  The NFC North teams are getting better, and the first-place teams are all going to be pretty tough.  Don't think it's a cake-walk, and then not playing Baltimore until late in the season will likely create two HUGE games.

10.  Overall, I'd say the outlook for the Steelers is very positive.  Their coaching staff is among the best in the NFL.  Dick LeBeau is the NFL's best defensive coordinator - and if Jim Johnson doesn't recover from cancer (which by the way I hope and pray that he does) - then there isn't a D-coordinator that comes close to LeBeau.  Tomlin's highly regarded - not like Belichick - but has the look of a coach that will taste nothing but success for a long, long time.  The Steelers players are still extremely talented, and having a QB like Roethlisberger pretty much means that the Steelers are almost never out of a game despite the score and time left.  Barring injury (of course and as usual), they should be in the mix for the AFC title this year once again, and easily have the talent to win another Super Bowl.