The Pittsburgh Steelers are 3-3 and on shaky ground in a rejuvenated AFC North division. Their offense has gone cold in the red zone, and their defense has made opposing quarterbacks Joe Flacco, Mike Glennon and Brian Hoyer (twice) look like perennial All-Pros.
The past three weeks have been rough. Losing at home to winless Tampa Bay seemed unfathomable. Barely outlasting winless Jacksonville raised eyebrows. And getting blown out at home by Cleveland last week qualified as a disaster by Pittsburgh's standards. You know it's bad when Bill Cowher calls his former team "finesse" on offense and "soft" on defense, as he did recently.
As bad as things have gone lately, there should be no panic in Pittsburgh after only six games. There are three big reasons to expect improvement as this 2014 Steelers season progresses.
Issues on defense
The Steelers are allowing 23.2 points and 337.0 yards per game, compared with 23.1 points and 337.6 yards per game last season. I was shocked to see