Game against Seattle could be temporary fix

By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Mike Tomlin asked for it one week ago today when he beseeched those at his news conference to keep hammering away at the oldest defense in the NFL.

"Keep talking about how old they are," Tomlin begged his audience last Tuesday. "I appreciate that. You make my job easy."

It doesn't look quite so easy today, not after his defense looked even older after absorbing a 35-7 thumping Sunday at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens. No matter how many reminders are issued the next few days about that old Steelers defense, their job won't be so difficult this week because they play the Seattle Seahawks at Heinz Field. Think of the Seahawks as soothing ointment for old muscles.

But the game against the Seahawks might be a temporary fix if what everyone saw Sunday in Baltimore wasn't just some blip, an out of control bus that no one could stop. More tests are on the horizon, if not the Peyton Manning-less Colts in Indianapolis in the third game, then at Houston in game No. 4. Somewhere, Tom Brady lurks near Halloween, followed the next week by the rejuvenated Ravens.

The Steelers do not have a difficult schedule this season; they may be playing their toughest one in their own locker room this week.

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