Sporting hideous retro uniforms with taxi-yellow helmets, the Pittsburgh Steelers chopped up the Buffalo Bills yesterday at Heinz Field, serving notice that they are back and ready to challenge the Colts and Patriots for AFC — meaning NFL — supremacy.

The Steelers were beset with so many off-season detractions (most notably linebacker Joey Porter) and distractions (All-Pro guard Alan Faneca, who demanded a trade and didn’t get one when the Steelers refused to renegotiate his contract) that no one had any idea what kind of team they could field this year. The most publicized change in the Steelers, of course, is head coach Mike Tomlin, about whose age too much preseason ink was wasted. Tomlin is only the third Steelers head coach since 1968; Chuck Noll was just 37 when he went to Pittsburgh, and Bill Cowher, who started in 1992, was 35 — the same age Tomlin is now. More should have been made of Tomlin’s being a former Tony Dungy assistant, with the same quiet style as his mentor, a vivid contrast to the volatile Cowher (whose act was beginning to run a bit thin, anyway).

Right now, the most important link to the Super Bowl champions of the 2005 season is Ben Roethlisberger, who seems to be off his vicious cycle, both literally and figuratively, and back to the form of his first two seasons. Roethlisberger’s rookie and sophomore years were the best two-season start of any NFL quarterback since Otto Graham more than a half century ago. This fact was partially disguised by Cowher’s game plans, which limited his throws and called runs in situations(say, third-and-three)where most teams pass.

Then, as every Steelers fan knows, Big Ben discovered motorcycles and hit the skids. His 2006 numbers were awful, just 7.5 yards per throw with 18 touchdowns against 23 interceptions. Actually, he is only averaging 7.1 for the first two games this year — you get the feeling that he hasn’t been unleashed yet — but new offensive coordinator Bruce Arians has him throwing medium range passes and picking opponents apart. So far, he has five TD passes against just one meaningless interception.

Running back Willie Parker became the Steelers’ workhorse back in 2005 while Jerome Bettis was still with the team, and he’s quicker through the hole than Bettis, who failed to average over four yards a carry in his last four seasons. Parker averaged 4.5 yards a rush for the previous two seasons and, with his 23 carries and 126 yards yesterday against Buffalo, is averaging 4.7 for this season.

The only thing that can temper the Steelers’ optimism right now is the fact that their offense hasn’t been tested against a really tough defense. Neither the Cleveland Browns or the Buffalo Bills have very good athletes in their secondary. In fact, Roethlisberger may not be tested until the sixth game of the year at Denver, but by then the Steelers will most likely be 5–0.

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The Tennessee Titans also lost some key players from their 2006 team, including their leading rusher and two leading receivers. That’s an awful lot of pressure to put on a sophomore quarterback, even when that man is Vince Young, the premier college football player so far in the 21st century.

Like most quarterbacks in their second season, Young has a lot to learn. The difference between him and everyone else is how good he can be while he learns. With Sunday’s respectable 22–20 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, the Titans have now gone 9–6 with Young taking snaps. They’ve done it mostly by sticking to the simple stuff. Almost every Tennessee fan knows the drill: Young lines up in the shotgun with one back to his right, fakes the ball to him while at least two wideouts streak down the sidelines trying to attract the d-backs and, with luck, the safeties, as another receiver, either wideout or tight end, curls over the middle, usually to Young’s right. If the wideouts aren’t open — and they usually aren’t, which is why Young’s pass completion last year was just 51.5%, good for 70th in the league — then he goes for the receiver curling over the middle, or simply dashes for the sideline.

The last option has been the Titans’ best offensive weapon in tight situations with Young: last year, he averaged an amazing 6.7 yards per rush, actually half a yard higher than he averaged a pass. If the Titans give Young good blocking, there isn’t too much opposing defenses can do about this offensive scheme, but Tony Dungy and defensive coordinator Ron Meeks did it. They positioned free safety Bob Sanders mostly on the left side of the field, almost to the outside linebacker position, to cover the receiver cutting over the middle and had left cornerback Kelvin Hayden drop off coverage whenever Young began to roll to his right.

Mostly it worked. Though Young completed 17 of 27 for 184 yards, he was pretty much contained, while Sanders and Hayden had 16 of the Colts’ 47 tackles with five assists. Sanders sacked Young for 12-yard loss on a dback blitz. Young rushed for 53 yards, including a key 21-yarder on a scoring drive, but he only ran five times past the line of scrimmage — most of the time when he started to make his move, he found Sanders and/or Hayden running up to meet him.

Still in all, the Colts barely hung on to win, even though Peyton Manning threw for 312 yards against what was regarded an inexperienced Tennessee defensive unit. Manning and the Colts’ offense pretty much played as if their minds were on something else — probably getting showered in time to watch the New England-San Diego game.

Outside of their two games with the Colts, the toughest game on the Titans schedule looked to be next week’s game at New Orleans. If they get by the Saints, they get a bye and then may not have to play a team with a winning record until Week 11 at Denver.