NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- As the wins mounted -- one, two, three, four, five in a row -- it was easy to overlook the inadequacies of the Steelers' offense. It was easy to look past the team's consistent inability to move the ball and say it was doing what it had to win. It was easy to verbally pat the quarterback on the back and say he was "executing" the offense. It was easy to call the offense "efficient," as if that was some kind of badge of honor.
The truth of the matter is the five-game winning streak did a nice job of masking the fact that the Steelers' offense, in general, and the passing game, in particular, are a step or two below terrible. Winning can make everything seem OK. But there's nothing OK about the offense, a fact that was sharply brought into focus in yesterday's loss to the Tennessee Titans.
Although the defense held the Titans without a touchdown, the Steelers came away a loser, 9-7, because it couldn't move the ball. This resulted in not just a failure to score points but also an inability to keep the defense off the field. The Titans possessed the ball for 39 minutes, 30 seconds, almost twice as long as the Steelers.
"I think we left our defense out there too long," quarterback Kordell Stewart said. "When you leave your defense out there too long it will cause things to happen."
One of those things was a 10-play, 62-yard drive in the final minutes of the game that enabled the Titans' Al Del Greco to kick the winning field goal.
The Steelers managed only 167 yards of offense. Stewart completed only 7 of 22 passes for 112 yards. He was 2 of 11 in the second half for 42 yards.
With no passing offense to respect, the Titans could stack the line to stop the runs of Jerome Bettis, who carried only 13 times for 42 yards.
Tight end Mark Bruener, who combined with Stewart on a 30-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, said the Titans played the Steelers differently yesterday than in October when Kent Graham was the starting quarterback.
"We've had success in running the football against them in the past," Bruener said. "For some reason, they changed up their defensive philosophy against us and put some more linebackers in there and really geared up to stop the run."
Could be the reason the Titans changed up their defense was because they don't respect Stewart's passing ability.
It's all enough to reopen the question of who should be playing quarterback.
Although the team's winning streak coincided with Stewart's return to the lineup, it was improved defense, not quarterback play, that was the difference. Stewart has barely been adequate during the winning streak, and against the Titans, he was considerably less than that.
He doesn't get much help from his receivers, but Stewart must shoulder the majority of the blame for the team's passing offense.
Coach Bill Cowher said Stewart will start Sunday at Three Rivers Stadium when the Steelers play the Philadelphia Eagles. He might want to rethink that position and consider starting Graham.
No question, Graham performed poorly in his two most recent starts. But Graham gives the Steelers the possibility of having a successful passing offense, something Stewart does not.
"If we can't get better in the passing game, it's going to be a long year," said starting wide receiver Hines Ward.
Ward remembered it differently when Graham was starting.
"It's a shame we can't pass the ball the way we were earlier in the year," he said. "Even though we lost a couple or three games in the beginning of the year, we passed the ball fairly well. The last couple of weeks, we haven't been able to get things going."
In the first three games of the season, Graham averaged 208 passing yards. In the four games Stewart has started, he has averaged 128 passing yards.
There's no question that in his next two starts -- after two games out of the lineup because of injury -- Graham performed poorly and was deservedly replaced by Stewart. But just as Graham was replaced because of a deterioration in his play, the same should be done with Stewart.
The Steelers have a chance to make the playoffs but won't unless they can upgrade their offense. Graham gives them the best chance to do that. He might not be the answer, but he's worth a try.
Bob Smizik can be reached at bsmizik@post-gazette.com.
Smizik: Time for Steelers to rethink QB 
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