Mike Tomlin received another thumbs-up for his first year on the job as Steelers coach. Not two thumbs-up, though.

Kevin Colbert, the team's director of football operations, felt 2007 was a good first step for Tomlin and that the organization was positive about it -- to a point.

"We are what we are," Colbert said. "We're a 10-6 team, there's no hiding that. It's all well and good but it's not good enough. This season, we knew it was going to be a new season for everybody. I guess you could say that it was a season of transition. We went from a very successful head coach to a brand new head coach and we still have a lot of players left over."

Having those players left over from their 2005 Super Bowl championship, however, should not hypnotize people into thinking they can live in the past.

"We're not the team of 2005," Colbert cautioned. "We're two years removed from that now. We're new, we're different, we have to keep getting new and keep getting better.

"We had to go through a whole year -- me personally, I'm learning Mike and Mike's learning what we do. And every day, every event was something new. Now we've come to an end of that. We will have completed that whole cycle. We've gone through free agency, we've gone through draft preparation, [spring practices], minicamps.

"Now we see where we are. We're not happy where we are, let's take the next step.''

Stepping ... backward?

Last year, Colbert said one area the Steelers needed to improve over 2006 was their pass rush, noting it was a personnel issue and had nothing to do with the defensive scheme.

The Steelers had 39 sacks in 2006. After a fast start, that number dwindled to 36 in 2007. They went backward, not forward.

"Being that we did not improve, that's unsatisfactory," Colbert said. "I always said that it was a personnel issue. I said we're not happy with our pass rush and that to me is a personnel issue."

Fewer sacks on defense and more on offense is not a good combination -- Ben Roethlisberger was sacked 47 times, one more than in 2006 and the second most of a Steelers quarterback.

Big Ben makes picks

Roethlisberger broke no new ground when he predicted Tom Brady and the New England Patriots will win another Super Bowl. But his heart lies with Brett Favre.

"There's a difference between who I like and who I want to win," Roethlisberger said. "I want Brett Favre to win it all, that would be the ultimate. I'd imagine 90 percent of the population has to."

Roethlisberger picked Favre's Green Bay Packers, coached by Greenfield native Mike McCarthy, to beat the New York Giants in tomorrow's NFC championship game, and the Patriots to beat the San Diego Chargers in tomorrow's AFC championship game and then win the Super Bowl.

The Steelers quarterback did not meet Favre until the Steelers played a preseason game against Green Bay in Heinz Field last summer.

"I asked him on the field if I could get an autograph," Roethlisberger said. "He said if I sent him a jersey, he'll sign it for me."

The jersey will soon be on its way, and so, too, are the New England Patriots, Roethlisberger said.

"When you watch the Patriots, you don't ever see them play a bad game," Roethlisberger said. "You don't see a weakness. If the do play bad for a quarter, they step it up for the rest of the game."

Parker starts rehab

Willie Parker returned to Pittsburgh last week to begin rehabilitation after breaking his right fibula Dec. 20 at St. Louis.

Colbert said Parker should be as good as new before too long.

"That injury will heal. It's not the weight-bearing bone," Colbert said. "All indications are that he should be fine. Had he done that early in the season, we would not have put him on injured reserve because he could have, at some point, come back."

Colbert compared Parker's injury to San Diego fullback Lorenzo Neal's fractured fibula, which was broken Dec. 9. Neal is expected to play in tomorrow's AFC championship game.