Mark Madden: Steelers holding up their end in early going, while future opponents endure struggles

The NFL season is just one week old, but things are looking up to a delightful degree for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Baltimore is falling apart. Its running back room imploded. Two cornerbacks are hurt. All-Pro left tackle Ronnie Stanley is sidelined.

The Ravens are ravaged by injuries of varying degree. They lost their opener at Las Vegas in sloppy fashion. Quarterback Lamar Jackson will be asked to do more, which puts him at risk to both injury and mistakes. The Ravens host Kansas City on Sunday night.

It’s a long season. But Baltimore’s could be in ruins early.

To make the playoffs in the loaded AFC, the Steelers have to improve, and a few teams perceived to be above them must disintegrate. The latter part is equally crucial.

The Steelers host Las Vegas on Sunday. One great matchup for the Raiders is their big, strong front seven against the Steelers’ sketchy offensive line.

As if on cue, Raiders defensive tackle Gerald McCoy injured his knee and is out for the season. Top back Josh Jacobs won’t play Sunday, either.

Looking further down the road, the Steelers host Denver in Week 5.

Jerry Jeudy, the Broncos’ top wide receiver, went on injured reserve after Denver’s opener with an ankle knock.

Breaks add up. That’s already happening for the Steelers. (But they’re not immune to misfortune: It doesn’t sound like Stephon Tuitt is returning soon.)

Meantime, the Steelers are holding up their end.

The offensive line’s pass-blocking against Buffalo didn’t stink. Ben Roethlisberger was sacked only twice and wasn’t often running for his life.

Rookie center Kendrick Green didn’t stink, either. In fact, Green showed decent agility and mobility getting to the next level. He battled, too. Could Green develop into that line’s cornerstone? That’s certainly the Steelers’ tradition at center.

Rookie Tre Norwood, a seventh-round pick, might fill the Steelers’ vacancy at nickel. He played 80% of the snaps, did well and his interchangeability with safety Minkah Fitzpatrick got the latter closer to the line occasionally. That’s a good, different and dangerous look.

Cornerback Cam Sutton played OK, if only because the Bills basically kept tripping over him at critical moments.

Inside ’backer Joe Schobert’s name wasn’t mentioned much. That’s OK. He’s a glue guy, and the defense coalesces better with him replacing Robert Spillane. Schobert can cover.

Edge rusher Melvin Ingram and guard Trai Turner are recycled and perhaps past their primes. But the former played well at Buffalo and the latter didn’t stink. (“Didn’t stink” seems an emerging theme, one produced by low expectations.)

Special teams won the game. That’s after special teams almost lost the game.

The Steelers started six rookies. (That includes Norwood at nickel and punter Pressley Harvin.) They didn’t stink. The most disappointing was the first-round pick, running back Najee Harris. That’s because of high expectations, bad run-blocking and him being unable to hook up with Roethlisberger on passes.

Much of what was supposed to happen did. Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt are pretty good, for example.

Can all that continue? Watt and Heyward seem like safe bets, anyway.

When in doubt, write about the quarterback. Is there doubt about Roethlisberger?

Roethlisberger didn’t throw any passes over 20 yards at Buffalo. He’s 39. He had major elbow surgery in 2019. Is he choosing not to throw deep or can’t he?

Information smuggled out of the fascist media lockdown that is Steelers practice reveals Roethlisberger throws the long ball regularly and well.

So when are we going to see it?

The biggest worry coming out of that win at Buffalo is that the Steelers offense looked much like last year’s: 18 passes of 5 yards or less, an average release time hovering just over 2 seconds, 74% of the snaps out of the shotgun. That was especially true in the second half. (There was a bit more play-action.)

That worked last season — until it didn’t. Foes got used to defending a 15-yard field.

The Steelers must commit to running the ball and to throwing downfield more. If they don’t, their success this season again will come with an expiration date.