The Steelers may deactivate wide receiver Limas Sweed over his propensity to drop passes. "Absolutely," Tomlin said Tuesday when asked if he was considering benching Sweed in favor of veteran Shaun McDonald. Sweed dropped a pass in the end zone in the third quarter on Sunday. "Quite frankly, he's not catching the football when he's deep down the field," Tomlin said. "He's got some tape that shows that. He's got to shake that off. If and when he's given his next opportunity to make a similar play, he better make it."

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is scheduled to host WWE's Monday Night Raw this coming week. Pittsburgh will face San Diego on Sunday Night Football. Roethlisberger will guest host Monday Night Raw at Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger didn't give the Bengals much credit for their comeback on Sunday. Cincinnati scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to stun the defending champions 23-20 at Paul Brown Stadium. "We feel like we beat ourselves," Roethlisberger said after the game. Roethlisberger had been 11-0 in his native state of Ohio. Pittsburgh receiver Hines Ward blamed the team's inability to turn drives into touchdowns. They settled for two short field goals in the first half. "If we score touchdowns in the first half, it's not even a game," Ward said. "It's 24-0 or 24-3. It's not very good. You've got to put up seven points instead of 3s. That's how you finish a team off."

Pittsburgh has run the ball in just 37 percent of their plays, down from 65 percent through the first two weeks last season. "I think that the great teams are capable of winning in many forms and fashions, playing to your strengths on a week-to-week basis based on the matchup," Mike Tomlin said at his weekly news conference. "I thought a great deal about that this offseason. You study a team like New England and you watch them walk into a stadium offensively week to week and they can be whatever they choose to be. "They can beat you with four wide(outs), three wide(outs), three tight ends, and it makes them very difficult to prepare for and ultimately beat. We want to kind of create that persona." If the first two games are any indication, the Steelers have a ways to go to accomplish that.

Steelers running back Willie Parker was reportedly dealing with a strained hamstring against the Titans in Week 1. ESPN's Adam Schefter has reported that Parker strained his hamstring in pregame warmups last Thursday, limiting him to about 85% effectiveness. Pittsburgh struggled to run the ball as a team against Tennessee. Parker managed just 19 yards on 13 carries in the team's Week 1 victory.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin offered Jerome Bettis a job during an interview with ESPN's Pardon The Interruption on Thursday. Bettis criticized the team in a recent Sports Illustrated column. "I don't worry about criticism," Tomlin said. "If those are his observations then I accept those. He's paid to entertain and I'll let him do what he does. If Bussy wants to help us with those issues, let him know I have a helmet and a locker space available."

The Steelers struggled to run the ball against the Titans on Thursday night. Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette believes that the team could eventually look to Isaac Redman of the practice squad if things don't improve. The Steelers managed just 36 rushing yards on 23 attempts. Willie Parker tallied 19 yards on 13 carries.

The Steelers and coach Mike Tomlin are working on a contract extension that would keep him with the team past the 2010 season. Sources told Yahoo! Sports of the negotiations. Two years remain on Tomlin's current deal. "Even if it doesn't get announced until after the season, both sides are very comfortable with the situation," a team source said. "I think Mike feels very comfortable about what the Steelers are going to do for him. He's not out there hanging, not sure what's going to happen."

The Steelers won't provide any more information about safety Troy Polamalu's injury until Monday. Polamalu hurt his knee in the second quarter of Pittsburgh's opening win over Tennessee and didn't return. He sprained the medial collateral ligament in his left knee and coach Mike Tomlin's early diagnosis was it could be three to six weeks before he takes the field again.

Titans tight end Bo Scaife says that Steelers linebacker James Harrison took a cheap shot at him on Thursday night. Scaife suffered a knee injury in the third quarter, when he says Pittsburgh's defensive star took a shot at him. "He dove at my leg. It was a cheap shot," Scaife told the Tennessean. "I have been playing my whole life and no one has ever hit me like that. So I know when it is real and when it is not real. So it was a cheap shot and I don't care if that gets back to him either." Scaife didn't return to the game after leaving in the third, and was limping in the locker room after the opener. "It's not too bad," he said. "But you know you have to talk to Coach Fisher about that stuff, man."