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The Steelers are 1-2, without Troy Polamalu, and face a huge test against the Chargers on Sunday night. The biggest story line heading into the weekend? Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers' offensive line headlining a WWE Raw (!) event Monday night.

Evidently, there are concerns that Big Ben and his five fat friends aren't taking their day jobs seriously. Because everyone knows that true professionals think about football every waking moment.

In any event, left tackle Max Starks isn't worried. Via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

The Steelers won the Super Bowl this year with one of the league's worst offensive lines. So with no real good options now that Jeff Saturday has signed with the Colts, the Steelers kept the old gang together by re-signing Chris Kemoeatu to a reasonable five-year, $20 million deal (with only a $3.885 million signing bonus).

By locking up Kemoeatu, the Steelers will bring back the same five offensive linemen who were on the field for the Super Bowl. If you're a pessimist, it's worth nothing that that offensive line is the same group that gave up 49 sacks during the season and averaged only 3.7 yards per carry on the ground.

On Thursday, the Steelers parted ways with guard Kendall Simmons. It was a surprising move; not so much because of Simmons' on-field contributions -- he's been nothing more than replacement level for the last three seasons -- but because starting left guard Chris Kemoeatu was headed for free agency and Simmons' replacement, Darnell Stapleton, has only 12 career starts.

Then, on Friday morning, the New York Daily News reported that the Jets had offered Kemoeatu more than $4 million a year. By this afternoon, however, the Steelers had re-signed Kemoeatu, their former sixth-round pick, to a five-year, $20 million deal, which includes a $4 million signing bonus.

If you pay any attention to the Steelers, you probably know that guard Kendall Simmons has struggled with pass blocking, run blocking and staying healthy. But even with that, the Steelers' decision to cut Simmons on Thursday is pretty shocking considering how thin the Steelers are at guard.

Just two years after the Steelers signed Simmons to a five-year, $24 million deal, they cut him on Thursday. It leaves Pittsburgh with only one guard (Darnell Stapleton) on the current roster who has ever started a game. One would hope that this means the Steelers plan on bringing in a guard in free agency, even if Jeff Saturday, their likely No. 1 target, has re-upped with the Colts.

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

For the second time in four years, the Steelers hoisted the Lombardi Trophy, which means no matter what happens this offseason, Steelers fans have plenty of reasons to be happy. But with an easier 2009 schedule on the horizon and few big names hitting free agency, Steelers fans are ready to start thinking repeat, even if Mike Tomlin won't use that word.

Last offseason, the Steelers slapped Max Starks with the transition tag, and at the time, most people didn't know what to make of the move. Starks, the team's starting right tackle during the 2005 Super Bowl season, had lost his job to Willie Colon, and paying a backup more than $6 million to ride the pine didn't make much sense.

It turned out to be a great move, however, because left tackle Marvel Smith missed most of the season with a back injury, and Starks, who will never be mistaken for Jonathan Ogden, played well in his absence. So well, in fact, that Pittsburgh franchised him Thursday afternoon.

If you thought there was any chance that Chris Kemoeatu was coming back to the Steelers, there are some pretty strong signs that he will be heading elsewhere in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The Steelers already have Kendall Simmons (back from an Achilles injury) and 2008 starter Darnell Stapleton under contract for 2009. They also have a starting right tackle (Willie Colon) who almost every scout/player personnel man not employed by the Steelers believes would be better off playing guard. So the only real reason to bring Kemoeatu back is if he's willing to agree to a very reasonable deal.

But if you listen to Kemoeatu's agent, it sure sounds like he's expecting a landmark offer. And he hopes it comes from the Steelers.

As they create room in the trophy case for a sixth Lombardi Trophy, the Steelers also have some decisions to make. Four of the team's top five offensive tackles are free agents (although Willie Colon is only a restricted free agent), as are starting cornerback Bryant McFadden and No. 3 receiver Nate Washington.

But according to Sports Illustrated's Don Banks, the Steelers have already decided on their top free agent priority. Banks says the Steelers plan to try to re-up McFadden before free agency begins on Feb. 27. With $19 million in cap room, Pittsburgh has some room to get McFadden under contract while also either re-upping Max Starks or trying to bring in free agent offensive line help.

No greater authority than Mike Tomlin has admitted that the Steelers offensive line is the biggest question as the Steelers get ready for their seventh Super Bowl. Pittsburgh has an outstanding defense, a veteran quarterback and a solid group of receivers, but when it comes to the offensive line, the question is whether it could be one of the worst units to ever win Super Bowl rings.

Tomlin isn't going that far, but when asked about how the line has progressed this year, he didn't give them the standard coach-speak boilerplate about working hard and showing improvement every week:

"As far as I'm concerned, that's still the question as we sit here today," Tomlin answered.

No matter how many times you may hear John Madden and Al Michaels say otherwise, the Steelers are no longer a power running team. Jerome Bettis is long gone, and Alan Faneca now pulls to lead runs in New York.

But if the Steelers are going to harken back to the days when they could run against any defense, it will likely be in part because of their G-Power run. It was their favorite play when Faneca was the left guard and, even without Faneca, it's still a key part of Pittsburgh's playbook.