PITTSBURGH -- Five observations on the 2003 Pittsburgh Steelers, gleaned from an Aug. 16 preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles:

1. Should the offensive line situation here get any worse, assistant coach and onetime "Hog" member Russ Grimm might have to be fitted for a helmet. Three-plus weeks into camp, the unit is a mess, and one has to wonder if even a coach as good as Grimm can figure out a way to glue Humpty Dumpty together again. The ironic part is that the player who some observers felt would struggle the most, Marvel Smith, has performed very nicely in his switch from right tackle to the weak-side pass protection slot. The Steelers invested $26 million in a contract extension as a reflection of how much confidence they have in Smith, who replaces the departed Wayne Gandy. So far, the money seems well spent. In Smith and standout guard Alan Faneca, the Steelers should be set on the left side. After that, though, nothing is settled. Center Jeff Hartings is still bothered by a balky knee and is going to have to be nursed through the season. When the good news from the orthopedics specialist is that Hartings will have to take some practice time off, and stay on plenty of painkillers, that isn't a particularly promising prospect. Like predecessor Dermontti Dawson, the beauty of Hartings' game is that, typical of a former guard, he has some pull-and-move skills. But if his left knee is as bad as it sounds, with no cartilage to buffer against the bone-on-bone friction, Hartings isn't going to be able to move too well. The right side of the line, which never consistently got into a rhythm on Saturday night, is totally unsettled. Starting right guard Kendall Simmons, superb as a rookie in '02, is just now getting back to practice after some time off to be treated for a diabetes-like condition and he isn't yet in shape. Oliver Ross has yet to definitively fend off the challenge from journeyman Todd Fordham, an afterthought-type free agency pickup, for the No. 1 job at right tackle. And depth is sorely lacking. Even if everyone gets settled in over the next couple weeks, there hasn't been much time for this reworked unit together on the field, and that hardly bodes well for the Pittsburgh running game. Grimm is one of the premier line coaches in the game. He might have to be a magician, or perhaps un-retire, to whip this bunch into something respectable.

	Maddox threw 20 of his 27 career TD passes last year.

2. There are skeptics -- and, let's be honest, some of them are in his own organization -- who fret that the 2002 NFL comeback player of the year might go back to being pretty much what he was prior to last season. And so quarterback Tommy Maddox is going to have to demonstrate, for job security and that fat contract extension which he thought was coming his way this spring, that '02 was no fluke. Uh, so far, he still has a long way to go to satisfy the Heinz Field doubters. There is a reason Steelers brass held off on an extension and, on Saturday night at times, you could almost discern the sighs of relief, when Maddox was in scattershot mode, at not having doled out a big signing bonus for the six-year veteran. If the Pittsburgh running game is as tattered as it currently looks, Maddox is going to have to deliver big-time, and that means operating principally from the "spread" formation with which he is so familiar. Then again, that means Maddox is going to get hit a lot, and that isn't a pretty prospect. Maddox has good pocket feel, and he can move up, and buy himself some time. But he isn't going to consistently dodge a strong pass rush and having an unsettled offensive line won't help. There is a suspicion that former Detroit Lions starter Charlie Batch, who is making more money in 2002 than is Maddox, could eventually take over as the starter. On Saturday night, at least, he was the more effective passer. Then again, it's still early, and Maddox has bounced back from the football scrap heap before. Plus the Steelers offense, which has been forced indoors to practice in a gym at times because of bad weather, is in a general funk and out of synch. It is incumbent, though, that Maddox get back on track. He has very good touch, knows where the ball is supposed to go and runs the "spread" with efficiency. Once upon a time, Maddox was ordained as the heir apparent to John Elway in Denver. Turns out that he was actually the successor to Kordell Stewart and, sorry, folks, the two just aren't the same. Maddox is a class act, one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet in the game, but those commodities won't help him keep his job. Coach Bill Cowher is hardly poised over the button labeled "Panic." But if the Steelers are going to advance deep into the playoffs, or even claim a postseason berth, they need Maddox to play well. Two weeks before the regular-season opener, the truth is, he isn't yet.

3. It is always difficult to discern schematic changes in early preseason contests, since no one is game-planning at that point, and defenses tend to be pretty vanilla. But if Saturday was any indication, it appears the Steelers want cornerbacks Dewayne Washington and Chad Scott to press receivers a bit more in 2003 than they did a year ago. Several times when the respective No. 1 units were on the field, the Pittsburgh corners were closer to the line of scrimmage, and they often directed traffic to the inside. It seems the defense is more intent on refining technique work than overhauling entire systems. Two tipoffs that the Steelers weren't revealing much against the Eagles: Kendrell Bell continued to line up at the "nickel" linebacker spot, and not at right end in "sub" situations, as the coaches have indicated he will do. Second, the Steelers continued to play their traditional "dime" package on third down, although they have been working more on "nickel" looks during training camp. The safety position, with starters Brent Alexander (free) and Mike Logan (strong), still looks like a problem area. Both veterans are decent players but, in an age when every team covets a safety with solid cover skills, neither is particularly strong versus the pass. And that's why the bet here is that, not too deep into the season, first-round draft choice Troy Polamalu is going to work his way into the starting lineup. Hey, preseason game or not, it was obvious on Saturday the former Southern California star is a superb athlete and, more important, a guy with football instincts. One first-quarter play stood out as an illustration of Polamalu's athleticism. On first-and-goal from the Steelers' two-yard line, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb ran a play-fake, then rolled to his right. Polamalu bit briefly on the fake and took a half-step toward the line of scrimmage. Then sensing the fake, he sprinted to the flat in time to check tight end Chad Lewis, and to force McNabb into an overthrow. It demonstrated superb makeup speed, something the Steelers other safeties don't exactly possess in mass quantities. Polamalu looked very comfortable, came up nicely on plays, and made some solid hits. The guy is a football player and, provided he doesn't suffer any more of the chronic hamstring problems that have dogged him for the past year, Pittsburgh has to get him on the field. The starting safeties still can't stop the quick slants and inside hooks that teams used so effectively against Pittsburgh in 2002. They've got to clean up that deficiency, and Polamalu can't be any worse in coverage than the people playing ahead of him.

4. The strength of the Pittsburgh defense, as it has been for years now, is at linebacker. And while everyone knows Joey Porter (emerging as a true star) and Jason Gildon on the outside, and 2001 rookie of the year Kendrell Bell inside, people should not lose sight of how solid former New York Jets standout James Farrior is in the Steelers' 3-4 design. Yeah, the seventh-year veteran is only the fourth best linebacker on his own team, but it's quite a trio with which he lines up. Maybe it's just us, but we've always liked Farrior, even when most observers felt he never quite lived up to his first-round draft status in his five-year Jets tenure. But he is a smart player, runs well to the ball, has some cover skills and can get out into the flat and take on the tight end or the running back on the swing. Is he a great player? Nah, just an above-average one, a veteran who might never stand out but who does a lot of things well. So what the heck, we're giving Farrior some props, because in The Steel City, he is constantly overshadowed and is sort of the forgotten player in the linebacker quartet. As for Porter and Bell, they are developing into stars who will be in multiple Pro Bowl games. Porter still comes hard off the edge and in 2002, the first season he was actually asked to drop and cover, he had four interceptions, and only the remarkable Derrick Brooks of Tampa Bay and San Diego's Donnie Edwards had more than that. It will be interesting to see how Bell responds to the challenge of moving to right end in pass rush situations. The Steelers wanted to make the switch in '02, but an injury stymied it, and so now Bell gets a second shot. The Steelers still have quickness to the ball on defense and that is largely a reflection of the linebacker corps. Oh, yeah, there is still great depth on this unit as well. Second-year veteran Larry Foote is undersized but fits the Steelers mold. In Clint Kriewaldt, signed from Detroit as a free agent, Pittsburgh got a standout special teams ace. And rookie Alonzo Jackson, a second-rounder, is a typical Steelers outside 'backer. A former college defensive end, Johnson has pure pass rush skills, and will be groomed to eventually replace Gildon at the strong-side spot.

5. With the injured Michael Vick likely sidelined for at least the first month of the regular season, Steelers wide receiver Antwaan Randle El might lay claim to the status of NFL's most electrifying performer. All right, a little overstatement there, but the second-year pro is a combination "Slash II" and Energizer Bunny, and he averaged 11.6 yards every time he touched the ball in 2002. On Saturday night, he registered a completion even before Maddox did, rolling out to his right and zipping a neatly-delivered pass to Hines Ward. It remains to be seen how much deeper into his bag of tricks offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey can actually dip in inventing new and creative ways to use Randle El and, for that matter, Ward as well. The Steelers now specialize in the dual-purpose performer on offense and few meet the job description better than Randle El currently does. He has very quick feet, runs surprisingly good routes for a youngster who hasn't really had a lot of exposure to the wide receiver position, and possesses good football smarts. It's hard to believe, in this blue collar town, that the Steelers have to resort to gimmicks. But that's part of what the Pittsburgh offense has morphed into and Randle El helps make it click. Remember, this team wouldn't have taken Randle El in the second round of the '02 draft if former Pittsburgh personnel chief Tom Donahoe hadn't snatched defensive end Ryan Denney, a player the Steelers coveted. It was a stroke of good fortune because in Randle El, the Steelers got a diverse playmaker who can score in five different ways.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.