Post-Tennessee thoughts

The Steelers didn't just lose a game Sunday, they lost two key playcallers, one on each side of the ball.

Center Maurkice Pouncey's knee injury robs this team of its anchor on the offensive line and the guy who calls the protections for that position.

The injury to Larry Foote, a torn bicep, takes away the team's defensive play caller.

@ When Pouncey went down in the first quarter with what turned out to be a torn ACL and MCL, I couldn't help but think about the conversations that had gone on in the Steelers front office over the past few weeks.

Should they place Matt Spaeth on IR and designate him for return, or should they save it for the first couple weeks of the season and see if a starter gets hurt?

It appeared at first that Pouncey might have suffered a broken leg on the hit from guard David DeCastro. Had that happened, the Steelers would have felt a little silly having to carry him on the roster during his recovery while Spaeth was designated for return.

As it is, the Steelers will have to figure out if they go with Kelvin Beachum at center the rest of the way, turn the center position over to Cody Wallace, who they signed last week off waivers from Tampa Bay, or sign a veteran.

Sunday was the first time Beachum ever played center in a game. Wallace, meanwhile, was a center in college, though he's appeared in just nine career games despite being in the league since 2008.

And no, re-signing John Malecki, cut last week, and making him the starter is not an option.

The best free agent guy available? Ryan Lilja, who played for Todd Haley at Kansas City in 2010. Lilja, 31, was talked out of retirement by Denver in the preseason after the Broncos lost starting center Dan Koppen. But he was released at the end of training camp.

@ According to Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports, LaRod Stephens-Howling tore his ACL as well. The hits just keep coming for the Steelers.

@ It's one week into the season and the Steelers already have their backs against the wall.

That was a putrid offensive performance today. But I can give the team a bit of a pass. Watching a beloved teammate such as Pouncey go down for the season on your opening drive can be a bit of a buzz kill - even on opening day.

But it's a long season. The offense won't be this bad all season. It can't be this bad all season.

In fact, a couple of receptions by Emmanuel Sanders on balls that were catchable or if Ben Roethlisberger and Isaac Redman don't mishandle a handoff, and the outcome might have been different.

As for the offensive line, I'm willing to give it a pass this week after losing its heart and soul in Pouncey so early in the game.

@ The defense played a good, not great game. Again, there were very few splash plays - one sack and a couple of big hits for losses - both from rookie Jarvis Jones.

At this point, I don't care if Jones doesn't really know what he's doing all the time. He makes something happen pretty much every time he's on the field.

He's got to become the starter, sooner rather than later.

The defense failed in a couple of key spots to get the Titans off the field as well, giving up some big conversions on third-and-short runs.

That said, some offensive help - any offensive help - would have been appreciated.

@ Don't give me the old, tired lines complaining about the offensive coordinator or the head coach not having the team prepared.

The story of this game comes down to Redman's fumble into the end zone, and Haley's play call had nothing to do with that. In fact, it appeared that particular play was going to achieve the desired effect. It was going to be a first down on third-and-1 from the 6.

You can rip Tomlin for not calling a timeout in that situation, with the team looking confused by the play call because the combination of players on the field wasn't the group the Steelers had run that play with in practice, but Roethlisberger could have called a timeout there as well. Neither did.