An unlikely hero emerged on the Steelers decimated offensive line. Seven days ago, Max Starks was wondering if he'd ever play in the NFL again. A week later, he was back in a familiar spot, giving Ben Roethlisberger time to do his what he does best. "He stepped up," Roethlisberger said after tying a career high with five touchdown passes. "We brought him to town this week and it's like 'OK, let's see how we're going to use him.'"
It turned out even more than Starks or the Steelers thought. A knee injury to center Maurkice Pouncey and a shoulder injury to tackle Marcus Gilbert turned Starks' part-time debut into full-time work. He played almost every snap in his first action since hurting his neck last November. Starks received the game ball from Steelers coach Mike Tomlin after the Pittsburgh rolled over the Tennessee Titans 38-17 on Sunday. That's not bad for a guy who hadn't played a game for almost a year.
The injury appeared to put his career in jeopardy. The team cut him after seven seasons before training camp to save money. Starks spent two months getting back into shape and waiting for a call. When it came from the 3-2 Steelers, he didn't let it go to waste. "Our biggest goal was to keep Roethlisberger upright," Starks said. "And we knew he'd perform if we did that."
"It's a good win for us," Tomlin said. "Hopefully it will provide momentum for us as we move forward." It's the kind of performance Tomlin was looking for after watching his team get rolled by Houston a week ago. A month into the season, the Steelers finally looked like the team that were AFC champions a year ago. Even though the defense was missing James Harrison, Casey Hampton and Aaron Smith, they held Tennessee running back Chris Johnson to 51 yards on 14 carries and sacked QB Matt Hasselbeck three times.
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