PITTSBURGH - The coach doubted the Pittsburgh Steelers' offense going into the first game. The quarterback certainly didn't.

Two poorly played playoff games last winter and an unproductive preseason didn't diminish the confidence that has carried quarterback Ben Roethlisberger through 14 consecutive winning regular-season starts. Neither did all the talk about his supposedly inevitable sophomore jinx.

Roethlisberger threw only 11 passes Sunday in a 34-7 victory over Tennessee, the fewest by a Steelers quarterback in 28 years. But he completed nine attempts, two for touchdowns, and his teammates said there was no visible carryover from their touchdown-free preseason.

"We're in a rhythm now," wide receiver Hines Ward said Wednesday. "I'm playing full-time now - we're not coming off the field after one quarter or one half. ... Ben's getting on the same page as everybody, and now everybody's playing full-time."

Ward held out for the first two weeks of camp, forcing fellow receivers Antwaan Randle El and Cedrick Wilson to switch positions. Once Ward returned, he played little as the starting offense didn't score a touchdown in the four exhibition games, so there was little continuity or chemistry among the receivers.

But Ward could see the group settling into their roles late in camp.

"We'd love to have more pass attempts, but it all depends on how the game is going," Ward said. "If we run the ball well, why stop? But when we're called upon, we've got to make the plays in the passing game."

Roethlisberger takes his career-long, 14-game regular-season winning streak and the Steelers' 15-game winning streak into their first road game of the year Sunday at Houston (0-1).

Asked if he thinks he'll throw more than 11 times, Roethlisberger said, "I'll take one as long as we win. ... That's how you earn your money, by winning."

If nothing else, Roethlisberger's effective play quieted the talk - OK, at least for one week - that opposing defensive coordinators had begun figuring him out by the playoffs, when he threw five interceptions in two games.

Then, the talk was the way to get to Roethlisberger wasn't to blitz him, but to devote extra defenders to his receivers, forcing him to throw into coverage - or, as often was the case, overthrow - or scurry out of the pocket and throw off-balance to his left while in motion.

"To me, his history has been that he shows up on game day and he plays very well," offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt said. "That's all I can judge it by. He made some good throws, he made some plays and moved in the pocket."

To coach Bill Cowher, Roethlisberger is exactly what he was a year ago - a confident, in-control leader respected by his teammates - and a little bit more.

"A year ago he was calling the plays, I don't know if he looked up in the huddle," Cowher said, a reference to Roethlisberger unexpectedly becoming the starter when Tommy Maddox got hurt last season. "I'm not sure he even knew who was in the huddle because he was down there reading his wrist band the whole time.

"I think the comfort level he's at, to me, is the most important thing, and that's very evident."

Wilson, playing in his first Steelers game Sunday, saw the same thing.

"The preseason doesn't give you a real grasp of how a guy's going to play," Wilson said. "He's very confident in the huddle. It's his team and he brings the offense together and he's a great leader. He was able to manage the game very well for us."

Notes:

Roethlisberger was held out of practice Wednesday with a bone bruise on his left knee, but is listed as probable. ... Also held out were running backs Duce Staley (knee) and Jerome Bettis (calf) and linebacker Joey Porter (knee). Porter is probable (75 percent chance of playing), Staley is questionable (50 percent) and Bettis is doubtful (25 percent). ... RB Willie Parker's 161-yard game against Tennessee earned him the AFC offensive player of the week award.