The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive line is Maurkice Pouncey and four turnstiles.

And that, in a nutshell, is what is wrong with the Steelers’ offense these days.

Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians didn’t suddenly get dumber. Running back Rashard Mendenhall didn’t suddenly get slow and clumsy and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger didn’t suddenly get sack-prone (he was always sack-prone).

The offensive line is thinner than Arians’ hair.

And that’s making fans pull out theirs.

Things are so bad in the ‘Burgh that the Steelers brought back titantic tackle Max Starks, who was tipping the scales at nearly 400 pounds when he was jettisoned in training camp.

It’s a move of desperation from a team that is in an unfamiliar position.

Average.

The 2-2 Steelers are no better than what their record says they are; They are a .500 team. They are average.

The Steelers would kill right about now for an average offensive line.

The line has been far from dominant for years now, but Pittsburgh was able to overcome the deficiencies up front because of a punishing defense and Roethlisberger’s ability to make improvisational plays while running for his life.

Big Ben probably won’t be able to run much with a sprained foot. That will expose a leaky line even more.

Mendenhall and Mewelde Moore are both out with injuries, leaving just two healthy running backs: Isaac Redman and Jonathan Dwyer, who hasn’t even been active all season.

Not a good omen.

Redman, though, is a better running back behind this line than Mendenhall.

Redman is more of a straight-line, one-move runner.

Mendenhall runs like he wants to be on Dancing With the Stars.

The offense better be good against Tennessee because the defense is also showing cracks.

And some injuries.

The Black and Gold are becoming the Black and Blue.

James Harrison is out with a broken face.

Anyone else find it ironic that he fractured his orbital bone on a helmet to helmet block?

Aaron Smith also is out.

That’s not necessarily a news flash. The 90-year-old Smith (well, he’s not

quite that old) has seemingly been perpetually injured since 2005.The loss of Harrison will hurt far more than Smith. It’s unknown when Harrison will be back drawing weekly fines from the league office.This is an unusual year for the Steelers. They have been so good for so long, it’s hard to see the truth when it’s staring right back at you.The Steelers are fragile up front and old on defense. It’s a fact. Every team goes through this and Pittsburgh has been better than most at putting off the inevitable.But the inevitable is here, closing in hard and fast like a pass rusher through that leaky line.Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.