"(Director of football operations) Kevin Colbert does a great job of building championship teams. He is very underrated. They fill needs as well as anyone in the league. That is why they are so competitive, year in and year out."

Especially on defense, where recent Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Dick LeBeau continues to work his magic at the age of 73 as the Steelers' stellar defensive coordinator. After five weeks, the Steelers rank fifth in total yards allowed, rank first in both rushing yards allowed and average gain per rush and — with Polamalu contributing a pair of interceptions and feeling fully healthy again after an injury-plagued 2009 campaign — are tied for second in turnover differential with a plus-7, behind the Jets at plus-8.

"They knew how important LeBeau was," the executive said. "They lost ( Ken) Whisenhunt and ( Russ) Grimm, but they were not going to lose LeBeau. He carries them.

"Philosophically, (LeBeau) runs a very different defense than Tomlin was running in Tampa Bay and Minnesota. The base is very different, but Tomlin has not looked to change anything. That was the best move he made, and I don't think he had a lot of choice in the matter.

"There is no one better at creating matchup havoc with overloaded gaps (than LeBeau). They disguise their blitz packages so well — it's very difficult to maintain protection."