By ED BOUCHETTE, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has listed five possibilities to play free safety when they take the Mile High plunge Monday night in Denver, and if one of them is not named Ryan Clark the correct answer will be Tyrone Carter.

Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin spent time between the Super Bowl and training camp studying offenses in the NFL and found one he would like his Steelers to emulate: the New England Patriots.

As reigning Super Bowl teams go, the Pittsburgh Steelers are in a class by themselves. Returning 20 of 22 starters in any season is considered rare, for Super Bowl teams to do it is almost impossible in this age of free agency and the salary cap. The Steelers of 2009 look more like the Super Bowl teams of the 1970s, when there was no free agency.

Imagine, if you will, the Pittsburgh Steelers' offense failing in those final few minutes of Super Bowl XLIII and that Arizona actually had pulled out a 23-20 victory.

Someone made the mistake Monday of calling Pittsburgh Steelers running back Willie Parker the "old guy" to his face. Parker, 28, let it go without comment.

The Pittsburgh Steelers' Super Bowl ring keeps getting bigger, and Joe Greene, who picked up his sixth Tuesday night, could not decide which he likes more.
You have six kids, you love them all equally.
"There is no best," Greene said.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger does not have cancer, and neither does he have a Facebook page.
"There's no truth to it. I don't have any of that stuff," Roethlisberger proclaimed Wednesday.

What if a team could look into the future and draft the NFL defensive player of the year, an offensive tackle who would become the highest paid at his position, a record-breaking Super Bowl quarterback, one of the league's better kickers, a Pro Bowl linebacker, a two-time Pro Bowl running back, All-Pro tight end and others who would go on to play with distinction?

The NFL changed a rule more than 30 years ago that became known as the Mel Blount Rule, and now Pittsburgh wide receiver Hines Ward might have one to call his own as well.
A rule to eliminate a blindside block to the head of a defender will be proposed at the league meetings, which begin Sunday in Dana Point, Calif.

A look at the Super Bowl-champion Pittsburgh Steelers' unrestricted and restricted free agents and how their futures will be unfolding:

UNRESTRICTED
-- QB Charlie Batch: Likely to re-sign as Ben Roethlisberger's backup.
-- P Mitch Berger: Rides off into the sunset with a Super Bowl ring.