Steelers 36, 49ers 16: Who's Bill Cowher?

Both the Steelers and 49ers came into Sunday's game looking to prove their 2-0 starts weren't flukes. After its third straight blowout win, the question is no longer whether the Steelers have gotten over last year's post-Super Bowl malaise, but whether they deserve to be compared to the Colts and Patriots. They may not be there yet, but after winning their first three games by a total score of 97-26, they definitely are worthy of keeping an eye on.

But whatever the final score says, this was not the same kind of walkover like the Bills and Browns wins. San Francisco held the ball for almost the entire first quarter and outplayed the Steelers for most of the first half.

Even if the final score looks like the game was completely out of hand, San Francisco showed solid defense and an improving passing attack, largely because Verron Davis got the ball--you have to like when a player mouths up but then actually backs it up.

That doesn't mean the Steelers didn't expose some holes--San Francisco has to improve its run defense and figure out a way to get Frank Gore going to challenge for a playoff spot, but the 49ers looked like they should be in the middle of NFC West playoff race, especially when you consider the strength of the division.However Sunday was yet another chance for Steelers fans to celebrate. Willie Parker put together his third straight 100-yard game, Ben Roethlisberger continues to fight the urge to throw downfield at every opportunity, and instead wisely checked down all day for drive-extending short passes. The defense harried Alex Smith for most of the day and Allen Rossum, Jeff Reed and Daniel Sepulveda continue to give the Steelers their best special teams play in years. It's shocking to watch a Steelers kick returner not only field every kick cleanly but then do something with it after catching it. It's even more shocking to see Reed put kickoffs into the end zone.

Pittsburgh travels to Arizona to face former Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt next week. If Pittsburgh had started off 1-2, there would be stories this week about whether the Rooneys made the right call in picking Mike Tomlin over Whisenhunt. But with his 3-0 record (and Whisenhunt's 1-2 start) Tomlin has ensured that there will be no comparisons. Right now there probably aren't a whole lot of Steelers fans who would want Bill Cowher back on the sideline instead of Tomlin either.