PITTSBURGH -- The impressive production of the Pittsburgh Steelers' offense over the past three seasons has given it enough credibility to weather sluggish performances, but most of the excuses were exhausted after the first two weeks this year.

• It takes time for new pieces to jell.

• Le'Veon Bell needs a few warm-up games after the franchise-tag absence.

• That Week 2 Minnesota Vikings defense was awfully good, ya know.

Those are true statements, but the convenient storylines have passed, and the Steelers are faced with the harsh reality that they aren't as good as they thought they were, at least until they change that.

Players are fed up coming off a third straight game with 20 offensive points or fewer. Both guard David DeCastro and tight end Jesse James acknowledged that an offense this talented is wasting its resources if it's not producing at least 350 to 400 yards per game.

From 2014 to 2016, 350 yards was a conservative number for this group, with the per-game average not falling below 372 during that span, though the numbers have gotten progressively lower since the explosion for 6,582 yards in 2014.

First on the Steelers' agenda is the need for Bell and his offensive line to regain something close to their historic 2016 form. Bell doesn't have to average 157 yards per game again, but clearly the lack of explosive plays in the running game is a problem.

Bell simply isn’t breaking free. He's a running back who thrives on getting into a rhythm and wearing down a defense, and without it, jump-starting the offense is difficult. The running holes haven't exactly been impressive, though Bell appeared to have a few chances Sunday on which the offense couldn't capitalize (a 7-yard run to the left within scoring range comes to mind). For whatever reason, he can't get ahead of the defense. His season-long run remains 15 yards.

The offensive line on Sunday was compromised without Marcus Gilbert and Ramon Foster, but this was a dominant group a year ago that's still trying to rediscover that touch.

Commanding the running game should provide more big-play passing opportunities that have been scarce so far.

Ben Roethlisberger led the league last year with 13 touchdowns off deep passes, according to Pro Football Focus. Without Martavis Bryant, the Steelers loosened up defenses with the deep ball to Sammie Coates, then countered with a quick-step deep shot to Antonio Brown, Roethlisberger taking the snap, planting and throwing a lob as soon as Brown would beat his man off the line in press coverage.

So far, those deep shots aren’t connecting. The Steelers went 0-for-5 on long shots Sunday, including a near-connection with Bryant on the game’s first play. Success on that play would have set a very different tone for the offense’s road struggles.

The Steelers have one completion on balls that have traveled 40 or more yards in the air. That's uncharacteristic for this offense.

The Steelers don’t have a touchdown play longer than 30 yards, with four of Roethlisberger’s five touchdown passes going for less than 5 yards. That’s a sign that the offense has improved in the red zone (75 percent touchdown conversion rate), but getting there has been more of a struggle.

The signature sideline plays between Brown and Roethlisberger haven’t been sure bets. The deep out route has been unstoppable for years. Perhaps the Steelers haven’t run as much sideline action if the defense is overplaying that, but tapping into the duo’s muscle memory there could help matters.

And Big Ben was the first to admit on Sunday that he missed many throws. A bounce-back performance would be timely for Week 4 at Baltimore, where the Steelers have averaged just 12.3 points per game in their past three appearances.