In a more volcanic world, Ben Roethlisberger and Todd Haley would war through the season like the NFL's version of Reggie Jackson and Billy Martin.
The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback and his new offensive coordinator got off to a well-documented rocky start, but they seem to be in a happy place now, three weeks into the regular season.
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Still, we search for signs of discord. In Sunday's 34-31 loss to the Oakland Raiders, Roethlisberger steered away from Haley's game plan in favor of hand signals from former offensive coordinator Bruce Arians' playbook.
This wasn't some rogue affair meant to undermine the new coordinator. After the game, Roethlisberger and Haley discussed the signals and have since added them to the current attack.
"I know there's some people out there that were saying that I'm resistant to Todd," Roethlisberger said Wednesday, via The Associated Press. "It's one of those things, we went to Todd and it's in the playbook now."
Haley said he's communicating well with his quarterback.
"He knows when he's hearing my voice in his headset and giving him a call that I'm putting him in the best position for him to succeed," Haley said. "I have to trust him that when I make the call, he's going to make it work. At this point, it's been really good, and I expect it to continue."
The Steelers are off to a 1-2 start, but Roethlisberger and Haley have the pieces in place to build something dynamic together. The offense carrying the defense in Pittsburgh? Someone check if the three rivers hath frozen over.
Follow Dan Hanzus on Twitter @danhanzus.
