Free Agency is still a few weeks away, but there's plenty of fuel to fire our 5 Burning Questions: Free Agency edition.

1. Steelers Nation no longer has Bruce Arians to kick around. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with his dismissal, do you think the way it was handled, with Rooney II over ruling Tomlin and the team attempting to pass it off as a "retirement," tarnishes the concept of "The Steelers Way?"

2. The range of differing opinions over the underlying wisdom behind Todd Haley's hire is as wide as the parting of the Red Sea. Do you agree or disagree that Todd Haley is the man to lead the Steelers offense?

3. Given the age of James Farrior, Larry Foote, and James Harrison, the arrested development of Lawrence Timmons, and what we've seen of Stevenson Sylvester and Jason Worilds how high of a priority should linebacker be for the Steelers?

4. Massive free agent defections are no longer a staple of Steelers off seasons as they once were in the 1990's, still its rare when you can keep everyone you want. If you had to pick one Steelers free agent, other than Rod Woodson, that you wish hadn't gotten away, who would that be?

5. The Steelers are renegotiating contracts with players they signed to long-term deals with reckless abandon. Are you concerned that they might be setting themselves up for a Salary Cap disaster?

There you go, have at it folks!

As disappointing as the Pittsburgh Steelers playoff loss was, I concur with Dale Lolley that Pittsburgh's latest loss on the road against the Broncos Mile High represents a microcosm of the Steelers 2011 season. Pittsburgh had all of the elements of greatness, but just couldn't muster them at the right time.

So be it.

The Steelers face a lot of tough decisions in the off season, and there's no better way to get the debate surrounding those decisions started than with the 2011 season's final Five Burning Questions "Down But Not Defeated" Edition.

1. To their credit no one on the South Side would agree publicly, but had the Steelers won they'd have been without without Casey Hampton, Max Starks, and Bret Keisel and possible Chris Kemoeatu and Doug Legursky; did the Steelers in effect get "lucky" by not to have to face New England with such a depleted roster?

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The Cincinnati Benglas failed to take care of business (no surprise there) but the Steelers victory over the Browns gave them a 12-4 record more than gets them into the playoffs. It also gives us plenty of material for our 5 Burning Questions Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Denver Broncos Wild Card Edition.

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Pittsburgh's 27-0 Shut Out of the St. Louis Rams was quite a nice present Christmas present on behalf of the franchise to the faithful in Steelers Nation. But even such a victory as this has left us with plenty of material for this week's installment of the 5 Burning Questions.

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The Steelers loss to the San Francisco 49ers was a bitter pill to swallow, perhaps even more bitter of a pill than the loss to Baltimore at Heinz Field because this game gave them a chance to atone for that last minute meltdown.

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Only a week has passed, but in that time the Steelers eked out an ugly victory against the Browns, Ben Roethlisberger and Maurkice Pouncey are dealing with injuries, and James Harrison has been suspended. The bright side to all of the bad news is its given us plenty of fodder for this week's Five Burning Questions on the Steelers.

1. In contrast to his unqualified backing of Ryan Clark, Mike Tomlin's support for James Harrison in the face of his suspension was tepid at best. What do you think his behind the Tomlinator's change of tone if not in fact his change of heart?

2. You are Mike Tomlin. It's Monday afternoon. To make it interesting, let's say the Ravens have lost to San Diego. Ben Roethlisberger insists he's can play, but your medical staff is divided. Do you risk further injury or go for the playoff bye?

3. Earlier this season, Neal Coolong wrote convincingly about "The Myth of the Number One Receiver." Do you agree and, if not, who do you think is now the Steelers number one receiver, Antonio Brown or Mike Wallace?

4. Time to revisit Ivan Cole's "Lake Effect" but this time with a twist. Both Ray Horton and Carnell Lake are members of the Dick LeBeau coaching tree, but no one can dispute that players like Keenan Lewis, William Gay, and arguably Ryan Mundy have improved tremendously this year. Do you think this just reflects something positive about Lake or should it count as a negative against Horton?

5. Until the early ‘90's, NFL teams could take people on and off injured reserve. Rules changed because, as Sports Illustrated chronicled, teams like Washington had earned themselves the name the "Redshirts" by stashing healthy players on IR. With a number of teams starting third string QB's and other high-profile injuries, do you think its time for the NFL to revisit that rule?

Have at it folks, but please, do try to avoid helmet-to-helmet contact as you debate this weeks Five Burning Questions because we won't want Roger Goodell to spoil our fun...

It's a short week, so let's move the questions up a bit in anticipation of the Steelers (9-3) Thursday night meeting with the rival Cleveland Browns (4-8).

1. The NFL is a passing league and the Steelers are a passing team. Ok, with that out of the way, did it or did it not stir something in your soul to see the Steelers pound in not one, but two runs from inside the red zone?

2. In a previous edition, I asked about Troy Polamalu playing so close to the line of scrimmage. In the Bludgeoning of the Bengals he was covering deep for most of the game. Why did the coaches make the change and what does it mean?

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The Steelers performance at Arrowhead Stadium had more of an escape quality to it than that of a victory. The bright side of it is that is that it's given us plenty of combustion to fuel our "5 Burning Questions."

1. After the Chiefs game Casey Hampton down played the closeness of the contest and asserted "You know, when we get it all together, it's going to be scary." Do you agree with Hampton's "scary" comment or do games like the Escape at Arrowhead merely scare you?

2. A few weeks ago yours truly asked Gerry Dulac on PG Plus if the Steelers might be skirting NFL rules by diagnosing "concussion like symptoms" and Dulac said in no uncertain terms that the Steelers would never do that. Now, Mike Florio is suggesting that the Steelers are in fact being deceptive. Who do you believe?

3. Leaving concussion vs. concussion-like symptoms nuances aside, Troy Polamalu's head injuries are mounting. Do you agree with ESPN that he should be considering retirement?

4. Our much beloved Michael Bean took Emmanuel Sanders to task for his lackluster kickoff returns. However, Sanders averaged 25 yards and change last year returning kicks, far better than his 18 yard and change Sunday night. Two weeks readers suggested that the absence of Arnaz Battle was the real cause for the slipping of the Steelers kick coverage units. So is what ailed the Steelers kickoff units other than the presence of Sanders or the absence of Battle?

5. So, if Arnaz Battle is healthy next week and dresses, does that make Hines Ward a healthy scratch?

Have at it folks. Remember, unlike high school spelling and punctuation mean nothing -- its only your ideas that count!