The 2010 season was the Pittsburgh Steelers' 78th in the National Football League (NFL), their 11th under general manager Kevin Colbert and their fourth under head coach Mike Tomlin.
The off-season was marked by the trade of Santonio Holmes, and the six-game suspension (then reduced to four games) of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for off-the-field issues.
Montgomery had coached receivers at his alma mater, Duke University, for the past four seasons, following an NFL and Arena Football playing career.
The Steelers wasted no time getting the early lead when on the opening kickoff, Mewelde Moore handed the ball off to rookie wide receiver Antonio Brown, who returned it 89 yards for a touchdown.
Throughout the rest of the game, Pittsburgh scored steadily with kicker Jeff Reed, who hit field goals of 36, 34, 25, and 27 yards, putting the Steelers up 19–3.
Starting quarterback Dennis Dixon sprained his left knee during the second quarter and was replaced by Charlie Batch, but the Steelers defense swarmed the Titans, coming up with four sacks and forcing seven turnovers, the most by Tennessee since 2000.
The NFL's rushing champion had a chance to move one game away from the league record of 14 held by Barry Sanders, but he finished with just 16 carries for 34 yards.
Safety Troy Polamalu was credited for an interception and an impressive leaping tackle on Kerry Collins during an attempted goal-line stand by the Steelers to win the game and improve to 2–0.
Coming off their road win over the Titans, the Steelers flew to Raymond James Stadium for a Week 3 interconference duel with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Steelers would get the ball back with 20 seconds remaining but quarterback Charlie Batch threw a pass that was picked off by linebacker Ray Lewis, effectively ending the game.
Coming off their home win over the Browns, the Steelers flew to Sun Life Stadium for a Week 7 intraconference duel with the Miami Dolphins.
The Steelers took the lead in the second quarter with a 22-yard field goal from kicker Jeff Reed, followed by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hooking up with wide receiver Hines Ward on a 21-yard touchdown pass.
Miami answered with Carpenter getting a 22-yard field goal, yet Pittsburgh came right back as Roethlisberger found wide receiver Mike Wallace on a 53-yard touchdown pass.
Coming off their road win over the Dolphins, the Steelers flew to the Louisiana Superdome for a Week 8 interconference duel with the New Orleans Saints on Sunday night.
In the fourth quarter, the Saints increased their lead as quarterback Drew Brees completed a 16-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Marques Colston.
Hoping to rebound from their road loss to the Saints, the Steelers flew to Paul Brown Stadium for a Week 9 AFC North duel with the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night.
The Steelers looked to create another scoring drive, but it came to a halt when Roethlisberger's pass was intercepted by SS James Sanders and returned 32 yards for a touchdown (With a failed 2-point conversion).
Again the Steelers tried to get closer when Roethlisberger completed a 33-yard TD pass to Wallace, but the Patriots put the game away after Graham hit a 36-yard field goal.
Coming off their overtime win over the Bills, the Steelers flew to M&T Bank Stadium for a Week 13 AFC North rematch with the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night.
After adding a 19-yarder from Suisham, the Steelers defense would set up a 1st and Goal after safety Troy Polamalu stripped the ball from Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco with less than three and a half minutes to go, safety Troy Polamalu's sack on Flacco forced a fumble, allowing linebacker LaMarr Woodley to recover the ball and return it to the Baltimore 9, which was followed by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger finding running back Isaac Redman on a 9-yard touchdown pass on third down.
Pittsburgh trailed early in the first quarter as Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer completed a 1-yard touchdown pass to offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth.
The Steelers took the lead in the second quarter with safety Troy Polamalu returning an interception 45 yards for a touchdown, followed by a 23-yard field goal from kicker Shaun Suisham.
Afterwards, the Steelers pulled away in the fourth quarter with linebacker LaMarr Woodley returning an interception 14 yards for a touchdown, followed by Suisham booting a 41-yard field goal.
Hoping to rebound from their loss to the Jets, the Steelers stayed at home for a Week 16 interconference duel with the Carolina Panthers on Thursday night.
Cleveland closed out the game with quarterback Colt McCoy completing a 20-yard TD pass to wide receiver Brian Robiskie (with a failed two-point conversion).
Baltimore added onto their lead in the second quarter as quarterback Joe Flacco completed a 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Todd Heap.
The Steelers struck back to tie in the third quarter as quarterback Ben Roethlisberger found tight end Heath Miller on a 9-yard touchdown pass.
Also, with the New York Jets defeating the top-seeded New England Patriots in the divisional round the next day, Pittsburgh would get to host the AFC Championship Game.
The Jets tried to rally in the fourth quarter as Roethlisberger fumbled the snap and then got tackled by Mike DeVito for a safety, followed by Sanchez completing a 4-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery, yet Pittsburgh held on to preserve the victory.
With the win, the Steelers improved their overall record to 14–4 while also advancing to Super Bowl XLV, where they were defeated by the NFC Champion, the Green Bay Packers.