We’ve all got our switches, lights and knobs to deal with, Striker.

That line from Buck Murdock, played by William Shatner in “Airplane II,” sums up my mental state in the days leading up to Sunday’s game and for most of the first half. Murdock had his switches, lights and knobs to deal with, and the Steelers, like any NFL team, had their injuries to deal with.

The Steelers were without Hines Ward, Troy Polamalu and Casey Hampton. They were coming off a loss. They were playing a decent Seahawks team coached by a guy who, no matter how much he said he was over it, had to be motivated by his team’s perceived shafting in Super Bowl XL.

Then, when the Steelers faced their first third down of the game, I see Santonio Holmes on the sidelines. He was hurt, too. Great. The Steelers were without their two best receivers, and the game stayed scoreless for most of the first half. The game could have gone either way for a while there. The Steelers were one special teams gaffe away from losing their second straight game heading into the bye week. That would turn them into just an … average … team …

They’re beeping! They’re flashing!! They’re flashing!!!

I’m all right. I’m all right.

It turns out the Steelers are dealing with their switches, lights and knobs quite well. Some of their healthy starters cranked up their games and some new faces emerged in a 21-0 win over the Seahawks at Heinz Field.

These two teams don’t exactly weave football masterpieces together. Unless you’re a Steelers or Seahawks fan, Super Bowl XL won’t make your list of the most memorable Super Bowls. The Steelers and Seahawks locked horns in a similar scrum on Sunday. Neither team had any momentum in the first quarter. It was the type of game where one big play or one big mistake could make all the difference.

I thought that big play came when Willie Reid, who hasn’t even dressed for every game this season, caught a 25-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger to get the Steelers out of the shadow of their own goal posts to the 33. But it was a false alarm. The Steelers eventually had to punt from their own 40.

The real game-changing play came from Najeh Davenport, who might have had his best game as a Steeler. On second-and-18 from the Steelers’ 35, the Steelers’ big back ran 45 yards to the Seattle 20. Three plays later, Roethlisberger threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to his best buddy, Heath Miller, to give the Steelers a 7-0 lead late in the first half.

The Steelers had the ball on the opening drive of the second half, and it looked like the officials were trying for some make-up calls a year and a half after Super Bowl XL. They called three penalties against the Steelers. But those penalties didn’t really help the Seahawks. All they did was keep the Seattle defense roasting in the globally-warmed October weather. The Steelers held the ball for 10 minutes, 17 seconds before Davenport scored from a yard out to make it 14-0. That came two plays after the zebras even correctly reversed a touchdown on a Seattle challenge when Willie Parker ran it in from the 20.

The Steelers let the Seahawks have the ball for a minute and 31 seconds before taking over and putting the game away. Davenport scored his second touchdown on a five-yard run. The former Packer gained 58 yards on seven carries and caught four passes for 38 yards. Because the Steelers had possession for more than 40 minutes in the game, Davenport was able to have his coming-out party while Willie Parker gained more than 100 yards for the fourth time this season. He had 102 yards on 28 carries. Roethlisberger completed 18 of 22 passes. His leading receiver was Cedrick Wilson with five catches. Nate Washington, who I dubbed Butterfingers Washington last week even though that note didn’t make my column, caught three passes and threw a key block on Davenport’s 45-yard run that set up the first score. Wilson and Washington did their job holding the fort for Ward and Holmes.

It was the first shutout win for the Steelers since Dec. 24, 2005, when they beat the Browns 41-0 in Cleveland. Of course, you could say that 11 drunk tailgaters could shut out the Seahawks if they’re playing defense for less than 20 minutes. But the shutout wouldn’t have happened without Ike Taylor, who redeemed himself after getting burned by Larry Fitzgerald last week and committing a costly penalty. On Sunday, he broke up a couple of deep passes, one intended for Ben Obomanu and the other intended for old tormentor Deion Branch, who torched the Steelers in the 2004 AFC championship game when he was with the Patriots. My switches, lights and knobs panic briefly resurfaced when I remembered Branch was with the Seahawks, but he didn’t stay in the game long. He was carted off with an injury. Then Taylor turned into a hybrid between cornerback and goalie when he intercepted a pass intended for Obomanu at the goal line to end the first half. The interception protected the Steelers’ 7-0 lead and eventually the hard-earned shutout. It’s nice to see Taylor earn his hefty paycheck.

It’s also nice to see the Steelers have a bye week. Hopefully they can get healthy. Then on Oct. 21, the Steelers are at Denver, where it’s usually tough for a visiting team to win. But if the Chargers can beat the Broncos 41-3 in Denver, so can the Steelers. You know why? Because the Steelers are better than the Chargers. They weren’t last year. But this year, the Chargers and the Broncos have fallen off the tightrope of NFL parity, which is what happened to the Steelers last year.

I think we’re finding out that last season’s 8-8 record, and not the championship season, was the fluke. Looking at the schedule at the beginning of the season, a 4-1 record going into the bye week is no disappointment, especially with all the injuries. No need to worry about switches, lights and knobs with these guys. They’re bouncing back like Ted Striker.

Happy bye week!