The Steelers have now fallen to 2-4, but you can’t blame yesterday’s loss on the offense!  The defense was downright terrible!  The Falcons ran the ball 39 times for 173 yards against the ‘vaunted’ Steeler defense!  The Falcons also completed 18 of 30 passes for 226 net yards passing……which is unbelievable!  Michael Vick threw 4 TD passes against the Steelers!  Pitiful!

The Steelers QBs both played great.  Ben Roethlisberger (left in third quarter with a head injury) completed 16 of 22 passes for 238 yards and 3 TD passes.  Charlie Batch relieved him and completed 8 of 13 passes for 195 yards and 2 TDs.  RB willie Parker had a rough game, carrying the ball 20 times for 47 yards (2.4 ypc) and losing a fumble.  WR Hines Ward finally showed up this season with 8 catches for 171 yards and 3 TDs!  Rookie Santonio Holmes had his best game as a pro, catching 5 passes for 91 yards.  Nate Washington continues to play well, catching 3 passes for 76 yards and a TD.  Cedric Wilson pitched in 3 catches for 54 yards.  TE Heath Miller caught 2 passes for 4 yards and a TD.

The Falcons just out-played the Steelers.  The Steelers had better get it together soon, or this season will be a huge failure!

The Steelers are looking to build off of their 45-7 victory last week against the Chiefs.  The Falcons are looking to rebound after the New York Giants came into their house and pushed them around!

When the Steelers have the ball look for them to try to run the ball at the Falcons, who were not effective in dealing with Tiki Barber and Brandon Jacobs a week ago.  Willie Parker will get most of the carries (434 yards rushing), but also look for Najeh Davenport to get some carries.  Look for the Falcons to blitz alot and force Ben Roethlisberger into bad decisions (2 TDs, 7 INT) against a defense that picks off alot of passes (8 INT).  Teams don’t usually pass too well against the Falcons who only allow opponents a 59.6 QB rating.  The Steelers need one of their receivers to step up and make some plays as Hines Ward is the team leader in catches (18) and yards (207).  Those numbers are pathetic for a team leader in the NFL after 5 games.

The Falcons are having a year for the ages running the football and will try to push the Steelers physical defense around and run the ball on them.  The Falcons are averaging 232.0 yards rushing per game and 6.4 yards per carry.  Those numbers are absurd.  Look for Warrick Dunn (511 yards rushing) to get most of the carries, but rookie Jerious Norwood (226 yards, 7.5 ypc) good give him a break at some point.  The Steelers must be aware of Michael Vick at all times.  Vick has 401 yards rushing and he’s averaging 8.7 yards per carry!  The Steelers defense has been stout against the run allowing only 78.4 yards rushing per game and 3.2 yards per carry.  When the Falcons have the football this game will resemble a boxing match, as the Falcons will try to wear down the Steelers defense.  The Falcons passing game is pretty much non-existant.  The Falcons only average 114.0 yards passing per game and only complete 50% of their passes.

This should be a great football game.  If the Steelers can stop the Falcons running game or get an early lead on them, they will win the game.  If the Steelers turn the ball over and the Falcons run the ball well, they will win the game.  So you’ll just have to tune in and see what happens.

OLB Joey Porter is doubtful for Sunday’s game with the Falcons due to an injured hamstring.  The Steelers shouldn’t miss him as much against the Falcons as they would against a passing team.

The safeties are very aggressive and they generate big plays for the defense.  SS Troy Polamalu has 33 tackles and 2 interceptions so far this season.  Even though he doesn’t have any sacks yet this year, Polamalu is a fine blitzer that comes from all angles and hurries the QBs into frequent bad throws resulting in big plays for the defense.  FS Ryan Clark is the reason that Polamalu can free lance.  Clark is a very good pass defender that usually is the only one playing back.  Clark has 30 tackles and an interception this season.

What a beating the Steelers laid on the Chiefs at Heinz Field today!  QB Ben Roethlisberger looked like the QB he was the last two seasons today.  Roethlisberger completed 16 of 19 passes for 238 yards and 2 TDs.  Willie Parker had a great game carrying the ball 21 times for 109 yards and 2 TDs.  Najeh Davenport carried the ball 12 times for 78 yards (6.5 ypc) and a TD.  Verron Haynes pitched in 5 carries for 21 yards (4.2 ypc).  WR Nate Washington caught 3 passes for 68 yards and a TD.  Hines Ward finally looked like his old self and caught 5 passes for 59 yards and a TD.  Rookie Santonio Holmes caught 2 passes for 58 yards and Cedric Wilson caught 3 passes for 42 yards.

The defense totally dominated the Chiefs offense.  S Troy Polamalu had 10 tackles, defensed 2 passes and had an interception.  Rookie linebacker Rian Wallace scored a TD on a 30 yard interception return.  The Steelers held the Chiefs to 38 yards rushing on 19 carries (2.0 ypc).  The Steelers allowed the Chiefs to complete 19 of 39 passes for 175 net yards passing.

Could the Steelers be back?  They sure looked like it today!