This was an ugly game for the Pittsburgh Steelers.  The Steelers offensive line had a pathetic game as they allowed Ben Roethlisberger to be sacked 9 times in this game!  Roethlisberger completed 21 of 41 passes for 214 yards and 2 interceptions.  Willie Parker never got going either as he had 10 carries for 22 yards.  Nate Washington (4 rec, 49 yards), Cedrick Wilson (4 rec, 49 yards), Heath Miller (3 rec, 35 yards), Hines Ward (4 rec, 33 yards) and Santonio Holmes (3 rec, 31 yards) all contributed in the passing game.

The Steelers defense did well against the run, allowing the Ravens to rush for 114 yards on 35 carries (3.3 ypc).  The Ravens had no problems dicing up the Steelers secondary as they completed 21 of 27 passes for 161 net yards passing.

The Steelers have fallen to 4-7 and should start looking towards next season.

The Steelers are trying to save their season as they’ve won 2 games in a row to improve to 4-6 on the season.  The Ravens are flying high as they’ve taken control of the AFC North with a 4 game winning streak that has them at 8-2 on the season.

The Steelers would probably prefer to run the football against the Ravens.  Willie Parker has had a solid season (893 yards rushing), but the Ravens defense is only allowing 82.1 yards rushing and 3.2 yards per carry….so it won’t be easy.  The Steelers must protect Roethlisberger to have any chance of success throwing the ball.  The Steelers have allowed 30 sacks this season, which is exactly how many times the aggressive Ravens defense has sacked the QB.  The Ravens are a ball-hawking secondary that already had 18 interceptions, so Roethlisberger must be careful throwing the ball.

The Ravens are 4-0 and are averaging 28.0 points per game since Brian Billick has assumed control of the offense.  The Ravens will probably come out running the ball with Jamal Lewis (669 yards rushing) who has been running better of the late.  The Steelers are still tough to run against as they allow 98.4 yards rushing per game and 3.6 yards per carry.  If McNair has time to throw he should have success throwing the ball against a Steelers secondary that is very over-rated.  Mark Clayton, Todd Heap and Derrick Mason will give the Steelers all they can handle.

This should be a good football game as long as the Steelers protect the ball on offense.  The Ravens look to be the better team this season and they’re at home, so I’ll take them in this game.

The Steelers snatched a win in the 4th quarter from the Browns.  The Steelers played awful for 3 quarters, but had an amazing final quarter to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.  Ben Roethlisberger completed 25 of 44 passes for 272 yards with 2 TDs and 3 INTs.  Ben also carried the ball 2 times for 20 yards.  Willie Parker carried the ball 16 times for 46 yards (2.9 ypc) and a TD.  He also caught 4 passes for 17 yards and a TD.  Hines Ward caught 7 passes for 81 yards.  Santonio Holmes caught 5 passes for 75 yards and a TD.

James Farrior had 12 tackles and a sack.  Joey Porter had 8 tackles and a 1/2 sack.  Troy Polamalu had 7 tackles and a 1/2 sack.  The Steelers allowed the Browns to rush for 99 yards on 29 carries (3.4 ypc).  The Browns completed 17 of 27 passes for 203 net yards passing.

The Steelers gave up a TD on offense and a kick-off return for a TD and should feel fortunate to pull out a victory over a bad Browns team on Sunday.

The Pittsburgh Steelers won last week against the Saints to break a 3-game losing streak.  The Browns won in Atlanta and are 2-1 since Maurice Carthon was fired.  The Browns have revenge on their minds after the Steelers whipped them 41-0 on Christmas Eve last season in Cleveland.

The Steelers will try to get back to “Steeler football” and run the ball again like last week.  Willie Parker (847 yards rushing) has given the Browns fits in the past.  The Browns run defense is soft as they allow 143.6 yards rushing per game and 5.0 yards per carry.  After the Steelers establish the running game look for them to attack the Browns’ cornerbacks who were expected to be back-ups this season but because of injury have been starting.  The Browns actually have a pretty good pass defense and Roethlisberger will have to know where safety Sean Jones is at all times as he has 5 interceptions already this season.  Also, look for the Browns to be blitzing their first round pick (Kamerion Wimbley) alot to try to rattle Roethlisberger into mistakes.

This will probably be the game that the Browns open up the playbook.  The Steelers pass defense has been weak all season long as they allow 211.7 net yards passing.  If the Browns can pick up the Steelers blitzes….and that’s a big if….then they will have alot of success throwing the ball down the field.  The Steelers corners have been getting torched all year long.  Reuben Droughns will also get his share of carries because the Browns have been a running team first with Jeff Davidson calling the plays.

This should be a good football game.  The QB that turns the ball over less will win this game.

The Steelers won a track meet on Sunday with the Saints.  Ben Roethlisberger looked good today completing 17 of 28 passes for 264 yards and 3 TDs.  Willie Parker dominated the second half of this football game and had 22 carries for 213 yards (9.7 ypc) and 2 TDs.  Hines Ward had a solid game with 5 catches for 86 yards and a TD.  Santonio Holmes (2 rec, 57 yards), Cedric Wilson (2 rec, 47 yards, TD) and Heath Miller (3 rec, 30 yards, TD) each helped out in the passing game.

The Steelers were absolutely horrible on defense allowing the Saints to carry the ball 29 times for 124 yards (4.3 ypc).  The Saints tortured the Steelers secondary, completing 31 of 47 passes for 393 net yards passing.

This was a big win for the Steelers, because a loss would have ended their season.

The Steelers made a mistake this season and it ruined their year.  The Steelers rushed Ben Roethlisberger back too early even though Charlie Batch was playing great.  I know, hindsight is always 20/20, but they should have waited until Ben was 100%.  “Big Ben” has been playing scared all season and it all started when the Jaguars hit him in the gut.  Roethlisberger has completed 64.1% of his passes for 1,779 yards with 7 TDs and 14 INTs.  His QB rating has sunk to 72.2, which is awful for him.  Ben is scared to run the ball as he only has 10 carries for 11 yards and he is holding the ball to long as he has been sacked 23 times already this season.  He shouldn’t be on the field until he feels better, and I blame that on Bill Cowher…..he should know better than that.

Charlie Batch has been outstanding when given the opportunity to play.  He has completed 24 of 39 passes (61.5%) for 410 yards with 5 TDs and 0 INTs.  Batch has an unbelievable QB rating of 136.8.  I wonder what would have happened if the Steelers started him a couple of more games early in the season until Roethlisberger was fit.

The Steelers wasted 499 total yards of offense by turning the ball over 6 times.  The culprits were Ben Roethlisberger with 3 more pickoffs, Hines Ward (fumble), Cedric Wilson (fumble) and Santonio Holmes (fumble) and that is pathetic!  Ben Roethlisberger continued his sloppy play, completing 38 of 54 passes for 433 yards with 1 TD and 3 INT.  Willie Parker had a good game, carrying the ball 17 times for 70 yards (5.0 ypc) and a TD.  Parker also caught 7 passes for 67 yards and a TD.  Najeh Davenport played a decent game.  Davenport carried the ball 2 times for 17 yards and caught 5 passes for 57 yards.  Hines Ward caught 7 passes for 127 yards, but he lost a fumble in the endzone when the Steelers were trying to comeback.  Cedric Wilson (4 rec, 59 yards) and Santonio Holmes (6 rec, 58 yards) did not play that well.  Heath Miller finally got some passes thrown to him and he caught 5 passes for 34 yards.

James Farrior came to play with 12 tackles, too bad not many of his buddies came along with him.  The Broncos carried the ball 23 times for 115 yards (5.0 ypc).  The Steelers made Jake Plummer look good, which has been hard to do this season.  The Broncos completed 16 of 27 passes for 221 net yards passing.

The Steelers just don’t have it this season, as last year’s Championship is starting to look as if it was a fluke.

Jeff Hartings will miss an “extended period of time” with a severe knee injury.  Chukki Okobi will replace Hartings until he can return.  This will definately hurt the Steelers offense as Hartings is a Pro-Bowl caliber center.