The Pittsburgh Steelers better watch out in this game.  They wanted to hire Ken Whisenhunt in the off-season but the NFL gave them a call and reminded them who made the “Rooney Rule” so they hired Mike Tomlin instead.  Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm left Pittsburgh to go to the desert and they have had this game circled since the schedule came out.

The Steelers will try to do what they have done all season and that’s pass the ball to get the lead and then grind out the football game on the ground.  Ben Roethlisberger must protect the football this week and the offensive line has to keep him clean to make throws as the Cardinals have already made 8 sacks this season.  The Steelers will be without Hines Ward, so they will need to have either TE Heath Miller or WR Nate Washington to step up in this football game.  The Steelers must be aware of where safety Adrian Wilson is lining up as he is just as good of a football player as Troy Polamalu is.  Don’t forget the Steelers running game as Willie Parker (368 yards rushing, 5.0 ypc) and Najeh Davenport (136 yards rushing, 7.2 ypc) have both been outstanding so far this season.  They should have success on the ground against Cardinals defense which is allowing 104.3 yards rushing and 4.0 ypc so far this season.

The Steelers will think that they are looking in the mirror when the Cardinals offense is on the field.  The Cardinals offensive line has been outstanding this season as they have only allowed 2 sacks this season and they have averaged 118.0 yards rushing and 4.5 yards per carry!  Something has to give in this game as the Steelers will be blitzing a lot which has led them to having 12 sacks this season.  QB Matt Leinart will have to be smart with the football or the Cardinals will replace him with Kurt Warner who was outstanding last weekend against Baltimore.  The Steelers’ corners are not the strength of the defense and they will likely have big trouble covering Anquan Boldin (22 rec, 286 yards, 3 TDs) and Larry Fitzgerald (15 rec, 192 yards).  The Cardinals will also challenge the Steelers on the ground with Edgerrin James (277 yards rushing, 4.6 ypc, 2 TDs) running behind their much improved offensive line.

PREDICTION:  The Steelers should win this football game, but, it’s hard to bet against a team that will be as fired up as the Cardinals will be to win one for the coaching staff.  I don’t know which team will win the game, but I’m guessing that it will only be by a field goal.

The Steelers will like be without Hines Ward this weekend against the Cardinals as he has a sprained knee.  Ward wasn’t off to his best start anyway as he has caught 9 passes for 108 yards (12.0 avg) with 1 TD catch.  He also has 1 carry for 7 yards.  In fact, the Steelers will likely miss Ward more in the running game as he is an outstanding run blocker often adding a few yards to Willie Parker’s total with downfield blocks.  Nate Washington (3 rec, 60 yards) will step into Ward’s starting spot and Cedric Wilson (1 rec, 12 yards) will probably move up to the #3 slot for this week’s game.

The Steelers dominated the 49ers in every phase of the game.  Ben Roethlisberger completed 13 of 20 passes for 160 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 interceptions.  He also carried the ball 1 time for 18 yards.  RB Willie Parker was outstanding again for the Steelers as he carried the ball 24 times for 133 yards (5.5 ypc) and Najeh Devenport kicked in with 5 carries for 47 yards (9.4 ypc) with 1 TD run.  TE Heath Miller led the way in the passing game for the Steelers with 4 catches for 82 yards (20.5 avg).  WR Santonio Holmes (3 rec, 49 yards) and TE Jerame Tuman (1 rec, 9 yards) each caught 1 TD pass apiece.  The Steelers finished up with 205 yards rushing on 33 carries (6.2 ypc) and they also completed 13 of 20 passes for 145 yards.  KR Allen Rossum returned 2 kickoffs for 120 yards (60.0 avg) including a 98-yard TD return.

Safety Troy Polamalu finally showed up this season as he led the Steelers with 8 tackles to lead the team.  CB Bryant McFadden only had 4 tackles but he also returned an interception 50 yards for a TD.  The defense held the 49ers to 91 yards rushing on 22 carries (4.1 ypc) and the Niners completed 17 of 35 passes for 198 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270923023

Ben Roethlisberger has looked like the “Big Ben” of old so far this season.  He has given the Steelers offense the balance that it needs as the Steelers have averaged 195.0 yards rushing per game and 197.5 yards passing per game so far this season.  He has been buying time with his feet in the pocket as he only has been sacked 2 times this season.  Roethlisberger has completed 33 of 57 passes (57.9%) for 403 yards with 5 TD passes and 1 interception (101.7 QB Rating).  Even though the Steelers haven’t played a team with a good defense yet (Browns, Bills) they have to be happy to see how well Roethlisberger is leading the offense.