With Ben Roethlisberger sitting out, many people were writing off the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5) Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens (6-5).  Third-string quarterback Dennis Dixon got the start and he played relatively well for the Steelers.  He kept the Steelers in the game and they were able to take the game into overtime.  Dixon finished with 145 yards and a touchdown on 12/26 attempts, but his inexperience caught up with him, as it was his overtime interception that led to the Ravens game-winning field goal.  He also showed off some athleticism, running the ball three times for 27 yards and a touchdown.  The Steelers running game is what kept them in this one, getting 153 yards as a team with Rashard Mendenhall leading the way with 95 yards on 24 carries.

The Steelers got a very good game out of their defense and they put a lot of pressure on Ravens’ quarterback Joe Flacco.  They sacked Flacco 5 times, with Lawrence Timmons accounting for 2 sacks.  They also force Flacco into two fumbles, but only recovered one.  They also forced and recovered a fumble from Mark Clayton, winning the turnover battle 2-0.  They let Flacco throw for 289 yards and a touchdown though and they also gave up too many yards on the ground.  They rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries as a team.  It was a great effort by the Steelers without their leader, but they need to step it up if they want to make the playoffs.

The Steelers have released 28-year old WR Shaun McDonald.  McDonald did not play in any games this season for the Steelers who have much better receivers than him.  They won’t likely miss him too much.  This move was needed as the Steelers have signed former Pitt Panther QB Tyler Palko off the practice squad.  He will be the Steelers’ #2 QB tomorrow when they play the Ravens in Baltimore.  His weak left throwing arm would hurt the Steelers’ offense if he is forced into the football game.

Ben Roethlisberger is out for tomorrow’s game against the division rival Baltimore Ravens.  He is still having issues with the concussion he suffered last week against the Chiefs.  Roethlisberger has played in all 10 games for the Steelers this season and he has completed 237 of 344 passes (68.9%) for 2,867 yards with 17 TD passes and 10 INTs (98.6 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 26 times for 42 yards (1.6 ypc) with 2 TDs this year.  The Steelers will be forced to start 24-year old Dennis Dixon at QB.  Dixon has played in 1 game in his NFL career and he has completed his only pass attempt for 3 yards.  He also has 2 carries for -3 yards (-1.5 ypc) this year.  Under ordinary circumstances the Steelers would likely just run the ball more with Rashard Mendenhall.  But, two factors will make that hard to do.  First up is the Ravens’ D which is allowing only 92.1 yards rushing per game and 3.5 yards per carry.  Secondly, Rashard Mendenhall ran his mouth last season before the Steelers played the Ravens and they broke his shoulder ending his rookie year.  This is a big, big loss for the Steelers and they better hope his concussion like syndrome doesn’t linger too long or the Steelers will be watching the playoffs on T.V.

The Pittsburgh Steelers (6-4) may be in trouble Sunday against the Balitmore Ravens (5-5), as it looks like quarterback Ben Roethlisberger may not play.  Roethlisberger suffered a concussion last week, and although earlier in the week Big Ben was listed as probable and expected to play, he told head coach Mike Tomlin Friday that he might sit out “as a precaution” and is listed as questionable.  Now he still might play, but I don’t think that would be a good idea, especially with what they know about concussions in this day and age.  You don’t want one game of football to cause brain damage later in life.  I don’t think there should be any question that Roethlisberger sits this one out, but unfortunately for the Steelers that means Dennis Dixon will be the starter and it will probably cost them the game.  Dixon has only thrown one pass in his career and there is no way he is ready to take on a Ray Lewis led Ravens’ defense.  That means Willie Parker and Rashard Mendenhall will have to have big games, along with the defense, if the Steelers want a chance.

The Steelers defense has been doing a great job shutting down the run this season, so Ray Rice and Willis McGahee should not be too much of a problem for them.  If they can contain Joe Flacco and the Ravens’ passing game they have a shot in this one.  Flacco has been struggling lately and has not thrown a touchdown pass since week 8, so the defense may very well win this game for the Steelers.  Flacco is still a good quarterback though, and with such an inexperienced quarterback on the Steelers’ side I am favoring the Ravens in this game.  If it so happens that Roethlisberger plays, which he very well might do, it could be a whole different story.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Pittsburgh Steelers 13, Baltimore Ravens 20

The Steelers finally have decided to make 27-year old TE Heath Miller a big part of the offense.  With Miller going over the middle and making the tough catches it has freed up Hines Ward to run deeper routes making the offense more effective overall.  Miller has played in all 10 games for the Steelers this season and he has caught 54 passes (career high) for 492 yards (9.1 avg) with 5 TD grabs.  His yards per catch average is so low because he has been one of Ben Roethlisberger’s top targets in the red zone when the field gets shorter.  He has now played in 72 games in his five years with the Steelers and he has caught 222 passes for 2,424 yards (10.9 avg) with 26 TD grabs.  It’s about time that the Steelers started using Miller as a bigger part of the offense.

The Steelers have signed 32-year old CB Corey Ivy and 29-year old linebacker Rocky Boiman.  Ivy played in all 16 games for the Ravens last season and he made 52 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, forced 1 fumble, defensed 3 passes and he had 2.5 sacks.  Ivy has now played in 110 games in his NFL career and he has made 278 tackles, defensed 25 passes, has 9.5 sacks, forced 5 fumbles and he has 3 interceptions.  Ivy will also provide some depth in the secondary.  Rocky Boiman played in 11 games last season for the Chiefs and he made 73 tackles, defensed 3 passes and he forced a fumble.  He has now played in 97 games in his NFL career and he has made 254 tackles, defensed 12 passes, has 1.5 sacks, forced 3 fumbles and he has 5 interceptions (1 he has returned for a TD).  Boiman will also give the Steelers depth at linebacker.  To make room on the roster for Ivy and Boiman the Steelers have waived 28-year old CB Keiwan Ratliff and 24-year old linebacker Donovan Woods.  Ratliff played in 8 games for the Steelers this season and he made 9 tackles.  Woods only played in 1 game in which he made 1 tackle.  Woods will be signed to the practice squad if he clears waivers.  Something had to be done on the kickoff team which is allowing 26.9 yards per return this season and opponents have returned 4 kickoffs for TDs.  These were solid signings for the Steelers and they hope that Ivy and Boiman will help clean up the mess.

UPDATE:  The Steelers have released Corey Ivy after just one game as he didn’t make any tackles.

The Pittsburgh Steelers might have to place 34-year old back up QB Charlie Batch on I.R. as he will miss at least the next season weeks due to surgery on a wrist.  He played in 1 game for the Steelers this season and he completed 1 of 2 passes (50%) for 17 yards with 0 TD and 0 INTs (79.2 QB Rating).  Batch has now played five years with the Steelers appearing in 24 games (4 starts) and he has completed 76 of 135 passes (56.3%) for 1,034 yards with 8 TD passes and 4 INTs (88.3 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 37 times for 49 yards (1.3 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Without Batch that means that 24-year old Dennis Dixon will now be the #2 QB for the Steelers the rest of the year.  He has played in 1 game in his NFL career and he has completed his only pass attempt for 3 yards.  He has also carried the ball 2 times for -3 yards (-1.5 ypc) but they were kneel downs so don’t hold that against him.  The Steelers had better hope that Ben Roethlisberger’s head clears up before Sunday because they are in deep, deep trouble if they have to start Dixon in Baltimore against the Ravens.

The Steelers proved today that they just aren’t the same team as they were last year when they won the Super Bowl.  In fact, I think they will have a really hard time making the playoffs.  Ben Roethlisberger’s overall numbers look solid as he completed 32 of 42 passes for 398 yards with 3 TD passes and 2 interceptions.  But, the pickoffs set up short fields for the Chiefs twice and it really hurt the Steelers in the end.  To make matters worse, Roethlisberger got whacked hard in the noggin’ in O.T. and he had to leave the game.  Charlie Batch completed 1 of 2 passes for 17 yards but the Steelers had to punt the ball away and set up the Chiefs for their game winning drive.  Rashard Mendenhall was so-so in this game as he carried the ball 21 times for 80 yards (3.8 ypc) and he also caught 4 passes for 36 yards (9.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Willie Parker made his first appearance in a while carrying the ball 6 times for 24 yards (4.0 ypc) and he also caught 1 pass for 11 yards.  Hines Ward was really busy today as he caught 10 passes for 128 yards (12.8 avg) with 1 TD grab.  TE Heath Miller also had a great game with 7 catches for 95 yards (13.6 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Santonio Holmes pitched in with 7 catches for 86 yards (12.3 avg) today.  The Steelers rolled up 515 total yards on offense (114 rushing, 401 passing) as they had possession of the ball for a amazing 44:07 but it wasn’t enough to win the game.

The defense did not do their job in this game as the Chiefs had quite a few big plays.  Safety Tyrone Carter led the way for the Steelers on D in this game with 8 tackles.  OLB LaMarr Woodley also was busy in this game with 2 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 tackles for a loss and 3 QB hits.  The Chiefs only had the ball for 22:25 of this game but they still got 282 yards (68 rushing, 214 passing) on offense and that is too many for what little time they had the ball.  The Steelers also sucked again on special teams allowing Chiefs’ RB Jamaal Charles to take a kickoff back 97 yards for a TD.  The Steelers are now a very disappointing 6-4 on the season.

This is a great rebound game for the Steelers who should be really angry after getting punked on their own field by the Bengals last week.  The Chiefs are allowing 234.2 yards passing per game this season and they only have 12 sacks this season meaning that Ben Roethlisberger should have a lot of time to throw the football.  Roethlisberger might only have to play three quarters this Sunday before getting the rest of the day off.  The Steelers will likely pass to get the lead and then grind it out on the ground with Rashard Mendenhall against a Chiefs’ D that is allowing 141.3 yards rushing per game and 4.6 yards per carry.  I have a feeling that Charlie Batch and maybe even Dennis Dixon will be finishing this game up at QB.

If the Chiefs can give Matt Cassel time to throw the ball on Sunday this might not be the bloodbath that I think it will.  The Steelers are giving up 208.1 yards passing per game so it will be up to guys like Chris Chambers, Mark Bradley, Lance Long and Bobby Wade to step up.  I just don’t see it happening this week as Chiefs’ QBs have been sacked 32 times already this year and the Steelers are coming into this game as a angry bunch.  Jamaal Charles had a breakout game against the Raiders last weekend but the Steelers are only giving up 69.3 yards per game on the ground and 3.4 yards per carry so don’t look for a repeat performance out of him.

PREDICTION:  STEELERS 45, CHIEFS 10

The Steelers have cut linebacker Arnold Harrison who was part of the pathetic kickoff team.  He played in 8 games this season for the Steelers and he had 7 tackles.  The Steelers have signed 24-year old linebacker Donovan Woods off the practice squad to replace Harrison on the active roster.  Woods played in 5 games for the Steelers last season and he compiled 4 tackles.