You can tell it has been a down year for the Steelers when they are only sending two players to the Pro Bowl.  31-year old linebacker James Harrison has played in 15 games for the Steelers this season and he has made 76 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss, forced 5 fumbles, defensed 2 passes and he has 10 sacks.  It was Harrison’s second awesome season in a row and it’s too bad the Steelers didn’t know what they had in him earlier in his career.  32-year old NT Casey Hampton is back in the Pro Bowl due mostly to his name recognition.  He has played in 15 games for the Steelers this season and he has made 40 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss and he has 2.5 sacks.

The Steelers got another big victory despite getting outplayed once again.  The Steelers prove that it is much better to be lucky than good.  Ben Roethlisberger was so-so completing 17 of 33 passes for 259 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT.  Rashard Mendenhall had a awful game rushing for 36 yards on 17 carries (2.1 ypc) with 1 TD run but he also lost a fumble.  Santonio Holmes (5 rec, 86 yards, TD) and Mike Wallace (3 rec, 83 yards) led the way in the passing game for the Steelers yesterday.  The Steelers finished up with 286 total yards on offense (48 rushing, 238 passing) in this game.

LaMarr Woodley led the way on defense yesterday for the Steelers with 10 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 2 sacks, 2 QB hits and he defensed 1 pass.  James Farrior also had a solid game with 8 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception.  Ziggy Hood and Ike Taylor each pitched in with a interception apiece in this game for the Steelers.  The Ravens finished up with 323 total yards on offense (175 rushing, 148 passing) in this game.  The Steelers are still alive for the playoffs with a 8-7 record but they need a lot of help to make it.

The Steelers really miss safety Troy Polamalu because no team is scared to pass against them without him on the field.  Polamalu has played in 5 games this season for the Steelers and he has made 20 tackles, 4 tackles for a loss, defensed 7 passes and he has 3 interceptions.  Despite the defense still having decent numbers they really miss Polamalu because they don’t have anyone outside of James Harrison who can make game changing plays on that side of the ball.

I personally think that Ben Roethlisberger is having the best season of his career in 2009.  He has played in 13 games for the Steelers this season and he has completed 302 of 446 passes (67.7%) for 3,849 yards with 22 TD passes and 11 INTs (100.6 QB Rating).  He has been sacked 43 times this season but a lot of that is just him holding the ball too long trying to make a play downfield so it’s hard to blame the O-Line for that.  He has also carried the ball 33 times for 68 yards (2.1 ypc) with 2 TD runs this year.  With Roethlisberger all things are possible so the Steelers are not out of the playoffs quite yet.

The Steelers got really lucky last week against the Packers and I think that luck will run out this Sunday.  The Steelers will likely come out of the locker room throwing the football against the Ravens.  The O-Line must protect Roethlisberger well or he will start throwing the ball to the Ravens.  The Steelers must have balance in the offense this week as throwing the ball every down won’t get it done against the Ravens.  That means that Rashard Mendenhall must have success against a Ravens’ D that is only allowing 99.5 yards rushing and 3.6 yards per carry this season.

The Steelers will likely have to stop the Ravens running game first and that will be easier said than done as Ray Rice is one of the most underrated running backs in the whole NFL.  But, the Steelers are only allowing 83.1 yards rushing per game and 3.6 yards per rush this season.  The Steelers have no choice but to blitz Joe Flacco early and often because their secondary sucks.  Look for Derrick Mason and Todd Heap to have big games on Sunday.

PREDICTION:  RAVENS 21, STEELERS 20