The Steelers have lost 34-year old NT Chris Hoke for at least the next 2 weeks due to a sprained MCL in his right knee.  Hoke has played in 3 games for the Steelers so far this year and he has 5 tackles and a fumble recovery.  With Casey Hampton also out of action against the Ravens this weekend the Steelers might have to activate Steve McClendon off the practice squad and give him a lot of P.T.  He has played in 1 game for the Steelers this year and he has 1 tackle and 1 fumble recovery.

The Steelers pushed the Buccaneers around yesterday in route to a very easy win.  Charlie Batch got his first start in a long time and he looked good.  Batch completed 12 of 17 passes for 186 yards with 3 TD passes and 2 INTs.  He also carried the ball 5 times for 26 yards (5.2 ypc) yesterday.  Rashard Mendenhall did the heavy lifting for the Steelers in this game as he carried the ball 19 times for 143 yards (7.5 ypc) with a TD run.  Isaac Redman pitched in with 31 yards rushing on 5 carries (6.2 ypc) and he also caught 1 pass for 9 yards.  Mike Wallace as the star of the passing game for the Steelers with 3 catches for 100 yards (33.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Hines Ward pitched in with 3 grabs for 34 yards (11.3 avg) with a TD.  The Steelers finished up with 201 yards rushing on 32 carries (6.3 ypc) and they also completed 12 of 17 passes for 186 yards.

The Steelers were led on D by LB Lawrence Timmons who had 7 tackles, 1 sack, 1 pass defensed and 1 QB hit.  Safety Ryan Clark (3 tackles, 1 fumble recovery) and DE Brett Keisel (79-yard interception return for a TD) both had huge plays for the Steelers D in this game.  The Buccaneers finished up with 75 yards rushing on 21 carries (3.6 ypc) and they also completed 26 of 37 passes for 228 yards.  The Steelers are now 3-0 on the year.

Both of these teams are 2-0 on the season because of their defenses.  So I expect a slug it out game this Sunday with the win going to the team that scores the first TD (assuming either of them get one).  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Steelers have the ball:  The Steelers are going to give the rock to Rashard Mendenhall as many times as his body can take this Sunday.  The Bucs are giving up 111.5 yards rushing and 4.0 ypc so the Steelers might be able to break off a couple decent runs on Sunday.  But the Steelers’ O-Line is a joke right now so if the Bucs stop the running game the Steelers will lose on Sunday.  The Steelers have already allowed 7 sacks so far this year and the Bucs have a great pair of corners in Aqib Talib and Ronde Barber who will be matched up with Mike Wallace and Hines Ward.  With the Steelers starting Charlie Batch at QB I see Heath Miller being his top receiver in this game mostly on short stuff.  Also, don’t be surprised if this is the game that Antwaan Randle El throws the ball deep on a trick play.

When the Buccaneers have the ball:  Even when the Bucs don’t run well they still do it.  That means that the Steelers’ linebackers need to be ready to deal with Cadillac Williams.  Williams has not been that good this year as he has 126 yards rushing on 49 carries (2.6 ypc) so don’t look for the Steelers to be too worried about him.  TE Kellen Winslow and rookie WR Mike Williams have been Josh Freeman’s favorite receivers so far this year so look for them to draw a lot of attention from the Steelers’ DBs.  Winslow never did much against the Steelers in Cleveland so they aren’t likely too concerned with him.  The Steelers must get to young QB Josh Freeman to force him into making some mistakes because Mike Williams is a big time playmaker at WR. 

PREDICTION:  STEELERS 9, BUCCANEERS 6

The Steelers linebackers are a big reason why they are 2-0 despite doing next to nothing on offense.  Outside linebackers James Harrison (20 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 3 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery) and LaMarr Woodley (8 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 pass defensed, 1 interception and 1 forced fumble) are making high impact plays for the Steelers’ D so far this year.  Inside linebackers Lawrence Timmons (26 tackles, 4 tackles for a loss, 1 pass defensed and 1 forced fumble) and James Farrior (12 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss) are doing the dirty work inside.  Opposing teams have only rushed for 104 yards on 47 carries (2.2 ypc) so far this season against the Steelers.  The scary thing for opposing teams is that the linebackers on the Steelers are good enough to sustain this kind of play.

The Steelers re-signed Byron Leftwich after the game yesterday and he will be competing in practice for the right to start against the Buccaneers.  Batch played on Sunday against the Titans and he didn’t look too good.  Batch completed 5 of 11 passes (45.5%) for 25 yards with 0 TD passes and 0 INTs (52.5 QB Rating) yesterday.  He also carried the ball 1 time for 0 yards against the Titans.  Just on a gut feeling I think the Steelers will go with Byron Leftwich who knows the Bucs’ D well as he played for them last year.

UPDATE:  (9/23/2010) – Mike Tomlin has decided to go with Charlie Batch as his starting QB this Sunday in Tampa.

Dennis Dixon has a torn meniscus in his left knee and he will be out indefinitely.  Dixon started the first two games of the year for the Steelers and he completed 22 of 32 passes (68.8%) for 254 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 INT (79.4 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 5 times for 32 yards (6.4 ypc) this year.  With Dixon out of action for a while it will be either Charlie Batch or Byron Leftwich starting the next couple of games at QB for the Steelers.

UPDATE:  (9/21/2010) – Dennis Dixon will undergo surgery on his left knee on Wednesday which will cause him to miss the next 3-5 weeks.

The Steelers’ D and special teams won this game as their offense flat out sucked!  This game started out with a bang when rookie 6th round pick (WR) Antonio Brown returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for a TD.  The Steelers forced 7 turnovers on D in this game as they shut down the Titans’ offense.  Lawrence Timmons was awfully busy in this game for the Steelers as he led the way on D with 15 tackles and 1 tackle for a loss.  James Harrison also was all over the place for the Steelers with 11 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 QB hit and 1 fumble recovery.  LaMarr Woodley, Troy Polamalu and Bryant McFadden each pitched in with 1 interception apiece.  Chris Hoke, Keyaron Fox and Steve McClendon all recovered 1 fumble each againnst the Titans.  The Titans finished up with only 46 yards rushing (2.1 ypc) and 192 yards passing in this game.

The offense was downright pathetic for the Steelers in this game.  Dennis Dixon started at QB and he completed 4 of 6 passes for 18 yards before leaving the game with a left knee injury.  He also carried the ball 3 times for 28 yards (9.3 ypc) in this game.  But, he fumbled the ball twice losing one of them.  Charlie Batch replaced Dixon and he sucked worse.  He completed 5 of 11 passes for 25 yards.  Batch also fumbled the ball twice but the Steelers didn’t lose either one.  Rashard Mendenhall pitched in with 23 carries for 69 yards (3.0 ypc) in this game.  WR Mike Wallace (2 rec, 25 yards) and TE Heath Miller (2 rec, 3 yards) were the only two Steelers who caught more than one pass in this game.  The Steelers finished up with 106 yards rushing on 33 carries (3.2 ypc) and they only had 21 yards passing.  The Steelers are now somehow 2-0 on the season.

The Steelers have released 30-year old QB Byron Leftwich.  Leftwich just couldn’t stay healthy and the Steelers’ coaching staff appeared to have more faith in Dennis Dixon and Charlie Batch.  Leftwich could possibly be re-signed next weekend if NT Casey Hampton is healty enough to return to action or if one of the Steelers’ active QBs get injured this week against the Titans. 

UPDATE:  (9/20/2010) – The Steelers have re-signed Byron Leftwich.

Last year the Steelers beat the Titans in the season opener in Pittsburgh by a 13-10 score in O.T.  A lot has changed since then as Ben Roethlisberger, Casey Hampton and Santonio Holmes who were the stars of the show in that game for the Steelers aren’t going to be playing.  Also, the game is in Tennessee this time with Vince Young at QB instead of Kerry Collins.  Here is a look at the match-ups in this game:

When the Steelers have the ball:  The Steelers are going to need to tighten the chinstraps and try to run the ball down the Titans’ throats.  The Titans gave up 135 yards rushing on 25 carries  (5.4 ypc) last week against the Raiders which has to have Rashard Mendenhall licking his chops.  If the Steelers are successful running the ball it will set up Dennis Dixon to be able to take some shots down the field off of play action to Hines Ward and Mike Wallace.  The O-Line will have to give Dixon time to throw the ball though as the Titans had four sacks last weekend.

When the Titans have the ball:  Chris Johnson rushed for 142 yards on 27 carries (5.3 ypc) with 2 TD runs last week.  The Steelers held him to only 57 yards on 15 carries last season but they will be playing without Pro Bowl nose tackle Casey Hampton who is injured.  Chris Hoke will replace him but he’s nowhere near Hampton’s league as a player.  Vince Young is deadly off play action so if the Titans get the running game going the Steelers could be in trouble this weekend.  Nate Washington is the Titans best WR and you know he would love to stick it to his old team.

PREDICTION:  TITANS 20, STEELERS 17

The Steelers will be without perennial Pro-Bowl DT Casey Hampton this Sunday due to a hamstring injury.  Hampton only had 1 tackle in the season opener against the Falcons last weekend.  Chris Hoke will replace Hampton in the starting lineup this week and he also had 1 tackle last weekend.  But Hoke doesn’t demand a double team like Hampton does which will hurt the inside linebackers of the Steelers this weekend and they would have had their hands full anyways with Chris Johnson going up against them.