The Steelers are 2-0 since the evil QB has returned to action, but they should thank the refs for last week’s win.  The Saints got beat at home by the Browns.  The Steelers have traveled well so far this year as they are 3-0, outscoring the opposition 80-46.  The Saints have been very up and down this year.  They are 2-2 at home this season and they have been outscored 80-71.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Steelers have the ball:  If Ben Roethlisberger can make it through the night in the Big Easy without getting handcuffs put on him the Steelers will likely be in good shape.  The Saints have a better pass defense than a run D so look for the Steelers to try to be more balanced than usual on offense.  That will be up to Rashard Mendenhall against a Saints’ D that is allowing 108.7 yards rushing and 4.0 yards per carry.  Roethlisberger will take some shots deep to Mike Wallace and he will keep the short stuff to Heath Miller & Hines Ward.

When the Saints have the ball:  The Steelers are going to have to disrupt Drew Brees’ rhythm or they could be in some trouble.  That’s because the Steelers are giving up 235.7 yards passing per game this year.  The Saints have a deep set of WRs and TEs so the Steelers can’t really double anyone.  After watching last weeks’ game between the Browns and Saints I can only think that safety Troy Polamalu will have at least one big play in this game. 

PREDICTION:  STEELERS 27, SAINTS 23

34-year old starting DE Aaron Smith is likely done for the year after having surgery to repair a torn left triceps muscle  injured against the Dolphins last Sunday.  Smith played in 6 games for the Steelers this year and he had 15 tackles including 1 tackle for a loss.  Smith has now played in 156 games in his career with the Steelers and he has 445 tackles, 20 passes defensed, 44 sacks, 7 forced fumbles and 1 interception.  This will hurt the Steelers’ D.

The Steelers pulled a rabbit out of their hat once again today.  Ben Roethlisberger fumbled at the Dolphins’ 1 yard line and the ball went into the end zone.  A host of Dolphins dove on the football yet the replay officials couldn’t see who had the ball.  They gave it back to the Steelers and Jeff Reed kicked a field goal with 2:26 left in the game.  Those wound up being the deciding points of this football game.  Roethlisberger completed 19 of 27 passes for 302 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.  He also fumbled three times, losing one of them.  Rashard Mendenhall got stuffed a lot in this game as he carried the ball 15 times for 37 yards (2.5 ypc) today.  Mewelde Moore carried the ball 4 times for 11 yards (2.8 ypc) in this game and he also pitched in with 4 catches for another 48 yards (12.0 avg).  WRs Hines Ward (7 rec, 131 yards, TD) and Mike Wallace (2 rec, 53 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Steelers today.  The Steelers finished up with 58 yards rushing on 27 carries (2.1 ypc) and they also completed 19 of 27 passes for 290 yards today.

CBs Bryant McFadden & Ike Taylor each had six tackles in this game to lead the way for the Steelers’ D.  LB James Farrior pitched in with 5 tackles and a fumble recovery today.  The Dolphins finished up with 64 yards rushing on 21 carries (3.0 ypc) and they also completed 23 of 36 passes for 249 yards.  The Steelers are now 5-1 on the year.

The Steelers have been a very solid road team so far this year as they are 2-0 having outscored the Bucs & Titans by a combined score of 57-24!  The Dolphins have been awful at home this year as they are 0-2 while getting outscored 72-37!  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Steelers have the ball:  The Steelers would like to run a balanced offense this Sunday against the Dolphins.  For that to happen the offensive line is going to have to be able to handle the Fins’ front seven to give Rashard Mendenhall running room.  The Fins are giving up 109.4 yards rushing and 4.1 yards per carry so that shouldn’t be a problem.  If the Steelers can keep Ben Roethlisberger clean he should have a good day throwing the ball.  The Steelers must keep OLB Cameron Wake (6 sacks this year) away from Roethlisberger on Sunday afternoon.

When the Dolphins have the ball:  The Dolphins are likely going to throw the ball a lot on first down in this game to stop the Steelers from overplaying the run.  This will likely loosen up the front seven so that Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams can find some running room.  The Steelers have been a tad soft against the pass so they need the linebackers (James Harrison, Lawrence Timmons and LaMarr Woodley) to get after Chad Henne.  If Henne has time to throw the ball he has the receivers to make the Steelers pay for it especially Brandon Marshall.

PREDICTION:  STEELERS 23, DOLPHINS 20

32-year old OLB James Harrison completely deserved the fine he received from the league ($75,000 bucks) for spearing Mohamed Massaquoi of the Browns.  So he needs to quit crying about it and try to learn how to tackle like you are taught from Pee Wee football all the way to the NFL.  Did Harrison really think the NFL was going to change the ruling about his fine because he threatened to retire?  I’m sure the NFL doesn’t care if Harrison is playing for the Steelers or sitting at home on his couch.  Harrison has played well for the Steelers so far this year as he has 40 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 5 sacks, 1 pass defensed, 4 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery in the first 5 games of the year.  Harrison has now played in 95 games in 7 years with the Steelers and he has 428 tackles, 15 passes defensed, 43.5 sacks, 23 forced fumbles and 3 interceptions.  Harrison will have a big target on his back now by running his mouth so he needs to start playing cleaner football.  You can’t lead with your head because you could paralyze someone or YOURSELF!

The Steelers looked pretty solid today in Ben Roethlisberger’s return to the starting lineup.  He completed 16 of 27 passes for 257 yards with 3 TD passes and 1 INT.  Rashard Mendenhall had a heavy workload and he had to fight for every yard as he carried the ball 27 times for 84 yards (3.1 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also caught 3 passes for 15 yards (5.0 avg) in this game.  Isaac Redman got in on the action with 6 carries for 31 yards (5.2 ypc) for the Steelers in this game.  Mike Wallace (3 rec, 90 yards), Hines Ward (5 rec, 54 yards) and Heath Miller (2 rec, 50 yards) each caught a TD apiece from Little Ben today.  The Steelers finished up with 121 yards rushing on 35 carries (3.5 ypc) and they also completed 16 of 27 passes for 257 yards.

OLB James Harrison led the way for the Steelers in this game with 11 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 pass defensed and 3 QB hits.  He also speared Josh Cribbs & Mohamed Massaquoi  (knocking them both of the game) cementing his status as one of  the dirtiest players in the NFL.  ILB Lawrence Timmons also was busy in this game with 11 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks, 1 pass defensed, 1 INT and 2 QB hits.  Safety Ryan Clark pitched in with 5 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception in this game.  The Browns finished up with 70 yards rushing on 22 carries (3.2 ypc) and they also completed 23 of 33 passes for 258 yards.  The Steelers are now 4-1 on the year.

The Steelers are looking to avenge the last time these two teams played when the Browns shut them down beating them 13-6 in Cleveland.  It was a game in which the Browns sacked “Little Ben” 8 times!  With this being his first game back in action he better hope the O-Line has his back.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Steelers have the ball:  The Steelers might look to break in Roethlisberger slowly at first by taking on the Browns’ run D with Rashard Mendenhall as the Browns are giving up 120.0 yards rushing and 4.1 yards per carry so far this year.  The Steelers likely will have mis-matches down the field this week with Mike Wallace and Hines Ward is Roethlisberger has time to throw the ball.   Steelers’ QBs have been sacked 11 times already this year and the Browns will be bringing the pressure big time.

When the Browns have the ball:  The Browns will be starting rookie Colt McCoy at QB this Sunday and it will be his NFL debut.  So look for the Steelers to bring blitzes to try to rattle him.  The Browns will likely try to combat that by running the ball and throwing short passes to TE Ben Watson and RB Peyton Hillis.  Hillis is a bull of a runner so he will challenge the Steelers’ D-Line and linebackers as he ran all over the Ravens in Baltimore earlier this year.  The Steelers must also be ready for the Wildcat as Josh Cribbs gives the D problems when he has the ball in his hands.

PREDICTION:  STEELERS 20, BROWNS 13

The Browns are giving up 223.2 passing yards per game so far this year and Ben Roethlisberger is back in action so maybe the Steelers will revive the passing game starting this weekend.  The Steelers are last in the NFL (#32) in passing yards per game as they are averaging 136.0 yards.  Hines Ward (12 rec, 165 yards, TD),  Heath Miller (10 rec, 100 yards) and Mike Wallace (9 rec, 211 yards, 2 TD grabs) are all much better than they have shown so far this year and I look for them to start showing it this Sunday.

Everyone thought the Steelers were going to have a rough time with Ben Roethlisberger out of action for being an A-hole but they somehow came out of it 3-1 despite starting Dennis Dixon & Charlie Batch at QB.  Roethlisberger has played in 87 games (86 starts) in his six years with the Steelers and he has completed 1,526 of 2,411 (63.3%) passes for 19,302 yards with 127 TD passes and 81 INTs (91.7 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 228 times for 698 yards (3.1 ypc) with 12 TD runs in his career so far.  Hines Ward, Mike Wallace and Heath Miller will likely be jumping for joy as their numbers are way down so far this year.  It will be interesting to see if he’s rusty right away or not.  The bye week couldn’t have come at a better time for the Steelers as Little Ben will have two weeks to get ready for the Cleveland Browns who punked him and the Steelers the last time they played.

The Steelers have placed 25-year old QB Dennis Dixon on Injured Reserve due to a torn left lateral meniscus in his knee which required surgery to repair.  Dixon played in 2 games for the Steelers this year 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).  The Steelers will depend on Charlie Batch and Byron Leftwich behind Ben Roethlisberger the rest of the 2010 season.