The Steelers had a walk in the park against the Panthers tonight.  Ben Roethlisberger was right on the mark most of the night as he completed 22 of 32 passes for 320 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 6 times for 2 yards (0.3 ypc) but he scored a TD.  Rashard Mendenhall had a rough night as he carried the ball 18 times for 65 yards (3.6 ypc) with a TD run and a lost fumble.  Isaac Redman pitched in with 43 yards on 5 carries (8.6 ypc) against the Panthers.  WR Mike Wallace (4 rec, 104 yards, TD), TE Heath Miller (5 rec, 73 yards) and WR Emmanuel Sanders (4 rec, 54 yards) led the way for the Steelers in the passing game.  The Steelers finished up with 115 yards rushing on 33 carries (3.5 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 32 passes for 293 yards as they had possession of the ball for 35:24!

The defense was outstanding for the Steelers in this game.  Safety Ryan Mundy (8 tackles and 1 pass defensed) and LB James Farrior (7 tackles, 1 sack, 2 tackles for a loss and 1 QB hit) led the way for the Steelers’ D last night.  Safety Will Allen (fumble recovery) and CB Bryant McFadden (interception) also made some big plays in this game.  The Panthers finished up with 74 yards rushing on 22 carries (3.4 ypc) and they also completed 10 of 23 passes for 45 yards.  The Steelers are now 11-4 on the season.

34-year old WR Hines Ward is starting to really slow down for the Pittsburgh Steelers.  He has played in 14 games for the Steelers so far this year and he has caught 51 passes for 672 yards (13.2  avg) with 4 TD grabs.  The Steelers have really looked good when Ward does as they are 4-0 in the games in which he has 100+ yards receiving.  In those 4 games, Ward has caught 28 passes for 461 yards (16.5 avg) with 1 TD grab.  But, in his other 10 games this year, Ward has only caught 23 passes for 211 yards (9.2 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  The Steelers are 6-4 on the year when Ward gets under 100 yards receiving in a game.  They need him to step up.

The Steelers can’t afford to overlook the Carolina Panthers tonight because they have too much resting on this game.  They are tied atop the AFC North with the Baltimore Ravens.  The Steelers are only 4-3 at home this season so hopefully they don’t come out flat tonight.  The Panthers are 0-6 on the road this season but they won last week so they are probably feeling pretty good about themselves right now.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Steelers have the ball:  I have a feeling that the Steelers are going to come out running the ball tonight with Rashard Mendenhall against a Panthers’ D that is allowing 126.2 yards rushing per game and 4.0 yards per carry.  If the Steelers can’t get the Panthers to creep up a little bit to stop Mendenhall, that’s when they are going to go up top to Mike Wallace on some deep passes.  Roethlisberger will have to be careful tonight because the Panthers do have a decent secondary that specializes in picking off passes.

When the Panthers have the ball:  The Steelers are going to have to go all out to stop Jonathan Stewart who has rushed for 460 yards in the Panthers last four games.  The Steelers are only giving up 63.4 yards rushing per game and 3.0 yards per carry so they should be up for the challenge.  I expect the Steelers to heavily blitz rookie QB Jimmy Clausen in an effort to force him into making some mistakes.

PREDICTION:  STEELERS 23, PANTHERS 10

This game started out badly for the Steelers when Brad Smith of the Jets returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a TD!  The Steelers just couldn’t make a big play when they needed one in this game and they wasted a solid effort by the D.  Ben Roethlisberger completed 23 of 44 passes for 264 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 25 yards (12.5 ypc) in this game.  Roethlisberger just couldn’t make a big throw when it came down to it at the end of the game.  Rashard Mendenhall led the way on the ground for the Steelers in this game with 100 yards rushing on 17 carries (5.9 ypc) with a TD run.  Emmanuel Sanders (7 rec, 78 yards), Matt Spaeth (3 rec, 27 yards, TD) and Mike Wallace (7 rec, 102 yards) led the way for the Steelers in the passing game.  The Steelers finished up with 147 yards rushing on 25 carries (5.9 ypc) and they also completed 23 of 44 passes for 231 yards.

LB Lawrence Timmons (13 tackles), LB James Harrison (10 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 QB hit), CB Bryant McFadden (7 tackles) and LB James Farrior (7 tackles, 1 sack and 1 QB hit) led the way for the Steelers on D in this game.  The Jets finished up with 106 yards rushing on 27 carries (3.9 ypc) and they also completed 19 of 29 passes for 170 yards.  The Steelers are now 10-4 on the season and they are tied atop of the AFC North with the Ravens.

23-year old Emmanuel Sanders and 22-year old Antonio Brown have both made impacts for the Steelers so far this year.  Sanders has played in 10 games for the Steelers so far this year and he has caught 16 passes for 228 yards (14.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  He is a speed burner who has also been excellent on special teams this year.  He has returned 4 punts for 60 yards (15.0 avg) and 25 kickoffs for 628 yards (25.1 avg) so far this year and he also has 8 tackles and 2 forced fumbles.  He was a 3rd round pick (#82 overall) out of SMU.  Antonio Brown has played in 6 games for the Steelers so far this year and he has caught 8 passes for 80 yards (10.0 avg).  He has also returned 12 punts for 99 yards (8.3 avg) and 9 kickoffs for 259 yards (28.8 avg) with a TD return.  Brown was a 6th round pick out of Central Michigan (#195 overall) last April.  The Steelers like the upside that both of these guys have.

The Steelers will be without 29-year old strong safety Troy Polamalu tomorrow due to a Achilles problem.  They are considering possibly shutting him down until the playoffs start in an effort to get him healthy.  Polamalu has played in 13 games for the Steelers so far this season and he has 62 tackles, 1 sack, 5 tackles for a loss, 10 passes defensed, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery and 6 interceptions (0ne of which he returned for a TD).  This is a huge blow to the Steelers’ D the rest of the regular season because Polamalu is a impact player every single week that he suits up.  Either 25-year old Ryan Mundy or 28-year old Will Allen will replace Polamalu and neither of them inspire much confidence.  Mundy has played in 13 games so far this year and he has 15 tackles an 1 pass defensed.  Allen has played in 11 games for the Steelers this year and he has 9 tackles.

The Steelers have won four games in a row in which they have only allowed 36 combined points.  They are 1 game behind the Patriots for the best record in the AFC, and they are also 1 game ahead of the Ravens in the AFC North.  The Jets have lost two games in a row in which they have been outscored by a combined score of 55-9!  The Jets are 2 games behind the Patriots in the AFC East and they are currently one of the Wild Card teams in the AFC.  This game is going to be a slobberknocker as both teams need this game.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Steelers have the ball:  The Steelers are going to come out trying to run the ball with Rashard Mendenhall against a Jets’ D that is allowing only 88.5 yards rushing per game and 3.4 yards per carry.  The Jets are without a doubt going to come out blitzing against the Steelers who have had problems protecting Ben Roethlisberger lately due to injuries along the O-Line.  Roethlisberger will have to be careful in this game when looking to throw to WRs Hines Ward & Mike Wallace because the Jets have a nice set of corners in Darrelle Revis & Antonio Cromartie.

When the Jets have the ball:  The Jets are going to come out running the ball with L.T., Shonn Greene & Brad Smith.  The Steelers would be happy with that as they are only giving up 60.1 yards rushing per game and 2.9 yards per carry so far this year.  With Troy Polamalu (Achilles) out of action I look the the Jets to take quite a few shots down the field if Sanchez has time to throw the ball.  You just know that Santonio Holmes wants to stick it to his old team.

PREDICTION:  STEELERS 20, JETS 17

The Pittsburgh Steelers won this game with  defense yesterday as the offense only scored 9 points.  OLB LaMarr Woodley had a HUGE game for the Steelers yesterday with 5 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks, 1 pass defensed, 2 QB hits and a interception that he returned 14 yards for a TD!  Safety Troy Polamalu also had a great game with 2  tackles, 2 passes defensed and 2 interceptions (one that he returned 45 yards for a TD).  LB James Farrior (10 tackles) and safety Ryan Clark (8 tackles, 1 pass defensed) were also busy yesterday.  The Bengals finished up with only 34 yards rushing on 14 carries (2.4 ypc) and they also completed 20 of 32 passes for 156 yards.

Ben Roethlisberger didn’t have his best game as he completed 21 of 33 passes for 258 yards with 0 TD passes and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 3 times for 23 yards (7.7 ypc) yesterday.  Rashard Mendenhall (18 carries, 66 yards) and Mewelde Moore (4 carries, 18 yards) had to fight for every yard they got in this game.  Hines Ward finally woke up from his slumber to lead the way in the passing game for the Steelers with 8 grabs for 115 yards (14.4 avg).  Mike Wallace also helped out on offense yesterday with 5 grabs for 78 yards (15.6 avg) and 1 carry for 12 yards.  The Steelers finished up with 123 yards rushing on 27 carries (4.6 ypc) and they also completed 21 of 33 passes for 231 yards.  The Steelers are now 10-3 on the season.

Starting TE Heath Miller suffered a severe concussion last Sunday Night against the Ravens which will cause him to miss at the very least this weekend’s game with the Bengals.  Miller has played in 12 games for the Steelers so far this year and he has caught 33 passes for 384 yards (11.6 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Miller will be replaced in the starting lineup by Matt Spaeth.  Spaeth has played in 3 games for the Steelers so far this year and he has caught 5 passes for 49 yards (9.8 avg).  The Steelers are going to miss Miller.

UPDATE:  (12/18/2010) – Heath Miller is also going to miss this weekend’s game against the Jets.  They hope he will be ready to return to play the Panthers next weekend.

The Steelers have won three games in a row by a combined score of 67-29 to take the lead in the AFC North over the Ravens.  But, they can’t afford to overlook the Bengals who only lost 27-21 to the Steelers the first time these two teams played.  Sure, the Bengals have lost 9 games in a row but I look for them to bring everything they got this Sunday at Heinz Field.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Steelers  have the football:  To protect Ben Roethlisberger’s health a bit, I think the Steelers should run the ball a lot in this game.  Rashard Mendenhall and Isaac Redman should be able to handle a heavy workload against a Bengals’ D that is allowing 124.9 yards rushing per game and 4.6 yards per carry.  With a broken nose and a fractured foot, the Steelers aren’t likely to have Roethlisberger throwing a lot this week because the O-Line has been decimated due to injuries,  putting his health at risk every time he drops back to pass.  The Bengals only have 14 sacks this year, but if you remember, the Patriots didn’t have much of a pass rush either and they were all over the QB. 

When the Bengals have the ball:  I see the Bengals airing it out this Sunday.  With that in mind the Steelers are going to have to get after Carson Palmer or he’s going to make plays against a Steelers’ D that is allowing 239.3 yards passing per game.  If the Bengals can get a passing game going then look for them to give the ball to Cedric Benson who has had some success against the Steelers in the past.

PREDICTION:  STEELERS 24, BENGALS 17