The Steelers got beat up physically by the Browns last night, but they still won on the scoreboard.  Ben Roethlisberger was knocked out of this game in the 2nd quarter but he came back in the second half.  He completed 16 of 21 passes for 280 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 interception.  Charlie Batch replaced him in the 2nd quarter and he was 0 for 2 passing the ball.   Rashard Mendenhall led the way for the Steelers on the ground with 76 yards rushing on 18 carries (4.2 ypc).  Isaac Redman (6 carries for 35 yards) and Mewelde Moore (3 carries for 15 yards) also pitched in for the Steelers last night.  Antonio Brown led the way for the Steelers in the passing game with 5 grabs for 151 yards, including the back breaking 79-yard TD reception with 2:52 left in the game to seal it.  WR Mike Wallace (4 rec, 57 yards) and WR Jerricho Cotchery (2 rec, 33 yards, TD) also pitched in for the Steelers in this game.  The Steelers finished up with 147 yards rushing on 28 carries (5.3 ypc) and they also completed 16 of 23 passes (69.6%) for 269 yards as they only had possession of the ball for 27:42.

The defense played pretty well for the Steelers last night.  Safety Ryan Clark (10 tackles) and OLB Jason Worilds (9 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 2 sacks and 2 QB hits) led the way for the Steelers in this game.  LB Lawrence Timmons (8 tackles and 1 QB hit), safety Troy Polamalu (8 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 2 passes defensed and 1 interception) and CB William Gay (7 tackles, 3 passes defensed and 1 interception) also pitched in for the Steelers last night.  The Browns finished up with 98 yards rushing on 30 carries (3.3 ypc) and they also completed 19 of 36 passes (52.8%) for 206 yards.  The Steelers are now 10-3 on the season.

The Steelers have placed 22-year old RB Jonathan Dwyer on the Injured Reserve List due to a foot injury, ending his 2011 season.  Dwyer played in 7 games (0 starts) for the Steelers this year and he carried the ball 16 times for 123 yards (7.7 ypc).  He also caught 1 pass for 6 yards.  He has now played in 8 games (0 starts) in his first two years with the Steelers and he has carried the ball 25 times for 151 yards (6.0 ypc).  Dwyer also has 1 catch for 6 yards in his career so far.  Dwyer was the Steelers’ #4 RB, so they shouldn’t miss him too much the rest of this season.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have won three games in a row and 7 of their last 8 games as they are red hot right now.  The Browns have lost two games in a row and 5 of their last six.  The Steelers have won 14 of 15 and 20 out of 22 games against the Browns, as it hasn’t been much of a rivalry as of late.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Steelers have the ball:  The Steelers have turned into a run first team with Ben Roethlisberger playing with a broken right thumb.  They will likely still with that gameplan tomorrow night against the Cleveland Browns.  The Browns are giving up 151.3 yards rushing per game and 4.4 yards per carry so far this year, so Rashard Mendenhall should have one of his best games of the year tomorrow night.  The Browns have a good secondary, but they can’t cover for a long time….no secondary can.  So if Roethlisberger has time to throw the ball, he’s going to have success throwing the ball down the field to WRs Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown.  Look for TE Heath Miller and WR Hines Ward to handle the short stuff tomorrow night.

When the Browns have the ball:  The Browns seem to play offense in a 10-yard box as they never seem to throw the ball down the field.  This will allow the corners and safeties to play closer to the line of scrimmage to help with stopping RB Peyton Hillis.   The Steelers will continue to blitz heavy in this game as Colt McCoy has been banged up the last couple of weeks.  Even if the Browns allow McCoy to throw the ball down the field, his WRs don’t catch the ball very often.

PREDICTION:  STEELERS 30, BROWNS 13

The Steelers have lost 35-year old backup NT Chris Hoke for the rest of the season due to neck surgery.  Hoke played in 6 games for the Steelers this year and he had 3 tackles and 2 tackles for a loss.  Hoke has now played in 114 games in his first 8 years with the Steelers and he has 83 tackles, 2 sacks, 8 tackles for a loss and 1 fumble recovery.  This might be the end of  Hoke’s NFL career as an injured neck is not worth him taking any risks at his age.

UPDATE:  (1/25/2012) – The Steelers have announced the retirement of Chris Hoke.

29-year old TE Heath Miller would be so much better on a team that used the TE in the passing game more.  He has a great set of hands and he gets open.  Steelers’ QBs have completed 41 of 57 passes (71.9%) thrown in Heath Miller’s direction so far this year.  He has caught 41 passes for 497 yards (12.1 avg) with 2 TD grabs so far this year for the Steelers.  Miller has now played in 104 games in his first 7 years with the Steelers and he has caught 327 passes for 3,730 yards (11.4 avg) with 31 TD grabs so far in his career.

The Steelers had a huge 28 point second quarter today and it pretty much ended the competitive part of this game.  Antonio Brown returned a punt 60 yards for a TD in the second quarter and Emmanuel Sanders recovered a Brandon Tate fumble that led to another TD in that quarter.  Ben Roethlisberger was efficient in this game as he completed 15 of 23 passes for 176 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Rashard Mendenhall led the way on the ground for the Steelers in this game with 60 yards rushing on 16 carries (3.8 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  Isaac Redman pitched in with 8 carries for 51 yards (6.4 ypc) in this game.  WR Antonio Brown led the way in the passing game for the Steelers today with 2 grabs for 67 yards (33.5 ypc) and he also carried the ball 1 time for 9 yards.  WRs Mike Wallace (3 rec, 38 yards, 2 TD grabs) and Hines Ward (5 rec, 30 yards) also pitched in for the Steelers in the passing game today.  The Steelers finished up with 136 yards rushing on 33 carries (4.1 ypc) and they also completed 15 of 23 passes (65.2%) for 159 yards as they had possession of the ball for 32:44.

The defense was outstanding for the Steelers today.  LB Lawrence Timmons (8 tackles) and safety Ryan Clark (8 tackles) led the way for the Steelers on D in this game.  CB Ike Taylor (7 tackles, 3 passes defensed and 1 interception) and OLB James Harrison (6 tackles, 3 sacks, 3 tackles for a loss and 3 QB hits) also had very solid games for the Steelers today.  The Bengals finished up with 104 yards rushing on 22 carries (4.7 ypc) and they also completed 14 of 30 passes (46.7%) for 128 yards.  The Steelers are now 9-3 on the year.

The Steelers have won two games in a row and six of their last 7 games, but they weren’t very impressive against the Chiefs last week.  The Bengals got back on the winning track last weekend in beating the Browns in Cincy.  The Steelers beat the Bengals 24-17 just three weeks ago in Cincy.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Steelers have the ball:  The Steelers would probably like to run the ball more this weekend against the Bengals, but that won’t be easy.  The Bengals are only giving up 92.7 yards rushing per game and 3.5 yards per carry so far this year, so Rashard Mendenhall is going to have to fight for every yard he gets.  The Bengals will likely be blitzing a lot against the horrible pass blocking O-Line of the Steelers.  Ben Roethlisberger is likely to get hit a lot this weekend, and the Bengals are going to be coming after his bum thumb.  The passing game is likely going to be of the shorter variety this weekend, so TE Heath Miller will likely be used just as much as the WRs are.

When the Bengals have the ball:  The Bengals are probably going to come out of the locker room feeding the ball to Cedric Benson.  Benson is a power runner, so the front seven will likely try to stop him without much help from the secondary.  The Steelers are going to have to get a good pass rush on Andy Dalton, because he’s a gunslinger who likes to throw the ball down the field.  A.J. Green is going to give the Steelers’ CBs fits and they are going to need safety help over the top to deal with him.  TE Jermaine Gresham and WRs Jerome Simpson and Andre Caldwell are also solid pass catchers for the Bengals.

PREDICTION:  BENGALS 23, STEELERS 20

23-year old WR Antonio Browns has been a very busy man for the Steelers this year.  He has played in 11 games for the Steelers so far this year and he has caught 48 passes for 707 yards (14.7 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Brown also has carried the ball 5 times for 24 yards (4.8 ypc) so far this year.  Brown doesn’t stop there either.  He has returned 19 kickoffs for 528 yards (27.8 avg) and 24 punts for 265 yards (11.0 avg) so far this year.  Brown has touched the ball 96 times overall for the Steelers and he has 1,524 yards (15.9 yards per touch).  He is also averaging 138.5 all-purpose yards this year for the Steelers!