The Steelers have signed 27-year old QB Troy Smith to a reserve/future contract.  Smith didn’t play at all in 2011.  He last played in 2010 with the San Francisco 49ers.  Smith has played in 20 games (8 starts) in his first four years in the NFL and he has completed 121 of 234 passes (51.7%) for 1,734 yards with 8 TD passes and 5 INTs (78.5 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 52 times for 230 yards (4.4 ypc) with 3 TD runs so far in his career.  Smith is 4-4 (50%) as a starting QB in the NFL.  This signing likely ends Dennis Dixon’s run on the Steelers’ roster.

The Steelers have signed 25-year old WR Derrick Williams and 25-year old CB Walter McFadden to future/reserve contracts.  Neither of these guys played in any games in 2011.  Williams last played in 2010 with the Detroit Lions.  Williams has played in 18 games in his first two years in the NFL and he has caught 9 passes for 82 yards (9.1 avg).  He has also returned 42 kickoffs for 931 yards (22.2 avg) so far in his NFL career.  Walter McFadden is Steelers’ CB Bryant McFadden’s brother.  He has played in 4 games in his NFL career and he has 5 tackles.  Neither of these guys have much of an upside but they will be given chances to win jobs in training camp next year.

The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t import much talent to the roster in the 2011 NFL Draft.  It can be argued that they didn’t need their rookies to play much last year, but that’s a weak way to look at things as none of the players they picked have a huge upside.  No future Pro Bowlers in this class.  Here is a look at how the Steelers’ rookies did in 2011:

22-year old DE Cameron Heyward was picked in the first round by the Steelers.  He played in all 16 games for the Steelers last year and he had 11 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble and 1 pass defensed.  The Steelers are old at DE, so Heyward might be starting in the near future.

23-year old OT Marcus Gilbert was picked in the 2nd round last April.  He played in 14 games (13 starts) for the Steelers last year.  Gilbert will probably be in the Steelers’ starting lineup for a long time as they need the help.

23-year old CB Curtis Brown was a 3rd round pick.  Brown played in 12 games for the Steelers last year and he had 14 tackles and 2 forced fumble.  His season ended on I.R. due to a knee injury.

23-year old CB Cortez Allen was a 4th round pick.  He played in 15 games for the Steelers last year as he finished up with 15 tackles.  Allen will have to improve if he wants to get more P.T. defensively.

22-year old OLB Chris Carter was picked in the 5th round.  He played in 8 games for the Steelers last year in which he had 3 tackles and 1 tackle for a loss.

23-year old OG Keith Williams was picked in the 6th round.  He was cut before the year started and he was picked up by the Buffalo Bills.  He didn’t get into any games for the Bills last year.

24-year old RB Baron Batch was a 7th round pick.  He missed his rookie season due to knee surgery.

GRADE FOR 2011:  D

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  D+

The Steelers were down 20-6 at the half in this game and things weren’t looking good.  The Steelers played well in the second half to tie the game and send it to O.T.  The Broncos won the coin toss and Tim Tebow threw an 80 yard bomb for a TD to Demaryius Thomas on the first play of O.T. to end this game.  Thomas absolutely burned Ike Taylor to a crisp on the pass in O.T.

Ben Roethlisberger battled hard yesterday as he completed 22 of 40 passes for 289 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT.  He also carried the ball 3 times for 15 yards (5.0 ypc) in this game.  Isaac Redman led the way on the ground for the Steelers in this game with 121 yards rushing on 17 carries (7.1 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 21 yards (10.5 avg).  WR Emmanuel Sanders (6 rec, 81 yards), WR Antonio Brown (5 rec, 70 yards and 1 carry for 18 yards) and TE Heath Miller (5 rec, 60 yards) led the way for the Steelers in the passing game yesterday.  Jerricho Cotchery (1 rec, 31 yards, TD) and Mike Wallace (3 rec, 26 yards and 1 carry for a 1-yard TD) also pitched in for the Steelers in this game.  The Steelers rushed for 156 yards on 23 carries (6.8 ypc) and they completed 22 of 40 passes (55%) for 244 yards as they had possession of the ball for 31:06.

The defense was pretty awful for the Steelers yesterday.  CB Ike Taylor had 7 tackles to lead the Steelers, but he was burned to a crisp in coverage repeatedly in this game.  LB Lawrence Timmons (6 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss), safety Ryan Mundy (5 tackles and 2 forced fumbles) and LB LaMarr Woodley (fumble recovery) also pitched in for the Steelers who amazingly had 0 sacks.  The Broncos finished up with 131 yards rushing on 34 carries (3.9 ypc) and they also completed 10 of 21 passes (47.6%) for 316 yards.  The Steelers’ season ends with a gigantic thud!

The Steelers have won 6 of their last seven games and 10 of their last 12 games, so they are coming into the playoffs hot.  The Broncos have lost three games in a row by a combined score of 88-40!  These two teams didn’t play in the regular season, so they don’t know each other too well.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Steelers have the ball:  The Steelers are likely going to try to get back to being a pass first team this weekend against the Broncos.  It won’t be easy though as OLB Von Miller (11.5 sacks), DE Elvis Dumervil (9.5 sacks) and the rest of the Broncos’ D is going to be coming after Ben Roethlisberger all day long.  The O-Line is going to have to hold up, because the Steelers won’t beat the Broncos with Charlie Batch at QB.  Roethlisberger’s injuries have sapped him of his mobility, which has caused him to be ineffective lately.  Big Ben is still going to try to get the ball down the field to WRs Antonio Brown and Mike Wallace as the Broncos gave up 231.5 yards passing per game this year.  TE Heath Miller might have a big role in this game if he O-Line can’t keep Dumervil and Miller away from Big Ben.  The Steelers will likely turn to the running game if they get a nice lead in this game with Isaac Redman getting a full workload.

When the Broncos have the ball:  One thing about Tim Tebow…..he played big in big games in college.  Still, it’s not going to be Tebow’s arm that beats the Steelers this weekend.  He will likely take off running the ball as many times as he drops back to pass.  Tebow and Willis McGahee are the motors behind a Broncos’ running game that averaged 164.5 yards rushing per game and 4.8 yards per carry this year.  The Steelers gave up only 99.8 yards rushing per game this year, but they gave up 4.0 yards per carry in this game.  The Broncos are notorious for cut blocking so the Steelers’ D-line and LBs will have to protect their knees in this game.  If the Broncos are effective running the ball, it will set up Tebow for some shots down the field to his favorite WR Demaryius Thomas.

PREDICTION:  STEELERS 16, BRONCOS 13

29-year old QB Ben Roethlisberger turned in another fine year despite being dogged with nagging injuries as the Steelers were 11-4 in his starts.  Roethlisberger played in 15 games (all starts) for the Steelers this year and he completed 324 of 513 passes (63.2%) for 4,077 yards with 21 TD passes and 14 INTs (90.1 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 31 times for 70 yards (2.3 ypc) this year.  He has now played in 114 games (113 starts) in his career with the Steelers and he has completed 2,090 of 3,313 passes (63.1%) for 26,579 yards with 165 TD passes and 100 INTs (92.1 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 292 times for 944 yards (3.2 ypc) with 14 TD runs in his NFL career so far.  Roethlisberger is now 80-33 (70.8%) as a starting QB during the regular season in his career with the Steelers.

37-year old QB Charlie Batch has proven to be a solid backup QB in his time with the Steelers.  They won his only start this year.  Batch played in 4 games (1 start) for the Steelers this year and he completed 15 of 24 passes (62.5%) for 208 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 INT (72.9 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 3 times for -2 yards (-0.7 ypc) this year.  Batch has now played in 79 games (53 starts) in his NFL career so far and he has completed 863 of 1,534 passes (56.3%) for 10,610 yards with 60 TD passes and 48 INTs (77.8 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 172 times for 637 yards (3.7 ypc) with 6 TD runs so far in his NFL career.  Batch is 24-29 (45.3%) as a starting QB during the regular season in his NFL career.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have placed 22-year old rookie linebacker Chris Carter on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season due to a hamsting injury.  Carter played in 8 games for the Steelers this year and he had 3 tackles and 1 tackle for a loss.  The Steelers won’t miss Carter going forward.

The Steelers won’t have 32-year old safety Ryan Clark against the Broncos this weekend.  He has a sickle cell trait and he got violently sick the last time he played in Denver due to the altitude.  Clark played in all 16 games for the Steelers this year and he had 100 tackles, 1 sack, 1 interception, 5 passes defensed and 4 tackles for a loss.  26-year old Ryan Mundy will replace Clark and he needs to step up.  Mundy played in all 16 games for the Steelers this year and he had 37 tackles, 1 interception and 1 pass defensed.  This shouldn’t hurt the Steelers as much as it would have if they were playing any other team in the playoffs except the Denver Broncos, who don’t throw the ball very well.

The Steelers have signed 30-year old CB Anthony Madison.  Madison played in 5 games for the Lions this year and he had 3 tackles.  Madison has now played in 71 games so far in his NFL career and he has 81 tackles, 1 sack, 1 interception and 1 pass defensed.  Madison will give the Steelers depth while helping them out on special teams.  This was a good move for the Steelers.

The Steelers have placed 24-year old RB Rashard Mendenhall on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season due to a torn ACL.  Mendenhall played in 15 games for the Steelers this year and he carried the ball 228 times for 928 yards (4.1 ypc) with 9 TD runs.  He also caught 18 passes for 154 yards (8.6 avg) in 2011.  The Steelers will need 27-year old RB Isaac Redman to carry the load in the playoffs as far as running the football is concerned.  Redman played in all 16 games for the Steelers in 2011 and he carried the ball 110 times for 479 yards (4.4 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  He also caught 18 passes for 78 yards (4.3 avg) this year for the Steelers.  The Steelers need Redman to protect the football better going forward as he lost two fumbles against the Browns last weekend.