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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 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.
The Steelers have placed 23-year old cornerback Curtis Brown on the Injured Reserve List due to a knee injury. Brown was a 3rd round pick out of Texans last April for the Steelers. He played in 12 games for the Steelers as a rookie and he had 14 tackles and 2 forced fumbles. The Steelers are going to miss Brown on special teams.
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 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 QB Ben Roethlisberger is going to give it a go with a broken right thumb. He won’t be able to take snaps from under the center, so he will be lining up in the shotgun against the Chiefs this weekend. Charlie Batch better be ready in case he’s needed. Roethlisberger has played in 10 games for the Steelers so far this year and he has completed 224 of 354 passes (63.3%) for 2,877 yards with 16 TD passes and 9 INTs (93.2 QB Rating). He has also carried the ball 26 times for 62 yards (2.4 ypc) so far this year. The Steelers better hope that Roethlisberger can play effectively with his injury, because they are not good enough to get to the playoffs without him.
The Steelers have lost 24-year old WR Emmanuel Sanders for the next 2-3 weeks with a torn meniscus. Sanders played in 8 games for the Steelers so far this year and he has caught 18 passes for 243 yards (13.5 avg) with 2 TD grabs. He has now played in 21 games for the Steelers in his first two years with the Steelers and he has caught 46 passes for 619 yards (13.5 avg) with 4 TD grabs. The Steelers will miss Sanders, as he has been pretty solid for them this year.
The Steelers have placed 27-year old punter Daniel Sepulveda on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season with a knee injury. Sepulveda played in 8 games for the Steelers this year and he punted the ball 25 times for 1,153 yards (46.1 avg). He placed 8 punts inside the opposing team’s 20-yard line (32%) and he had 5 touchbacks (20%). Sepulveda also completed a pass (his only attempt this year) and it was good for 33 yards. This is a big loss for the Steelers.
The Steelers are going to be without 34-year old NT Casey Hampton for the game against the Titans this Sunday due to a shoulder injury. Hampton has played in all four games for the Steelers this year and he has 8 tackles and 1 tackle for a loss. 35-year old Chris Hoke will replace Hampton at NT this weekend and it will be a huge dropoff for the Steelers. Hoke has also played in all four games this year for the Steelers but he has yet to make a tackle.
