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.

If Ben Roethlisberger can’t go on Monday Night against the 49ers, the Steelers will turn to 37-year old Charlie Batch at QB.  Batch has played in 3 games (0 starts) for the Steelers so far this year and he has thrown 2 incomplete passes and he has carried the ball 3 times for -2 yards (-0.7 ypc).  But, Batch has now played in 30 games (6 starts) in his seven years for the Steelers and he has completed 105 of 186 passes (56.5%) for 1,386 yards with 11 TD passes and 7 INTs (84.2 QB Rating).  Batch has also carried the ball 47 times for 77 yards (1.6 ypc) with 1 TD run with the Steelers.  The Steelers have confidence in Charlie Batch as he is 4-2 as their starting QB.

35-year old WR Hines Ward has been demoted to the #4 receiver on the Steelers and he will likely be #5 when Emmanuel Sanders returns from injury.  Ward has played in 9 games for the Steelers this year and he has caught 27 passes for 268 yards (9.9 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Ward has now played in 211 games in his first 14 years for the Steelers and he has caught 981 passes for 11,970 yards (12.2 avg) with 85 TD grabs.  Ward will probably get into the Hall of Fame and that might likely be six years from now (you have to be retired for five years) as he is running out of steam pretty quickly.

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.

The Steelers will be without 35-year old starting DE Aaron Smith for a while due to a mid-foot sprain.  Smith has played in all 4 games for the Steelers so far this year and he has 8 tackles.  The Steelers will need 24-year old DE Ziggy Hood to step up while Smith is out of action.  Hood has played in all 4 games for the Steelers so far this year and he has a whopping 3 tackles.  Hood has now played in 36 games in his first three years with the Steelers and he has 31 tackles, 4 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 3 passes defensed and 1 tackle for a loss.  It’s time for Hood to either step up or the Steelers will have to realize that he’s more of a career backup type.

UPDATE:  (10/22/2011) – The Steelers have placed Aaron Smith on Injured Reserve due to a foot injury.

26-year old RB Isaac Redman might be the last man standing at RB for the Steelers this weekend.  Starting RB Rashard Mendenhall has a hamstring injury that will likely cause him to miss this weekend’s game against the Titans.  Mewelde Moore will also miss this game (and likely a few more) with a high ankle sprain.  Mendenhall has played in all 4 games for the Steelers so far this year and he has carried the ball 58 times for 173 yards (3.0 ypc) with 2 TD runs and he has also caught 5 passes for 21 yards (4.2 avg) as he is not playing too well in 2011.  Mewelde Moore has also played in all 4 games for the Steelers so far this year and he has carried the ball 6 times for 43 yards (7.2 ypc) and he has also caught 4 passes for 61 yards (15.3 avg).  These injuries likely mean that 26-year old RB Isaac Redman could get a full workload in the running game against the Titans this Sunday.  He has played in all 4 games for the Steelers so far this year and he has carried the ball 22 times for 107 yards (4.9 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Redman also has caught 2 passes for 18 yards (9.0 avg) so far this season.  The Steelers better hope that Redman can handle a big workload as they need to balance the offense more going forward.

The Steelers will be without 33-year old OLB James Harrison for multiple weeks due to a fractured right eye socket.  Harrison has played in all 4 games for the Steelers so far this year and he has 23 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 3 tackles for a loss.  25-year old Lawrence Timmons will move to outside linebacker to replace Harrison.  Timmons has played in all 4 games for the Steelers so far this year and he has 25 tackles, 2 passes defensed and 2 tackles for a loss.  Veteran 31-year old Larry Foote will replace Timmons at inside linebacker until Harrison is ready to return to action.  Foote has played in all 4 games for the Steelers so far this year and he has 12 tackles and 1 sack.  Losing Harrison will cause the defense to be much less intimidation as opposing offenses won’t have to worry about taking near  as many cheap shots as usual against the Steelers.

24-year old RB Rashard Mendenhall has been running the ball like a pansy ass so far this year.  He has played in all three games for the Steelers so far this year and he has carried the ball 49 times for 148 yards (3.0 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He has also caught 5 passes for 21 yards (4.2 avg) so far this year.  While it’s true that the O-Line has had their issues, it hasn’t really slowed down 26-year old RB Isaac Redman so far this year.  Redman has also played in all 3 games for the Steelers so far this year and he has carried it 16 times for 67 yards (4.2 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He has also caught 1 pass for 6 yards this year.  I have a feeling that Redman’s carries are going to start to go up if Rashard Mendenhall doesn’t decide to start running hard with the ball soon.

29-year old QB Ben Roethlisberger played a lot better against the Seahawks than he did against the Ravens in the season opener.  That being said, the Steelers can’t consistently win without Big Ben playing well as the defense is getting older.  He has played in both of the Steelers games so far this year and he has completed 44 of 71 passes (62%) for 578 yards with 2 TD passes and 3 INTs (79.4 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 6 times for 17 yards (2.8 ypc) so far this year.  The Steelers better hope that getting married isn’t making Roethlisberger soft as he can’t get away with some of the stuff that used to give him an edge anymore….if you know what I mean.