The Steelers might be 3-1 this season but they have not played well overall as the offensive line stinks.  The Jaguars have beaten the Steelers four straight times including knocking the Steelers out of last year’s playoffs on there own field.  The Steelers will try to come out throwing the football in this game as the Jags will be without Reggie Nelson and Drayton Florence.  Still, for any of the passing to work for the Steelers the line has to protect Ben Roethlisberger better as he has been sacked 15 times already this season.  The Steelers love to run the football but I doubt that they have any success on the ground against a very physical Jaguars’ D.

The Jaguars also have issues along the O-Line as David Garrard has been sacked 10 times this season.  Look for the Jags to put the ball in Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew’s hands despite the Steelers allowing only 74.0 yards rushing and 2.9 yards per carry.  Matt Jones is having a breakout season so he will be the likely target when Garrard drops back to throw the ball. 

PREDICTION:  JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS 27, PITTSBURGH STEELERS 17

For those of you that love defense this will be the game for you.  The Ravens come into this game with the best defense in the NFL (161.5 yards per game) and the Steelers are #2 (234.0 yards per contest).  With that in mind this game will likely come down to which team makes the least mistakes.  The Ravens will try to run the football in this game against a Steelers’ defense that is only allowing 64.3 yards rushing per game and 2.8 yards per carry.  The Ravens’ offensive line has been outstanding this season paving the way for 190.0 yards rushing per game and rookie QB Joe Flacco has only been sacked one time this season.  The O-Line of the Ravens will be put to the test against a Steelers’ defense that has 10 sacks this season.

The Steelers enter this game without RB Willie Parker (263 yards rushing) and with a banged up Ben Roethlisberger.  Rookie RB Rashard Mendenhall will have to play well tomorrow night or the Steelers will be in trouble because Steelers’ QBs have already been sacked 13 times this season already.  You can bet the Ravens who have 7 sacks this season will be bringing the house in obvious passing situations.

PREDICTION:  PITTSBURGH STEELERS 9, BALTIMORE RAVENS 7

This is a tough matchup for the Steelers as the team strengths that they have on offense are equalled by the Eagles’ defense.  The Steelers want to run the football to help protect Ben Roethlisberger’s injured throwing shoulder but that won’t be easy.  The Eagles are only allowing 52.0 yards rushing per game and 2.7 yards per carry so Willie Parker (243 yards rushing, 4.6 ypc) will have to earn every yard.  The Eagles are loaded at CB with Lito Sheppard, Asante Samuel and Sheldon Brown and those guys match up very well with Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes.  With that in mind look for Heath Miller to get a lot of looks over the middle for the Steelers in this game.

The Steelers back seven will have to be ready to do battle with the quick hitting offense of the Eagles.  The Eagles have scored 75 points in two games this season and they are averaging 429.5 yards of offense per game.  To stop the Eagles the Steelers’ defense will have to contain Donovan McNabb in the pocket.  They will attempt to do that with blitzing but that could hang them out to dry against Brian Westbrook on screens and in the flats.  Westbrook is the real engine of the Eagles’ offense as he has 149 yards rushing and 46 yards receiving this year.  Westbrook has also scored 5 of the Eagles’ TDs this season and he will put big time pressure on the Steelers’ linebackers.  The Eagles will also try to loosen up the Steelers’ defense with short tosses to L.J. Smith over the middle of the field.  Make no mistake though, the Eagles will be throwing the ball deep to rookie WR DeSean Jackson, Hank Baskett, Greg Lewis and Reggie Brown.

PREDICTION:  PHILADELPHIA EAGLES 24, PITTSBURGH STEELERS 17

The Steelers have owned the Browns lately winning 9 in a row against them and outscoring them 65-35 in the two games last season.  The Steelers will run the ball with Willie Parker (138 yards rushing, 3 TDs) against a Browns’ defense that allowed 167 yards rushing (5.4 ypc) last week against the Cowboys.  It will be up to NT Shaun Rogers and the linebackers to deal with Parker in the running game.  Look for the Steelers to run a lot of play action off of the running game if it’s established with Roethlisberger looking deep to Santonio Holmes.  The Steelers will also put a lot of pressure on the safeties of the Browns using Hines Ward and Heath Miller on the short stuff.

The Cleveland Browns have to get back to what worked last season and that was running the football and throwing it downfield.  Jamal Lewis ran well last week but the Browns fell behind too quickly to get him involved in the offense.  They likely won’t let that happen again tomorrow.  The Browns will likely use quick drops against the Steelers who had 5 sacks last week against the Texans.  With that in mind TE Kellen Winslow should be the Browns’ top target in the passing game.  Braylon Edwards had the worst game of his NFL career last week as he dropped twice as many passes as he caught.  He will be looking to redeem himself tomorrow night.

PREDICTION:  PITTSBURGH STEELERS 30, CLEVELAND BROWNS 20

The Houston Texans might come off of the bus passing against the Steelers.  The key to doing that will be to keep QB Matt Schaub upright as the Steelers love to blitz.  The Texans must keep OLBs LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison out of the backfield.  If that happens the Texans should be able to exploit an overrated crew of DBs that the Steelers have.  Andre Johnson and Andre Davis are fast enough to turn any catch into a TD so CBs Ike Taylor and Deshea Townsend better be on top of their games.  WR Kevin Walter and TE Owen Daniels will be challenging safeties Ryan Clark and Troy Polamalu on game long on short passes.  NT Casey Hampton and inside linebackers Larry Foote and James Farrior will likely be able to stop the Texans from running up the middle with Ahman Green, Steve Slaton and Chris Taylor.

The Steelers would prefer to run the ball to set up the pass but that might not work against the Texans who have some good run stoppers in MLB DeMeco Ryans and DT Amobi Okoye.  Still, Willie Parker and Rashard Mendenhall will get their carries and it will be interesting to see what they can do with them.  The offensive line is going to be a weakness for the Steelers this season and that could be a huge problem against DE Mario Williams who really stepped up last season.  The Steelers should be able to get the ball downfield if Roethlisberger gets time to throw the ball and that’s a huge if.  The Texans have a weak secondary so Santonio Holmes, Hines Ward and Heath Miller could all have big days this Sunday.

PREDICTION:  PITTSBURGH STEELERS 27, HOUSTON TEXANS 24