The Cleveland Browns won last week for the first time of the season beating the Bills 6-3 in Buffalo.  But if they want to make it a 2-game winning streak they will have to beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh.  That won’t be easy against a team that has beat them 11 times in a row.  The Steelers have beaten the Browns 18 of 21 times since the team returned to the NFL in 1999.  The Steelers’ weakness this season has been their pass defense which is allowing 219.6 yards passing per game and opposing QBs have a 90.9 QB Rating against them.  But, the Browns’ passing game has been awful this season.  Derek Anderson only completed 2 of 17 passes for 23 yards with 1 interception last week.  The Steelers have 15 sacks this season while the Browns have allowed 14.  So even if the Browns wanted to throw the ball, Derek Anderson will likely have to make quick decisions which is not his strength.  With that in mind the Browns will likely try to run the ball against the Steelers with Jamal Lewis and Jerome Harrison.  That will be hard to do against a Steelers’ D that is allowing only 71.2 yards rushing and 3.8 yards per carry.  The biggest hope for the Browns in this game is that Joshua Cribbs will be able to give the offense some short fields to work with.

The Steelers might have to lean on QB Ben Roethlisberger in this game as Rashard Mendenhall has the flu right now and Willie Parker is coming off a turf toe injury.  No matter which running back is healthy enough to play the Steelers will still likely try to run the ball some against a Browns’ D that is allowing 170.4 yards rushing per game and 5.1 yards per carry this year.  The Browns will likely bring a lot of blitzes against Roethlisberger who does make some bone headed throws when the pass rush is in his face.  OLB Kamerion Wimbley has 4 sacks this season and the Browns will likely turn him loose against the Steelers on Sunday.  If the Browns don’t get pressure on Big Ben then the secondary will likely have a long day dealing with TE Heath Miller and WRs Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes and rookie Mike Wallace.

PREDICTION:  STEELERS 31, BROWNS 3

The matchups are great in this game for the Steelers who will likely try to keep more balanced on offense now that Rashard Mendenhall had stepped in the starting role at running back.  He’s a load to bring down and the Lions have not defensed the run too well this season as they are allowing 121.3 yards rushing per game and 5.2 yards per carry.  Rookie WR Mike Wallace had stepped up into the #3 WR role making the Steelers even more potent in the passing game with WRs Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes and TE Heath Miller all running routes.  Opposing QBs have a 118.8 Rating against the Lions who are allowing 240.3 yards passing per game.  The only hope the Lions have of slowing the Steelers down in this game is by blitzing early and often trying to bait Ben Roethlisberger into making some mistakes (he has 4 interceptions this season).

The consensus thought in this game is that the Lions will come out running the ball in a attempt to control the clock.  But, with Kevin Smith (234 rushing yards) only averaging 3.2 yards per carry the Lions might be better off throwing the ball downfield trying to make this game a shootout.  The problem with that is that Daunte Culpepper will likely be starting this game and he has had happy feet since injuring his knee while with the Vikings.  The Steelers will no doubt be double covering Calvin Johnson so it might be up to Bryant Johnson and Brandon Pettigrew to step up.  The Steelers are allowing 218.3 yards passing per game this season so it’s not a impossible task to throw the ball on them.

PREDICTION:  STEELERS 38, LIONS 10

The Pittsburgh Steelers (1-2) have now lost two straight games and will not have an easy opponent when they host the San Diego Chargers (2-1) this week.  The two straight losses for the Steelers both came on the road, so hopefully for Steelers fans Heinz Field will put a spark into the defending champs.  The Chargers have a strong passing attack behind Phillip Rivers, but their running game has struggled so far this year with LaDainian Tomlinson battling injuries and Darron Sproles only averaging 2.4 yards per carry.  The Steelers’ running game is nothing to brag about either though, as they are only averaging 81 rushing yards per game.

This could be the game the Steelers running game breaks out though, as the Chargers are giving up 142 rushing yards per game.  Even though Willie Parker is most likely out with turf toe, Rashard Mendenhall could finally have a good game for the Steelers this year.  He has not gotten much of chance so far, as he has only seven carries this season for 45 yards (6.4 avg).  The Chargers have a good secondary though, so the Steelers need to make sure Mendenhall can get going on the ground.  Someone besides Ben Roethlisberger should get a red zone rushing touchdown, as Big Ben now has two in the past two games.

Big Ben has a very good completion percentage so far this season (72%) but he has only thrown three touchdowns in three games.  He has more interceptions (four) than touchdowns and has made some poor decisions at times.  Roethlisberger needs a good running game or he struggles.  Without a strong running attack leading the way, Roethlisberger is a mediocre quarterback and that has shown so far this season.  A strong running game and good defense is how the Steelers were successful last year and they need to try and bring that back.

With the Chargers weak run-defense I think the Steelers will be able to get back to their successful style of play.  LaDainian Tomlinson is back from injury and says he is 100%, but I don’t think he is full strength.  The Steelers should not have too much of a problem containing LT and Sproles, but Philip Rivers’ arm can make some big plays.  The Steelers need to contain the Chargers passing game.  This will be a good, hard fought football game and I think the Steelers will be able to win it late.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Steelers 28, Chargers 24

The Steelers have owned the Bengals as of late.  They have won 8 in a row in Cincinnati and Ben Roethlisberger is 11-0 in his native state of Ohio since joining the Steelers.  But this isn’t a normal Steelers team as they just can’t run the football.  The Bengals only allow 82.0 yards rushing per game this season but 4.3 yards per carry so maybe this is a chance to get the running game going.  Willie Parker, Rashard Mendenhall and Mewelde Moore are in a time share situation for the Steelers at RB and they need to have a good game here because Roethlisberger has been under intense heat from opposing pass rushes this season.  The Bengals’ weakness on defense this season has been the secondary so if the Steelers give Big Ben time to throw the ball he should be effective but that means keeping DE Antwan Odom (7 sacks) out of the backfield.

A key to the Bengals offense this season has been balance between the pass and the run.  It’s highly doubtful that Cedric Benson (217 yards rushing) will have much success against a Steelers’ D that is allowing only 64.5 yards rushing per game (3.0 ypc).  If the Steelers stop the running game then they can send everyone after Carson Palmer.  But, the Steelers only have 2 sacks this season and they have given up 233.0 yards passing per game.  They have injuries in the secondary so if the Bengals’ O-Line give him time to throw the ball Palmer should have some success.  This is a game where the Bengals could go to Laveranues Coles and Chris Henry more often then they have so far this season.  That is because the Steelers will no doubt be double covering Chad Ocho Cinco (9 rec, 180 yards, TD).

PREDICTION:  STEELERS 21, BENGALS 20

The Pittsburgh Steelers are looking to build on their week one 13-10 overtime victory against the Tennessee Titans as they take on the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in Chicago.  The Steelers will be missing their defensive leader in safety Troy Polamalu but the Bears are also without their star defender Brian Urlacher.  Polamalu is out six weeks with an MCL injury and Urlacher is out for the year with a dislocated wrist.  Outside linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer will be replacing Urlacher at the middle linebacker position and the Steelers will have Tyrone Carter filling in at safety for Polamalu.

The Steelers did a horrible job of establishing the run last week in their win over Tennessee as Rashard Mendenhall and Willie Parker had 17 carries combined.  Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw the ball 43 times for 363 yards, but it was only because the running game could not get going at all for the Steelers.  They are not going to win very many games with Roethlisberger throwing the ball 43 times, so look for the Steelers to try and attack the depleted linebackers of the Chicago Bears.  Hillenmeyer is a very effective outside linebacker and is a good tackler, but he is not a middle linebacker and doesn’t have the strength and speed that Urlacher brings to the position.  The Steelers should attack the heart of the Bears defense with the run and try to get Mendenhall and Parker way more than 17 carries combined.

Do not expect the Jay Cutler you saw in week one, as he threw three of his career high four interceptions in the first half.  The Bears offense settled down and was effective in the second half against the Packers and I’m expecting the Bears to attack the Steelers secondary, especially without the blitz of Polamalu as well as his strong coverage skills.  Tyrone Carter will be making only the 11th start of his ten year career, so there will be a huge drop-off for the Steelers at the safety position.  Hopefully for the Steelers Carter can handle some of the speedy Chicago receivers, particularly Devin Hester.  He and Cutler hooked up on a 36-yard touchdown against the Packers with Hester burning past the Packers’ secondary.

I think due to the lack of a running game the Steelers showed in week one, combined with the loss of Polamalu, the Steelers are going to have their hands full.  You will not see the Chicago Bears offense you saw in week one and I think the Bears will be able to edge out a victory on a late field goal.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Bears 27, Steelers 24