The Steelers are looking to avenge the last time these two teams played when the Browns shut them down beating them 13-6 in Cleveland.  It was a game in which the Browns sacked “Little Ben” 8 times!  With this being his first game back in action he better hope the O-Line has his back.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Steelers have the ball:  The Steelers might look to break in Roethlisberger slowly at first by taking on the Browns’ run D with Rashard Mendenhall as the Browns are giving up 120.0 yards rushing and 4.1 yards per carry so far this year.  The Steelers likely will have mis-matches down the field this week with Mike Wallace and Hines Ward is Roethlisberger has time to throw the ball.   Steelers’ QBs have been sacked 11 times already this year and the Browns will be bringing the pressure big time.

When the Browns have the ball:  The Browns will be starting rookie Colt McCoy at QB this Sunday and it will be his NFL debut.  So look for the Steelers to bring blitzes to try to rattle him.  The Browns will likely try to combat that by running the ball and throwing short passes to TE Ben Watson and RB Peyton Hillis.  Hillis is a bull of a runner so he will challenge the Steelers’ D-Line and linebackers as he ran all over the Ravens in Baltimore earlier this year.  The Steelers must also be ready for the Wildcat as Josh Cribbs gives the D problems when he has the ball in his hands.

PREDICTION:  STEELERS 20, BROWNS 13

The Steelers are 12-4 against the Ravens at Heinz Field but this game feels a little different.  That’s because Ben Roethlisberger won’t be here for this game.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Steelers have the ball:  The Steelers will likely try to run the ball against the Ravens who are allowing 127.7 yards rushing and 4.7 yards per carry, but it won’t be easy.  That’s because the Steelers’ O-Line isn’t that good and Rashard Mendenhall has not had much success against the Ravens in his career.  Mendenhall carried the ball 41 times for only 131 yards (3.2 ypc) with 1 TD run against the Ravens last year.  The Steelers need Mendenhall to have some success running the ball or the Ravens are going to blitz like crazy and that could lead to a catastrophe as the Steelers O-Line has already given up 7 sacks this year.  One way to slow the pass rush would be to throw shorter passes to Hines Ward and Heath Miller which I’m almost certain the Steelers are considering doing this weekend.

When the Ravens have the ball:  The Ravens are going to run the ball with Ray Rice if he’s healthy because he dominated the usually stout Steelers’ D last year.  Rice carried the ball 49 times for 229 yards (4.7 ypc) and he also caught 6 passes for 81 yards (13.5 avg) against the Steelers last year.  The Steelers won’t likely be able to cheat up the secondary to help out against Rice because the Ravens have a lot of weapons in the passing game.  The Steelers have 10 sacks this year while the Ravens have only allowed 3 this year so something has to give.  If Flacco has time to throw the ball the Steelers are in for a long day because he has a impressive array of WRs and TEs to throw to.

PREDICTION:  RAVENS 20, STEELERS 13

Both of these teams are 2-0 on the season because of their defenses.  So I expect a slug it out game this Sunday with the win going to the team that scores the first TD (assuming either of them get one).  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Steelers have the ball:  The Steelers are going to give the rock to Rashard Mendenhall as many times as his body can take this Sunday.  The Bucs are giving up 111.5 yards rushing and 4.0 ypc so the Steelers might be able to break off a couple decent runs on Sunday.  But the Steelers’ O-Line is a joke right now so if the Bucs stop the running game the Steelers will lose on Sunday.  The Steelers have already allowed 7 sacks so far this year and the Bucs have a great pair of corners in Aqib Talib and Ronde Barber who will be matched up with Mike Wallace and Hines Ward.  With the Steelers starting Charlie Batch at QB I see Heath Miller being his top receiver in this game mostly on short stuff.  Also, don’t be surprised if this is the game that Antwaan Randle El throws the ball deep on a trick play.

When the Buccaneers have the ball:  Even when the Bucs don’t run well they still do it.  That means that the Steelers’ linebackers need to be ready to deal with Cadillac Williams.  Williams has not been that good this year as he has 126 yards rushing on 49 carries (2.6 ypc) so don’t look for the Steelers to be too worried about him.  TE Kellen Winslow and rookie WR Mike Williams have been Josh Freeman’s favorite receivers so far this year so look for them to draw a lot of attention from the Steelers’ DBs.  Winslow never did much against the Steelers in Cleveland so they aren’t likely too concerned with him.  The Steelers must get to young QB Josh Freeman to force him into making some mistakes because Mike Williams is a big time playmaker at WR. 

PREDICTION:  STEELERS 9, BUCCANEERS 6

Last year the Steelers beat the Titans in the season opener in Pittsburgh by a 13-10 score in O.T.  A lot has changed since then as Ben Roethlisberger, Casey Hampton and Santonio Holmes who were the stars of the show in that game for the Steelers aren’t going to be playing.  Also, the game is in Tennessee this time with Vince Young at QB instead of Kerry Collins.  Here is a look at the match-ups in this game:

When the Steelers have the ball:  The Steelers are going to need to tighten the chinstraps and try to run the ball down the Titans’ throats.  The Titans gave up 135 yards rushing on 25 carries  (5.4 ypc) last week against the Raiders which has to have Rashard Mendenhall licking his chops.  If the Steelers are successful running the ball it will set up Dennis Dixon to be able to take some shots down the field off of play action to Hines Ward and Mike Wallace.  The O-Line will have to give Dixon time to throw the ball though as the Titans had four sacks last weekend.

When the Titans have the ball:  Chris Johnson rushed for 142 yards on 27 carries (5.3 ypc) with 2 TD runs last week.  The Steelers held him to only 57 yards on 15 carries last season but they will be playing without Pro Bowl nose tackle Casey Hampton who is injured.  Chris Hoke will replace him but he’s nowhere near Hampton’s league as a player.  Vince Young is deadly off play action so if the Titans get the running game going the Steelers could be in trouble this weekend.  Nate Washington is the Titans best WR and you know he would love to stick it to his old team.

PREDICTION:  TITANS 20, STEELERS 17

This is a horrible match-up for the Steelers to draw without Ben Roethlisberger.  Dennis Dixon will be getting this start and he will have to be careful with the football for them to have any chance of winning this football game.  Here is a close look at the match-ups:

When the Steelers have the ball:  The Steelers are going to likely try to pound Rashard Mendenhall at the Falcons’ front seven on D.  For that to happen the Steelers are going to have to control DTs Peria Jerry and Trey Lewis.  If they have to double team either of those guys they are going to find it hard to run on the Falcons because of MLB Curtis Lofton.  With Dunta Robinson likely covering Hines Ward the Steelers should look to Mike Wallace or TE Heath Miller when throwing the ball.  For the Steelers to have success throwing the football they are goinng to need to keep Dennis Dixon clean which means that they are going to have to account for DEs John Abraham and Kroy Biermann. 

When the Falcons have the ball:  The Falcons are going to be balanced on Sunday so the Steelers better be ready for anything.  Michael Turner is going to get his fair share of carries so the D better tighten the chinstraps as he is like a bowling ball with wheels.  The Steelers are going to have to blitz a lot this Sunday because if Matt Ryan has time to throw the ball the Steelers are going to be in trouble.  Roddy White and TE Tony Gonzalez are Ryan’s favorite targets so the Steelers will have to try to blanket them.

PREDICTION:  FALCONS 20, STEELERS 9

The Steelers need this game and a ton of help to make the playoffs but the Dolphins are in the same boat so this will be a fight tomorrow in Miami.  The Steelers should be able to move the ball both on the ground and in the air against the Dolphins but they can’t afford to turn the ball over.  With that in mind the Steelers should try to run a balanced offense because if they get into a throw it every down mode they will have to keep OLBs Joey Porter and Jason Taylor away from Ben Roethlisberger.  Because when he gets hit a few times he tends to make mistakes with the football.  To help protect him they should make sure that they give the ball to Rashard Mendenhall at least 20 times tomorrow.

The Steelers’ D has been pretty awful lately and the Dolphins could give them some problems.  Even though that Ricky Williams is dinged up he will likely give it a go against a suddenly soft Steelers’ run D.  Chad Henne is pretty good at spreading around the ball in the passing game so the Steelers need to get after him with the pass rush.  If he has time to throw the ball he will likely torch the corners of the Steelers who have a total of ZERO interceptions this season.

PREDICTION:  STEELERS 21, DOLPHINS 20

The Steelers got really lucky last week against the Packers and I think that luck will run out this Sunday.  The Steelers will likely come out of the locker room throwing the football against the Ravens.  The O-Line must protect Roethlisberger well or he will start throwing the ball to the Ravens.  The Steelers must have balance in the offense this week as throwing the ball every down won’t get it done against the Ravens.  That means that Rashard Mendenhall must have success against a Ravens’ D that is only allowing 99.5 yards rushing and 3.6 yards per carry this season.

The Steelers will likely have to stop the Ravens running game first and that will be easier said than done as Ray Rice is one of the most underrated running backs in the whole NFL.  But, the Steelers are only allowing 83.1 yards rushing per game and 3.6 yards per rush this season.  The Steelers have no choice but to blitz Joe Flacco early and often because their secondary sucks.  Look for Derrick Mason and Todd Heap to have big games on Sunday.

PREDICTION:  RAVENS 21, STEELERS 20

This is not the kind of team the Steelers want to play right now as the Packers have won five games in a row while the Steelers have lost five games in a row including games to the Browns, Chiefs and Raiders.  The Steelers will have to protect Ben Roethlisberger to have any chance of winning this game.  That is because the Packers have 29 sacks this season and they also have a excellent secondary who will make Big Ben pay if he tries to force the ball to Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes or Mike Wallace.  The Packers already have 23 interceptions this season.  The Steelers will have to throw the ball because yards will likely be hard to come by on the ground as the Packers are allowing only 85.0 yards rushing and 3.6 yards per carry this year.

On defense the Steelers must get to Aaron Rodgers or he will pick them apart.  He is 9-0 this season in games in which he has been sacked less than six times in a game.  Rodgers does a great job of spreading the ball around so the Steelers will likely pay if they double either Greg Jennings or Donald Driver.  Rodgers also likes throwing to his TEs (Donald Lee and Jermichael Finley) a lot which will test the coverage of the safeties.  The Steelers can also expect Ryan Grant to be coming at them on the ground due to the easy time the Browns had running the ball against them last week.  It’s do or die time for the Steelers tomorrow and it doesn’t look too good for them.

PREDICTION:  PACKERS 27, STEELERS 17

The Steelers have owned the Browns lately as they are 19-3 against them since they returned to the league in 1999.  But, the Steelers are playing bad enough that the Browns will likely give them a challenge tonight.  After all, they did make Bruce Gradkowski look great last week and Brady Quinn is a better QB than he is.  With Hines Ward iffy for tonight’s game and the weather expected to be nasty look for the Steelers to come out running tonight.  Rashard Mendenhall should have a outstanding game tonight against the Browns who are allowing 154.2 yards rushing per game and 4.5 yards per carry.  If he gets tired then Willie Parker should get in on the action.  In the passing game look for the Steelers to keep it short with TE Heath Miller getting most of the action.

The Steelers must stop the Browns’ running game and that shouldn’t be too hard as the Browns are averaging 98.9 yards rushing and 3.7 yards per carry so far this season.  If the Steelers stop the running game it will put the Browns in long passing downs which will benefit the CBs and safeties.  The Steelers will be blitzing all night long to see if Brady Quinn can handle the heat or not.  The Steelers also have to kick the ball away from Josh Cribbs or this game will be a lot closer than most experts think it will be.

PREDICTION:  STEELERS 17, BROWNS 14

Ben Roethlisberger is back for the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5) this week on the road against the Oakland Raiders (3-8).  The Steelers really need to win this game and they shouldn’t have a problem doing that, especially since Big Ben is back.  Ben should do most of his work handing the ball off though, as the Raiders give up 161 rushing yards per game.  Rashard Mendenhall should be able to carry the load for the Steelers offense and I expect a big game out of him.

The Steelers defense has not been playing very well at the end of games, but hopefully for the Steelers’ sake they can build a big enough lead that it wont matter.  Bruce Gradkowski is the starting quarterback for the Raiders and he has a 66.3 QB rating this season so the Steelers defense should be able to contain him and the Raiders pathetic passing game.  Justin Fargas is the running back, and I think the Steelers stellar run-defense will shut him down.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Pittsburgh Steelers 28, Oakland Raiders 7