A look at the Pittsburgh Steelers & Prediction

Heading into the 2010 season, the conventional wisdom from many was that the 4 game suspension of Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, combined by the departure of WR Santonio Holmes and injury to T Willie Colon would be too much for the Pittsburgh Steelers to overcome.

As we head to Week 4, the Steelers remain undefeated. You do not have to like the Steelers, but as always they remind you that do have to respect their organization.

The rivalry between the Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens continues tomorrow. One of the reasons the rivalry has evolved into one of the best within the NFL, is that the identity of these teams remain consistent. They want to be physical, they want to run the ball, they want to stop the run. With Roethlisberger unavailable, the Steelers have recommitted to running the ball between the tackles. Former 1st round pick Rashard Mendenhall is running downhill and making the move towards becoming elite.

Roster:

O-Line: The injury of Colon did not receive a tremendous amount of attention, but it was significant. He had started every game for the Steelers at RT during the previous 3 seasons. Colon was replaced with Flozell Adams who spent many years with the Cowboys. Adams was a former Pro Bowl player in his own right, but has slowed. He is also one of the most penalized players in the league since 2005. The Ravens will attempt to take Adams, and get him to false-start. At Center, the Steelers are starting their 2010 1st-round pick Maurkice Pouncey. As positive as Pittsburgh feels about Pouncey, Baltimore may be able to exploit the rookie with more complicated schemes. Max Starks is one of the better LT’s in football.

RB: A week ago the Ravens were mauled by Peyton Hillis. Mendenhall was busy putting-up his own 140 yards against Tampa. In his 64 rushing-attempts this year, Mendenhall is averaging 5.2 yards a carry. I think the rookie Jonathan Dwyer could eventually help them as a straight ahead runner.

WR/TE: With the trade of Holmes, I thought that 2008 2nd-round pick Limas Sweed would get a chance to emerge this year. Sweed’s season was ended before it began to an Achillies’ injury. The constants of Hines Ward at receiver, and Heath Miller at TE remain. Antwan Randle El has returned to Pittsburgh for his second tour of duty. The second WR is second-year player Mike Wallace. Wallace had 39 receptions for 756 yards as a rookie last-season. In the first game of this season, Wallace had a 52 yard reception. Last week he had a grab for 46 more (with 2 touchdowns). He is obviously playing the role of their home-run hitter right now.

QB: With Dennis Dixon injured, the starter for the second straight week will be the long-time veteran Charlie Batch. Batch threw the ball just 17 times last week, and you have to expect a similar approach from the Steelers tomorrow.

DL: The Steelers 3-4 defense remains anchored by Casey Hampton up-front at the NT. On either-side he is joined by Aaron Smith, and Brett Keisel at the Ends. Both of those players are better against the run, than as pass rushers. Pittsburgh continues to wait on 2009 1st round pick Ziggy Hood to emerge.

LB: Pittsburgh remains loaded at LB. Woodley and Harrison outside, Farrior and Timmons inside. In the draft the Steelers added 2nd round pick Jason Worilds and 4th rounder Thaddeus Gibson. These two are being groomed to eventually take over for Woodley and Harrison, and will cause the Ravens problems tomorrow on passing downs.

With Gaither unable to play tomorrow, the Ravens are going to have give Yanda help-outside. Maybe we see jumbo packages tomorrow with Cousins. We will see two TE sets, with the second TE (along with Rice/McGahee and McClain) helping to pick-up the pass-rush. My hope is that Dickson and Pitta opposite of Heap can pull some defenders from the box running seem routes.

Secondary: Safety Ryan Clark stated this week that the Ravens are just another football team. Interesting commentary from an unspectacular aging starter. After spending last-year with Arizona, Bryant McFadden is back at a corner position. Opposite of him is Ike Taylor. That is rather pedestrian pair of starters, who are reliant on pass-rush from their front 7. Like all Steelers, I am sure they are physical and good at helping defend the run. If the Ravens have any time to pass, Boldin, Mason, and Houshmandzadeh should be able to make plays against this group.

Last-year the Ravens did not have to face Troy Polamalu in either match-up. No such luck this year.

Prediction: Every division game is important. The Ravens have already lost in Cincinnati, which has only increased the pressure for Baltimore tomorrow. Pittsburgh wants to defend their home-field, but is playing with a bit of house money after starting 3-0 without Big Ben.

If the Ravens had Kindle, I would love his potential to cause problems for Adams. As they do not, I wonder where the pass-rush is coming from tomorrow.

If Baltimore is going to get the road victory tomorrow, I am convinced that some of Ravens rookies have to contribute. That includes Terrence Cody making his NFL debut, and Dickson and Pitta at TE. The Ravens run defense was horrible last-week, but obviously you expect that to be better. Cody can help not only with his play, but by giving some rest to Gregg.

Rice has stated he feels good and will play. I respect the will, but still think it might be smarter to hold him out. In the AFC Championship Game two years ago, McGahee was excellent with his blitz pick-up.

Baltimore can win tomorrow. Without Roethisberger, the Ravens probably should be expected to win tomorrow. Vegas basically agrees as Pittsburgh is a 1 point favorite. That means Vegas would see Baltimore as the favorite on a neutral-field. Tomorrow is a statement game for both teams. If the Steelers win, they take control of the division and get their QB returning. If Baltimore wins, the Ravens grab that important road win.

I’m optimistic that Kruger, and Cody are going to help. I am pessimistic that the Ravens will be able to keep Flacco up-right.

17-13 Pittsburgh.