A look ahead...

[Oviedo]

Well, it seems that the rib injury is going to keep Ben out until it heals or he could die from having the rib puncture his aorta. My worst case scenario is probably reality. The Steelers need to find 4 wins with Lefty and/or Batch playing quarterback and hopefully, 6 weeks will heal the rib and Ben will be able to play in the playoffs, a most unfortunate turn of events.

Pappy

The "Dark Ages" have officially descended upon the Steeler Nation

[hawaiiansteel]

Roethlisberger injury couldn't come at worse time

11/13/2012
F. Dale Lolley

PITTSBURGH – The one thing that couldn’t happen to the Steelers happened Monday night.

Actually, the two things that couldn’t happen to Pittsburgh.

The first was getting caught flat-footed for a game against the lowly Kansas City Chiefs, showing again the maddening ability to play up or down to their opponent’s level.

The second was losing quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to injury. Roethlisberger suffered an injury to his right shoulder in the third quarter, putting the Steelers’ enture season in jeopardy.

He was taken to a Pittsburgh hospital to evaluate what was called a “non-traditional” injury. To this point, Roethlisberger had received little mention nationally when talk turned to the league MVP.

But there is no doubt that he has been the Steelers’ MVP to this point.

Prior to Monday night, Roethlisberger wasn’t just a big part of the Steelers’ offense, he was practically their entire offense, particularly in the first four games when Pittsburgh’s running game was dormant.

That running game has improved in recent weeks, but Roethlisberger was still the player who made Pittsburgh’s offense go.

And without him, the Steelers are a decidedly average team at best.

That’s not a knock on backup quarterbacks Byron Leftwich or Charlie Batch, but Roethlisberger is playing for a $100-million contract for a reason.

There is no good time to lose your starting quarterback, but Roethlisberger’s injury couldn’t come at a worse time for the Steelers.

The result of what can only be considered one of the most questionable NFL schedules in recent memory, the Steelers and Ravens, the two heavyweights in the AFC North, play twice in the next three weeks.

If the Steelers don’t have Roethlisberger for one of those games, it’s a huge loss for Pittsburgh. If he is missing for both of those matchups, well, the Ravens can pretty much start printing their AFC North championship T-shirts right now.

Add to that the fact the Steelers played Monday night’s game without wide receiver Antonio Brown, their MVP last season, and you have a team with some major issues.

Against the Chiefs, we saw why the Steelers chose to sign Brown a new contract in training camp. Without him on the field, Roethlisberger, while good, had difficulties moving the football. The Chiefs played a lot of man-press coverage with help over the top from the safeties on Mike Wallace, Brown with his short-space speed, beats that man coverage.

His replacement, Emmanuel Sanders, struggled to get open.

The rainy, windy night didn’t help, but there was more than one time that Roethlisberger and Leftwich dropped back to pass, had plenty of time, and couldn’t find anyone open.

Against the lowly Chiefs, who fell to a well-deserved 1-8, the Steelers found a way to win despite those issues.

The Ravens are having injury issues of their own, having lost linebacker Ray Lewis and cornerback Lardarius Webb. But the Ravens have also had time to deal with those injuries. The Steelers are going to be adjusting on the fly to the loss of two of their best offensive weapons.

And with one less day to prepare, that could be a deciding factor in which team wins the AFC North.

[URL]http://www.observer-reporter.com/or/lolley11/11-13-steelers-column[/URL]

[NorthCoast]

Without any reps in practice, not having played for any length of time in a couple of years and a defense that was frustrating the Steelers all night, I though Lefty did okay. This week with a week of work under his belt and a game plan designed for him he'll be better. Dixon stepped in a couple years ago and almost pulled one out against the Ravens. Lefty is a better quarterback than Dixon. The Steelers can win games with Lefty at quarterback; the season isn't over, have faith.

Pappy

The thing is I don't think the Steelers will win with a QB that does "just OK". At least not against B-more and the Chargers, and really the Browns defense is not all that bad (20th in scoring defense). The analysts talked about QBs that bring more to the game than Xs and Os and Ben was in the top 5 of that category. Leftwich will play the Xs and Os but to win consistently and win in the playoffs, a QB needs to bring that extra dimension, otherwise you would see a Cassell or Cam in the playoffs as much as a Brady, Rodgers or Roethlisberger.

[Shawn]

I hope you are right but I saw nothing last night in that terrible performance that would make me believe that could happen.

i think Leftys stats were on par with Bens. He played reasonably well.

[hawaiiansteel]

i think Leftys stats were on par with Bens. He played reasonably well.

yeah, I'm sure we'll win a lot of games if Lefty can lead us to a FG every half that he plays...

[papillon]

The thing is I don't think the Steelers will win with a QB that does "just OK". At least not against B-more and the Chargers, and really the Browns defense is not all that bad (20th in scoring defense). The analysts talked about QBs that bring more to the game than Xs and Os and Ben was in the top 5 of that category. Leftwich will play the Xs and Os but to win consistently and win in the playoffs, a QB needs to bring that extra dimension, otherwise you would see a Cassell or Cam in the playoffs as much as a Brady, Rodgers or Roethlisberger.

I'm not saying the Steelers can win in the playoffs without Ben, but I certainly believe that the Steelers can get to the playoffs without Ben. As I mentioned all the teams behind the Steelers have to go 6-1 or 6-0 if the Steelers go 4-3 and the Dolphins were losing tonight which means they'll need to be 6-0 the rest of the way (should they hang on to their loss) just to get to 10 wins. It's not a guarantee, but I think the Steelers are good enoungh to win 4 out 7 over the next 7 weeks with or without Ben.

The playoffs, well, that's an entirely different animal.

Pappy