Nah, it’s been two weeks. Roethlisberger ought to be cleared to play.
According to all the sites I’ve looked at, he is still VERY questionable for next week. Most of them are Fantasy Football sites, so they have a lot of interest in whether or not he actually plays.
I heard the announcers in the Pittsburg game say that he’s targetting the Indianapolis game for his return.
I can’t find the darn link now, but I read earlier today that Big Ben would be back for the Raven’s game.
Just saw the second half (I taped it.) Wow, I loved the reverse and the Randel El throw to the end zone. Very fun!
If both Batch and Rothlisberger are out, we seriously need to consider putting Randel El in at quarterback. I have absolutely no faith in Maddox.
Plus it would be really interesting to see how a Michael Vick-type quarterback (which Randel El seems to be) would mix with our offense.
Randel El in college passed for 6K yds while rushing for 3K yds, threw 40 TDs and ran for 40 TDs. Or something like that. (From memory of announcers last night, correct with cite if needed.)
I don’t get to see this week’s Steelers-Ravens game either, so I’ve got the NFL’s GameCenter up for the game while I kill time watching the Lions-Cowboys game. Anyway, I did a double-take when I saw them claiming an 83-yard Reed field goal. Look at the bolded entry under current drive.
Oh man, I knew we were screwed with Maddox starting! :mad: 
:mad:
Oh well, now I have to hope that the Colts win against the Cinncy
Talk about psychic there. Man, the Steelers fans at the bar were going crazy when they put Randel El in as QB for one play. I thought they were going to run to Pittsburgh and strangle someone when Maddox was back in.
There’s no way the Ravens could have won with Roethlisberger in at QB. Does this put the Steelers mostly out of contention yet for playoff home field advantage?
< /lel attempting to talk football, probably badly >
Homefield? Maybe. Depends on how the other AFC teams do and whether or not they can win the AFC North instead of squeaking in on a wildcard. My guess would be that the wildcards will be from the AFC North and the AFC South, as the other two divisions have only the division leaders with a winning record. If the Bengals lose today, the Steelers should still be on top of the division because of tiebreakers. Next week’s game against the Colts will also be big, even more so if the Bengals manage to beat the Colts today. And then in two weeks is the Bengals-Steelers game in Pittsburgh. No matter what happens with the Colts, the Steelers must win that game to have a chance to win the division, both in terms of total record and with tiebreakers.
My apologies. The Chiefs and the Chargers both have a 5-4 record, but with Jacksonville at 7-2 and the Steelers (and possibly the Bengals) at 7-3, I don’t see either of them making the wildcard or beating the Broncos for the division. The Titans and the Texans are close to being or are mathematically eliminated as are the Jets, the Dolphins, the Ravens. The Browns, Bills, and Raiders would have to win all of the remaining games to have a chance and the division leaders would have to collapse.
So, here’s my predictions with six weeks to go:
AFC North: Steelers
AFC East: Patriots
AFC South: Colts
AFC West: Broncos
Wildcards: Jaguars and Bengals
1st round bye and home field: Colts and Broncos
Airman caught the end of the game. He has exactly two words.
On the other hand, my beloved Cowboys won another game. I’m happy. 
Robin
Well, I knew they weren’t “Go, Ravens!”
My husband and 9-year-old son went to the game. Much excitement when they came home. They’re both hoarse from screaming.
Raven vs. Bengals at 1:00. Who should a Steeler fan root for? I hate the Raven’s but right now the Bengals are tied with us - and we face a tough opponent tomorrow night.
Hopefully Big Ben will be back though.
And that pretty much sets the pace for this game.
I knew our shitty secondary was gonna blow it but I didn’t think they would start this early. God DAMN.
Well, it was a sad performance - we were just outplayed, right from the beginning. After those first two drives we settled down a played some ball, but in this case the Colts just played better.
That was really disappointing. As a Baltimore fan, I realized midway through the first quarter that my unmitigated hatred for the Colts (::spits: far outweighs my loathing of the Steelers. So the one time in recent memory that I can recall actually wanting the Steelers to win they let me down.
Yes, I’ve held a grudge for more than 20 years. What of it?
Well, the Steelers now have a must-win game next week at home against the Bengals. (Just like I said upthread a couple weeks ago.) They win that game, it’s back to being tied overall with Cincinatti but with a better division record and the tiebreaker of having beaten the Bengals both times if it comes down to tiebreakers. I know I said that I thought the wild cards would come out of the North and South, but neither the Steelers nor the Bengals can play for just a wild card as long as the Chiefs and the Chargers keep winning in the West. The other teams the Steelers need to win:
Denver, Oakland, and Cleveland in week 13
Cleveland, Dallas, Miami, and Indianapolis in week 14
NY Giants, Indianapolis, Detroit, and San Francisco in week 15
Buffalo, Houston, and possibly either San Diego or Kansas City depending on the records in week 16
Denver, Kansas City, and Tennessee in week 17
The Steelers still look OK for the playoffs. Kansas City has a hellacious final 5 games. They might not win another game. And Jacksonville just lost their quarterback, although they’ll play 4 easy games plus Indy. Also, Pittsburgh hold the tie-breaker against San Diego. Of course, even if they make the playoffs, at some point they’ll have to play at Indy or at Denver. Methinks this is the year that we break some hearts instead of getting our hearts broken.
As an outsider involved in this thread, I have to go on record in regards to this statement. Unless the Steelers pick up their game on both sides of the ball dramatically, you’ll be seeing Denver at Indy for the AFC Championship.