It's hard to imagine a much worse week for the Steelers than this one. The loss to the Chiefs was bad, but the news that the Steelers will be without Ben Roethlisberger for Sunday night's game against the Ravens is much, much worse especially since No. 2 quarterback Charlie Batch is out with a wrist injury.And, oh yeah, Pittsburgh will also be without safety Troy Polamalu and guard Chris Kemoeatu.
Pittsburgh is getting ready to play its biggest rival in a prime-time game with second-year QB Dennis Dixon as the starter and likely Tyler Palko (expected to be promoted from the practice squad before the game) as the backup. Dixon has one NFL attempt while Palko was just signed by the Steelers to the practice squad earlier this week. The amount of the playbook that Palko knows at this point is probably limited to a couple of handoffs and a couple of pass routes.
So the Steelers are sunk right? If Dixon goes down (and you can expect the Ravens to send the house to try to knock him out), Pittsburgh is done. If Dixon gets injured, Pittsburgh will need Joe Green, Jack Lambert and Mel Blount to show up to knock off the Ravens. But with Dixon, Pittsburgh still has a chance to pull off an upset.
Back in the regular season finale in 2007, the Ravens started rookie fifth-rounder Troy Smith against the Steelers. Admittedly the Steelers didn't play all of their regulars because they had nothing to play for, but playing against the Steelers defense, Smith connected on 16 of 27 passes for 171 yards and a touchdown as Baltimore beat the Steelers 27-21.
We don't know yet if Dixon can do the same against Baltimore, but his background is very similar. Like Smith, he is a fifth-round pick. Smith was the 2006 Heisman Trophy winner while Dixon was the front-runner to win the Heisman in 2007 before tearing his ACL late in the season. And like Smith, Dixon is a quarterback with a solid arm but outstanding legs. With less than 70 pass attempts in the preseason since becoming a pro, it's hard to know what Dixon's going to look like until he gets into action Sunday night, but the talent is there
Because Dixon has been the third-string quarterback, it's unlikely the Steelers have had a chance to put too many plays in to take advantage of Dixon's speed. But with a run-through today, it will be worth it for the Steelers to put a couple of plays in to at least give the Ravens' reasons to worry about Dixon's running ability.
Since the Steelers lost to the Chiefs, they will be playing for their playoff lives every week. Dixon is playing for his chance to prove he's an NFL quarterback. If Dixon can pull off a miracle on Sunday night, both those goals will be well taken care of.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
You must be smoking crack! I guess you forgot Big Ben's winning drive in last years Superbowl.
The loss to the Chiefs was bad?! I thought it was freakin hilarious!! The only thing that blows more than the Squealers is their trailer trash fans!! haha
what front running team do you follow?
last year is over. all that matters is the present.
Ya and the present QB sucks!
I agree; I am not a Steelers fan but the author of this article is ignorant. The Steelers starting QB has never even taken a snap in the NFL. Are you the author LOL...???
i am as huge a steeler fan as you can get. with out ben and troy and on the road with a 1st start qb the steelers will have a incredibly hard time winning against the ravens. like i have said in other blogs, the docs have cleared ben so he should play. have ben play, go max protection and run the ball and only pass when needed and maybe you win a close game.
Steelers will win. Dixon is better than people realize.
Dude ben is hurt, get off him, i dont like the steelers at all, but keep ben safe and u have chances at the SB, yur ignorant.
hmmmm the Steelers have a QB that has never taken a snap in the NFL much like when Ben replaced the injured Tommy Maddox and led them to a 15-1 regular season record now I am not saying the Dixon is as great a QB as Ben but he has the same thing going for him that ben had in his first year and that is their is no tape on him and this kid is fast and you can't defend speed he also has a good eye for the short routes. Don't count this kid out so quickly I think he is going to suprise alot of people.
Dennis Dixon to start today, hey this is NFL so you all have a better chance at predicting the weather than you do with NFL. and for those Anti-Steeler fans out there, all I have to say is 6 Superbowl championship, if you have a questions count our Lombardi's again. if you are angry cuz you had to count to 6, well there is not much we can do for ya.
The only way the Stealers win is if they fall back on their old strategy of bribing the refs. Not even Matt Cassel was hyped this much as a replacement QB.