FanHouse Dennis Dixon

Charlie Batch's 2009 season isn't over yet, but it's fair to wonder if his Steelers' career is almost over. Hopefully for Steelers fans, his replacement Dennis Dixon's career is just beginning.

When Batch somehow broke his wrist during his four-play, no-sack stint against the Chiefs it marked the second time in two seasons that he's suffered a serious injury -- he missed all of the 2008 season with a broken collarbone he suffered in the preseason. As a 34-year-old quarterback who's starting to break down, there have to be questions about whether Batch has much left.

The Steelers aren't putting Batch on injured reserve yet because there's a hope that he could be back in a month or so after surgery to fix a plate to his broken wrist. In the meantime, the Steelers are showing enough faith in Dixon to not sign a veteran backup. If something happens to Ben Roethlisberger this week (and he is coming off of a concussion), Dixon will be getting his first real game action.

Dennis Dixon's preseason is likely over after he suffered a dislocation of his throwing shoulder in Saturday's loss to the Redskins.

Since he's the Steelers' No. 3 quarterback, it's hard to say that this is a crushing blow for Pittsburgh, but it is disappointing from a development standpoint. It eliminates any chance Dixon had of really pushing Charlie Batch for the backup job, but more than that, it will cost Dixon lots of snaps that would help him be ready to take over as the team's No. 2 next year.

The worst news from Pittsburgh's 17-13 loss to the Redskins was the news that third-string quarterback Dennis Dixon joined Ben Roethlisberger on the injured list. While it's not know yet how severe Dixon's injury is, by the end of Saturday's game, Pittsburgh had two healthy quarterbacks: Charlie Batch and rookie Mike Reilly.

Here's a look at what stood out from Saturday night.

It's the preseason, but you always want to see your team win. So tonight was a good night for Steelers fans, even if it was the third-team Steelers beating the third-team Cardinals 20-10.

But since it was the preseason, individual efforts were much more important than the final score.

In the first game at least, there was more good than bad for Pittsburgh.

Last month, Bloomberg News (of all places), reported that the Steelers might be one of the teams interested in the services of Michael Vick, Wildcat specialist. At the time, it seemed far-fetched and I don't think much has changed since.

Of course, it hasn't kept people from asking, especially since former Colts head coach Tony Dungy recently told NBC that Vick should be signed within the week. So when Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was asked about the possibility Tuesday, here's what he said. From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Michael Vick is free to sign with any NFL team that will have him, he can participate in training camp, and if all goes well, he could be back in the league by Week 6.

Via her NFL sources, FanHouse's Nancy Gay wrote about potential Vick landing spots: the Dolphins, Patriots, Raiders, and 49ers. All, to varying degrees, make sense (even if fans might disagree with the idea of Vick being allowed to earn a nice living playing a game and wearing a funny outfit).

But the News of the Weird gets weirder. Bloomberg Sports (I'll be honest, I had no idea Bloomberg covered sports) also mentions, via "one online betting site," that in addition to the Patriots, the "odds favor the Steelers signing Vick."

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

Meet the...
Team with more Super Bowl titles than any other franchise in existence. Fresh off of their sixth Super Bowl title, the Steelers return in 2009 with a solid shot at a repeat performance. The stellar defense is still around and the main keys to the Pittsburgh offense are back and healthy.

While the NFL version of the Steelers is a force to be reckoned with, the Steelers, as fantasy assets, are just average.

If there's one 2008 Steeler draftee who is being counted on more than any other, it's Limas Sweed.

Even a year after he was drafted, first-round pick Rashard Mendenhall will be the No. 2 tailback, but even if he fails at the job, Mewelde Moore and Tank Summers are available to step in. Third-round pick Bruce Davis and fourth-round pick Tony Hills will need extremely impressive training camps just to make the gameday roster, fifth-round pick Dennis Dixon is likely the No. 3 quarterback while sixth-round pick Ryan Mundy is battling for a roster spot.

As expected, Charlie Batch wasn't far from the phone when the Steelers found out that Byron Leftwich was going elsewhere. And just a couple of days later, the word from the Post-Gazette is that Batch is signing a one-year deal with the Steelers to return as the team's backup.

Batch has made it clear that he likes playing in his hometown of Pittsburgh, but it was never more clear than in this newest deal. According to the P-G, Batch is signing for $745,000 with a signing bonus of $50,000. That is the veteran minimum for a player with Batch's tenure, but more importantly, because of NFL salary cap rules to encourage teams to sign veterans, it means that Batch will only cost $510,000 on the Steelers' 2009 cap.

Two weeks ago, Byron Leftwich met with the Redskins. It was the first free-agent visit of the offseason for a player most of us thought would be in high demand. Leftwich would also visit the Buccaneers, which prompted the Steelers to step up their efforts to re-sign Ben Roethlsiberger's backup, but Tampa Bay has apparently landed the 2003 first-round pick.

That's the word on the street, anyway: "Free-agent quarterback Byron Leftwich has agreed to a two-year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a source told ESPN's Michael Smith."