FanHouse Tyrone Carter

Just when Pittsburgh thought Troy Polamalu was getting back to full health, the Steelers may have lost their superstar safety again. Polamalu limped to the locker room during Sunday's game between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, and immediate reports were that he had reinjured his left knee. He did not return to the game, which Cincinnati won 18-12.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said after the game that Polamalu would undergo an MRI.

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DENVER -- Maybe it took two quarters of getting acclimated to the Denver altitude, or perhaps the rust of a bye week left the Pittsburgh Steelers a bit sluggish out of the gate Monday night. But when the Steelers' defense and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hit the field re-energized in the second half of what became a lopsided AFC battle against the Broncos, they hardly let the home team touch the football.

Roethlisberger threw three second-half touchdowns, the Steelers defense forced two of Kyle Orton's three interceptions, and Pittsburgh played its most complete 30 minutes of football this season, ultimately rolling to a 28-10 victory over the Broncos at a stunned Invesco Field.

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DENVER -- Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark wasn't happy with coach Mike Tomlin's decision to deactivate him for Monday night's key AFC showdown against the Denver Broncos. So his team tried to alleviate some of the conflict Clark may have felt as a spectator.

The Steelers defense forced three Kyle Orton interceptions and Clark's replacement at free safety, Tyrone Carter, got two of them. Carter returned one of his picks 48 yards for a second-quarter touchdown, and Pittsburgh dominated the suddenly vulnerable Broncos, 28-10, at Invesco Field at Mile High.

Tomlin, whose team improved to 6-2, made the call to keep Clark in street clothes, mindful of the defensive back's previous medical emergency in the altitude in Denver two years ago. Clark has a rare form of sickle-cell trait that is aggravated by altitude.

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Given that Chicago drew a road game at Green Bay and a visit from the defending Super Bowl Champion Steelers to start the season, an 0-2 start would be neither totally unexpected nor disastrous to the Bears' playoff hopes.

But try to telling that to the Windy City faithful.

After new quarterback Jay Cutler bumbled his way to four interceptions in a 21-15 loss at Lambeau last week, Chicago finds itself under the gun already. With Pittsburgh in for the Bears' home opener Sunday, Cutler needs to bounce back -- or he'll find himself getting picked apart by the Steelers' aggressive defense, even without injured Troy Polamalu in the lineup.

The Steelers survived their season-opener after losing Troy Polamalu to injury. They're going to have to figure out how to live without their superstar safety for a bit longer.

Polamalu confirmed reports that he suffered a sprained left MCL in Pittsburgh's Week 1 win over Tennessee last Thursday, and told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he will miss three-to-six weeks.

"Regarding a knee injury, this is the best-case scenario," Polamalu said Monday.

It was almost a year ago that Anthony Smith, the then-second-year Steelers safety, uttered these words as the team prepared to face the Patriots: "Yeah, I can guarantee a win." Of course, he qualified by adding, "As long as we come out and do what we got to do," but not many people were interested in the entire quote since it was barely newsworthy.

At the time, I didn't put much stock in pregame guarantees, and I still don't. But there's no denying that the Patriots targeted Smith all afternoon, and he was directly responsible for two New England touchdown passes.

It wasn't just the Patriots who took advantage of Smith's over-aggressiveness, though; opponents regularly went after the free safety, and head coach Mike Tomlin had to bench him late in the year. As long as we're dredging up painful memories, it was Smith's replacement, Tyrone Carter, who David Garrard outran for a first down on a critical late-game fourth-down play during the AFC Wild Card matchup.

But what's done is done, so on and what not. The Steelers will travel to Foxboro this Sunday, and Smith is still talking. Sort of. Via the Indiana (Pa.) Gazette's Matthew Burglund:

To get you ready for week 17, FanHouse is previewing all 16 NFL games. Here is the Pittsburgh Steelers/Baltimore Ravens preview.

2007 Records:

Pittsburgh Steelers: 10-5 (AFC North Champions, hosting game Wild Card Weekend)
Baltimore Ravens: 4-11 (Last in AFC North)

Last Week:

Steelers 41, Rams 24
Seahawks 27, Ravens 6

When the Steelers have the ball: The Steelers have nothing to play for this week which is a good thing. They are mighty banged up on offense and will take the free week to rest Ben Roethlisberger and get Najeh Davenport fully integrated as the starting tailback. Marvel Smith won't be at left tackle, Hines Ward probably won't play that much and anyone else of import will likely be shackled to the bench before the game is settled. Even without so many of their stars, the Steelers should be able to score points. The Ravens won't have Chris McAlister or Samari Rolle and will probably not push ailing players like Ray Lewis, Kelly Gregg or Terrell Suggs too hard in a meaningless game. That should mean plenty of opportunities for Davenport and Charlie Batch.

In Randy Moss' first 10 games of the season, he hauled in 66 passes for 1,052 yards and 16 touchdowns. In the last two weeks, he's managed just nine receptions for 77 yards and one score. So what gives? Has Moss reverted to the form that made him so wildly popular in Oakland, is he showing his age, or are teams just playing him differently? Cue Pats' offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels:

"I think there are a number of factors, whether that be play design to get them the ball against certain coverages . . . certainly teams have tried to do things to force us to go other places with the football and that's always a part of it," he said. "We're going to be willing to do that if they try to take somebody away.

One thing that the Eagles and Ravens did in the previous two games was jam Moss at the line of scrimmage. As former teammate Tyrone Carter pointed out, Moss isn't crazy about contact. The reason teams haven't done it sooner is because of the potential consequences: if Moss beats the jam, he's gone. The Steelers will likely employ similar physical, at-the-line tactics, but if quarterback Tom Brady has time to go through his reads, none of that will matter.

Could the Steelers' safeties please just shut up?

A couple of days after Anthony Smith guaranteed a win, thereby ensuring that the Patriots come out extremely fired up, Tyrone Carter ensured that Randy Moss will decide to try hard this weekend by singling out the Patriots' best wideout.

"I know he doesn't like to get hit, man," Carter said. "Randy Moss doesn't like to get hit. I played with him in Minnesota (2000-02). The main thing he had problems with was when guys got in his face, jamming him at the line, hitting him when they got a chance and getting him off his normal pace. I think that rattles him a little bit."

Moss is a receiver who has proven before that he will take routes, games or even seasons off, but Carter's comments will probably ensure he shows up on Sunday looking to pick up a trio of touchdowns.

I mentioned earlier that the Bengals-Steelers tilt on Sunday night could be a re-enactment of the Monday night game we saw five days ago. Which is to say: crappy weather and sloppy football. Woo-hoo!

I thought the conditions would give Pittsburgh the edge because they have played in less-than-ideal conditions several times this season. But the advantage won't be as big as it could've been; the Steelers will be without safety Troy Polamalu, wide receiver Santonio Holmes and left tackle Marvel Smith.

Depending on who you talk to, Polamalu is the NFL's best safety, but he'll have very little impact on the outcome from the bench. Tyrone Carter will replace him, and while he's a hard hitter, he makes the Steelers' defense less versatile.

Holmes has emerged as the team's deep threat/playmaker, but he'll miss his third game of the season. Ben Roethlisberger didn't miss him last week -- he connected with Hines Ward for 88 of his 165 passing yards. Still, without Holmes, Pittsburgh will have to rely on Nate Washington and Cedrick Wilson. Big Ben could also look to get his already busy tight ends more involved.