Three keys to Steelers defeat of Seahawks in Week 12

Sitting out Wednesday were running back Marshawn Lynch (hernia), linebacker Bruce Irvin (knee), wide receiver Paul Richardson (hamstring), tackle Garry Gilliam (ankle), guard J.R. Sweezy (shoulder) and wide receiver Doug Baldwin (ankle). “I don’t think we’re No. 1 in any categories at all”. There’s no word on his availability for this game.

Brown has been almost unstoppable in the six games in which Roethlisberger has played with 62 catches for 898 yards and all five of his touchdowns. I’m one of the top guys at the receiver position. Those first two games were in the ‘Burgh.

The Seahawks had the NFL’s best rushing defense last season, and they’ve stayed atop the league this season. But in the six games Roethlisberger has appeared in, he has averaged more than 300 yards passing.

“We tried to put them in a position where they had to throw the ball and then tried to get after Johnny”. But the Bengals have lost two consecutive contests, keeping Pittsburgh in the hunt. The All-Pro corner has yielded a 93.7 rating when targeted this year and has yet to pick off a single pass.

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ football bag was empty, except for the rugby ball inside. The team’s success is in direct correlation with success of Brown. He’ll need to bring his best heading into Seattle on Sunday.

“As healthy as you can be this time of year”. Speaking of big plays, Seattle has to make those big plays not just on offense, but on defense.

By now, everyone with even a modicum of football knowledge knows that the Seattle Seahawks, second-and-goal-to-go with 25 seconds remaining, should have just handed the ball off.

He looks bigger than he is listed (6-5, 240 pounds), and he’s more nimble than he would seem.

“We expect it to be incredibly loud”, he said. Only time will tell if the experts are right or wrong in this Week 12 rematch of Super Bowl XL. How does it taste? “Both those teams are on the top of the league at taking shots down the field”.

Pittsburgh’s defense figures to be a more hard test. The 49ers surrender 4.28 yards per carry, while the Steelers (6-4) have posted a 3.84 mark and gave up 15 yards on 14 carries in their 30-9 win over Cleveland on November 15 leading into a bye.

Osweiler has found a way to mesh with Broncos tight ends thus far, but he’s going to have to open it up on the outside if the Broncos stand a chance of defeating the 10-0 Patriots on Sunday. Tomlin noted that Wilson is very good when escaping pressure horizontally, but he is most unsafe when he escapes vertically.

While this game doesn’t really matter all too much in the standings for Mariota and the Tennessee Titans, he’s going to want to continue improving on the field during the final few games of his rookie campaign. Wilson also three three touchdown passes with no turnovers. Kansas City has only two losses and Houston three. That much is clear. Avril had two sacks last week…. However, he is coming off his worst start of the season, when he picked up only 54 yards against the Cleveland Browns.

Now the Steelers have to face the two-time defending NFC champions, who just happen to have one of the best home-field advantages in all of sports. Seattle is only 1-2 SU this season when penalized eight or more times in a game. Kaepernick threw for 335 yards and two touchdowns while Manziel threw for 372 yards and one touchdown.

Assigned with finding a way to contain Watt for the New Orleans Saints is a tackle in Strief that’s allowed the third-most sacks of any offensive linemen this season. It could be a one-game fluke. Rawls has three 100-yard games and 604 yards. The quarterback is completing a career-high 67.5 percent of his passes, posting a 96.7 passer rating.

Yes, there has been little good news for the Steelers when they travel to Seattle.

The overall numbers say that the Seahawks still have a top pass defense, since they’ve allowed the second-least yards through the air. This clearly bodes well for Miller, whose lone score this year came back in Week 2 against the San Francisco 49ers. Rawls has miles to go to prove he has what it takes over the long haul.