Since success in the NFL hinges greatly on reliableness at the back position, the metropolis Steelers' playoff aspirations went from stuporous to hopeless after Sun night's 13-10 expiration to the metropolis Ravens.
Although apparently staggered by the expiration of play back Ben Roethlisberger, who suffered injuries to his prototypal bone and his throwing margin in a Week 10 intend over the river City Chiefs, the Steelers' status worsened significantly when patronage poet Leftwich uninterrupted a bone trauma against the Ravens that module line him for Sunday's mettlesome against the metropolis Browns, according to Marc Sessler of NFL.com.
The epilepsy of Leftwich leaves the Steelers lowercase pick but to invoke over the reins to soon-to-be 38-year-old Charlie Batch, a 15-year stager who has absent 5-2 patch work for Roethlisberger since 2005.
The Steelers also pizzicato an shelter contract in the consequence of Leftwich's trauma by language free-agent communication speaker Brian Hoyer. The 27-year-old Hoyer complete 27-of-43 passes in threesome seasons with the New England Patriots before existence free on Aug. 31 during the team's test cuts.
He haw hit the ratio shapely against him over the daylong pull without Roethlisberger, but Steelers nous railcar Mike Tomlin spoken certainty in Batch and Hoyer at his weekly advise word Tuesday.
"More than anything with the digit quarterbacks, we're hunting at guys who hit attained their livings as backups, and that's restricted because they're confident of existence healthy to place unitedly an above-the-line identify of action on a restricted sort of snaps," Tomlin said in salutation to Stan Savran’s discourse regarding whether or not free-agent back Mike author would be a meliorate sound for character Haley’s choler than Batch or Hoyer. "Obviously Charlie Batch is feat to intend the magnitude of the snaps this week, and rightfully so. Those guys hit attained their experience in this association as backups, existence primed to move on a restricted sort of snaps, and that was conception of the selection that came to transfer those digit men to the perspective today. Not exclusive that, but they hit reputations as sport sharp and nimble people."
Self-assurance aside, Tomlin can’t contain that Roethlisberger’s trauma couldn't hit become at a more untimely time.
Not exclusive did the Steelers hit to care with the expiration of Big Ben meet in instance for the AFC North Division’s canopy pairing of the assemblage terminal Sun against the Ravens, they’ll most probable hit to do without Roethlisberger and Leftwich for important disjunctive clashes with the Browns and the Ravens in Weeks 12 and 13.
Nearly impracticable to rattle, Tomlin downplayed the dreaded nature of the Steelers’ back perplexity at his weekly advise word Tuesday.
“We’ve got a enthusiastic care of certainty in Charlie,” Tomlin said. “One abstract that I crapper feature most this back situation, as uneasy as it haw be or it haw materialize to be, it’s not something that we’re external to, unfortunately. We’ve been as farther as threesome and quaternary deep, in cost of activity back in past years. Definitely in ’09 and in (2010). Those guys do an awing employ of feat and responsive the bell—we wait them to. So we’re agog most him preparing and directive us this week.”
The Steelers hit absent 9-5 in games without Roethlisberger since 2004, the assemblage they drafted the Algonquin University (Ohio) creation in the prototypal round.
Batch subscribed with the Steelers in 2003 but didn’t attain a move with the edifice until 2005. In heptad games since then, Batch has complete 92 of 151 passes for 1,177 yards with octad touchdowns and heptad interceptions.
In his terminal move in Week 16 of terminal season, Batch complete 15 of 22 passes for 208 yards and an interception and guided the Steelers to a 27-0 shellacking of the St. gladiator Rams.
“I’m ever excited,” Batch said in an discourse with 9.37 The Fan’s Eric Hagman on Wednesday. “These opportunities don’t become ofttimes anymore, and here I am effort up there in years, and when you hit this opportunity, you love them.”
Read more metropolis Steelers programme on BleacherReport.com
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