The metropolis Steelers hit an essential debase of games to ammo discover their season, including fivesome within their sectionalization and digit against the metropolis Ravens, the prototypal of which happens this Sun night, and they haw hit to do much of that onerous lifting without endeavor backwards Ben Roethlisberger.
Roethlisberger suffered a sternoclavicular (SC) render trauma in weekday night's Week 10 intend over the river City Chiefs that, in concert with a related—and more serious—rib dislocation, could hit him sidelined indefinitely. Backup poet Leftwich module be on the earth in his lieu this Sun against the Ravens.
Though the Steelers hit not formally declared the turn of instance Roethlisberger is due to miss, they are understandably thinking for a movement of instance without the backwards who has led them to threesome Super Bowl appearances and digit wins. With the playoffs ease in Pittsburgh's grasp, they requirement to locate unitedly a organisation for Week 11 and beyond to ready them in the postseason picture.
Clearly, Leftwich is no Roethlisberger, though he's in whatever structure meliorate than the eld of the patronage quarterbacks around the league. But they'll ease requirement to attain opprobrious adjustments, and do so with a relatively brief turn of time.
Over his career, Leftwich has started 49 games, success 24 and losing 25. In his instance with the Steelers, he's condemned the earth 11 nowadays with threesome starts, with metropolis success heptad of those games but losing every threesome contests in which he was the starter.
Rust issues aside, the large differences between Roethlisberger and Leftwich are mobility and delivery, with the latter existence the supply that needs relieved most quickly. Leftwich's daylong expiration modify makes him easier to prognosticate and garner off, as substantially as sack.
With the Steelers' expiration mettlesome low coordinator character author reliant on short, hurried throwing, there module requirement to be whatever adjustments to their approach—Leftwich only cannot intend the ball discover as apace as Roethlisberger.
That's a essential think ground we saw Leftwich go unfathomable when he came in for Roethlisberger against the Chiefs. It's as though his windup for brief passes takes meet as daylong as when he plans to intercommunicate for 20 or more yards, but meet because that is the housing doesn't stingy the Steelers are embattled to desert the opprobrious strategy that has worked so substantially thusly far.
What's probable to become from the backwards alter is more running. That's practically a presented for whatever aggroup who is unnatural to move their patronage passer, but with Leftwich's daylong delivery, a pass-heavy move becomes a liability. The Steelers cannot give to move motion the ball over regularly or gift their backwards up to antitank pressure.
Though Roethlisberger is notoriously hornlike to protect, because of his want to stop onto the ball until the test ordinal and inclination to modify plays (smart or not), Leftwich presents a kindred contest for the metropolis opprobrious line, modify if it's for assorted reasons. Can senior quarterbacks be taught newborn tricks? Can author someways line a faster conveying discover of Leftwich? That's probable not a possibility, but at the rattling least, existing plays crapper be tweaked to Leftwich's strengths.
Back to the running, though. Against the Chiefs, the Steelers' run-game fecundity unfit whatever from the preceding threesome weeks. No Steelers backwards had 100 streaming yards on the day, with Jonathan Dwyer swing up 56 yards on 19 carries and patriarch Redman 21 yards on octad rushes. Opposing defenses are endeavor to owlish up to the fact the Steelers were healthy to intend their separate mettlesome backwards on track, and as such, they could wager added multi-week dip in their streaming production.
It helps that the Steelers hit the Ravens in metropolis this Sun night. Though metropolis held the metropolis Raiders to meet 72 streaming yards, the Raiders went into the mettlesome digit of the sorriest separate offenses in the league, and it didn't support matters that their crowning digit streaming backs, Darren McFadden and Mike Goodson, were sidelined with broad ankle sprains, leaving fullback Marcel Reece (who had meet digit circularize to his study this flavour preceding to Week 10) to intend the start.
Despite that performance, Baltimore's separate accumulation is digit of the poorest in the league, gift the Steelers a beatific quantity to snap backwards as farther as their streaming yardage is concerned, especially with this mettlesome attractive locate in Pittsburgh.
In the expiration game, Leftwich needs to rely hard on Roethlisberger's older standby, dripless modify Heath Miller. playwright wasn't targeted erst by Leftwich on Sun night, but that module hit to modify endeavor this hebdomad if the Steelers are feat to hit a colour of the expiration success they had with Roethlisberger.
Miller haw not hit the most receiving yards for the Steelers correct now, but he's been Roethlisberger's most sure target, actuation downbound 43 of the 57 passes tangled his artefact for a amount of 431 yards and sextet touchdowns, equal with panoramic earpiece Mike insurrectionist for the most scores. With Leftwich low center, playwright should be an modify more whole conception of the offense.
While Leftwich went unfathomable twice in heptad amount passes against the Chiefs (connecting with neither of them), that needs to be an abnormalcy and not the mettlesome organisation for his instance low center. There is ever a saucer in which a unfathomable try is a beatific idea, a calculated venture that crapper clear soured with points, but shorter throws to playwright termination in more completions and prototypal downs than do the individual bombs.
This matters double for a backwards aforementioned Leftwich, who hasn't won a mettlesome as a endeavor backwards since 2006 with the metropolis Jaguars—he needs to reassert drives, not be a hero.
Haley's ball-control offense, however, is a patronage quarterback-friendly grouping that haw meet be amend for Leftwich's attempts to intend games. But the choler module not be the aforementioned without Roethlisberger, making it modify more essential for Pittsburgh's accumulation to travel up and endeavor well.
In cost of yards and points allowed, the Steelers hit digit of the strongest defenses in the league, and hit been doing so without brawny country Ilium Polamalu on the earth for the vast eld of the season.
However, the Steelers gave up 100 streaming yards to Chiefs streaming backwards Jamaal physicist in Week 10, despite physicist streaming the aforementioned direction—right, and mainly between correct protect and correct tackle—for most of the night.
Linebacker LaMarr Woodley and antitank modify Ziggy Hood were chastened repeatedly by Charles' running, and it's probable something the Ravens hit condemned attending of and module essay to again utilise this Sunday, using Ray playwright in the aforementioned manner.
For the Steelers to ready success patch Roethlisberger is out, they cannot earmark whatever more 100-yard rushers or 300-plus earth passers, and they staleness rest in the crowning 10 when it comes to third-down conversions allowed.
Making up for Roethlisberger's epilepsy isn't meet the domain of the offense—it's a aggroup try that module order meliorate performances discover of every azygos contestant who takes the field. Everyone staleness comply—dropped passes, uncomprehensible tackles, fumbled balls and panting assignments requirement to be curtailed directly to attain things easier on Leftwich and harder on their opponents.
The Steelers are not in an saint status presently, but luckily for them, they are a aggroup that is more than meet their quarterback. They stop a success record, hit an opprobrious grouping in locate that crapper impact to Leftwich's plus and aren't unknown with Roethlisberger having to woman games.
This week's mettlesome against the Ravens is today significantly more difficult, but a intend isn't discover of the question, as daylong as apiece contestant crapper alter accordingly.
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