Big Ben injury puts Ravens firmly in AFC North driver's seat
The Steelers have made the MVP case for Ben Roethlisberger by playing without him. Bad news for the Steelers, waiting to hear today the extent of the damage to Roethlisberger's throwing shoulder after he was injured Monday night against Kansas City. Since drafting Roethlisberger in the first round in 2004, Pittsburgh has faced Baltimore 18 times -- 16 times in the regular season, twice in the playoffs. The two teams have split those 18 games. The alarming thing for Pittsburgh: When Roethlisberger hasn't played -- either because of injury or suspension -- the Steelers are 0-4 against Baltimore. (Charlie Batch has lost two, Tommy Maddox one and Dennis Dixon one.)To get more news about nfl jersey, you can visit custom-nfljersey.com official website.
It's clear the Ravens' rush has had much to do with it, as the Steelers completed just 52 percent of their throws in those games. The Steelers are one game back of the Ravens in the AFC North after 10 weeks, but the advantage in the series will clearly shift to Baltimore without Roethlisberger -- and with Terrell Suggs having returned to the Ravens lineup after his offseason Achilles injury threatened to scuttle his season. The Steelers and Ravens meet twice in the next 19 days, including Sunday at Heinz Field.
Atlanta got robbed by Ray Edwards. The Falcons cut disappointing defensive end Ray Edwards Monday night, and lest you think they acted hastily, consider that the best pass rusher in free agency in 2011 gave them 3.5 sacks in 25 games ... and got paid $9 million over 2011 and '12 for his work. Or, look at Edwards' production this way: He played 944 snaps at defensive end for Atlanta since the start of the 2011 season, and produced 3.5 sacks in those 944 plays -- none in the last 318 plays.
With John Abraham providing good pressure and Kroy Biermann adequate pressure, the Falcons clearly tired of putting Edwards on the field and getting nothing in return. Edwards reported to the Falcons in late July 2011, after having knee surgery during the lockout, and never was the player he'd been for the Vikings. On Sunday in New Orleans, he played on but seven passing downs. I got quite a few tweets from fans last night hungrily begging for their team to pursue Edwards. For what, exactly?
Careful Houston: Denver can play D now too. If Denver makes a deep run in the playoffs, it won't be solely on the strength of Peyton Manning's right arm. Have you seen the Broncos play defense? Von Miller in particular? Miller was a one-man wrecking crew at Carolina Sunday from his strongside outside linebacker spot, sacking Cam Newton once, tackling three other Panthers for loss and dragging Newton down while he ill-advisedly tried to complete a pass; it was intercepted by Tony Carter and returned 40 yards for a touchdown.
In all, Denver held Carolina conversion-less on 12 third-down tries. "Von Miller is just playing out of his mind,'' coach John Fox told me. "If he hadn't gotten hurt last year, he definitely would have shattered the rookie sack record, and he's playing even better this year.'' He has 21.5 sacks in his first 24 pro games.
Miller's had help; Denver's allowed just 289 yards, on average, in beating the Saints, Bengals and Panthers in the last three weeks. With the news that fellow pass rusher Elvis Dumervil (seven sacks, five forced fumbles) has a strained shoulder but not serious damage -- he hurt it Sunday in Charlotte -- Denver should be in good shape down the stretch to pressure the quarterback.
