Steelers on QB revolving door

The problem for the Steelers is that they are already on their fourth quarterback of the season. We all know that QB Ben Roethlisberger will be set to start in Week 6 when he returns from his suspension. Quarterback Byron Leftwich probably would have started on Opening Day had he not gotten injured at the end of the preseason. His replacement, QB Dennis Dixon suffered a knee injury last week that will keep him out of the lineup for at least a month. Now, it'll be up to QB Charlie Batch, a long-time backup in the NFL season to lead the troops in black and gold on offense.

Last week in roughly a half of football, Batch only threw for 25 yards, but it is becoming more and more clear that the Steelers are just content to run the football three times and punt the pigskin if need be. Running Back Rashard Mendenhall already has 45 carries on the season for 189 yards, and Pittsburgh has accounted for an average of 32.0 rushes against 21.5 passes per game.

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This is bad news for a team that struggled last year to stop the run and was rated dead last in the league. The Steelers make no bones about it that they are running right up the middle quite often, meaning there will be a ton of pressure on No. 3 overall pick in the NFL Draft, DT Gerald McCoy to step his game up and control Mendenhall and the Pittsburgh offense.

The Steelers enter this game at 2-0 SU and ATS in spite of the fact that they rank No. 31 in the NFL in total offense (240.5 YPG) and just No. 21 in scoring (17.0 PPG).

However, as Head Coach Mike Tomlin should know, this wasn't a team built on its offense. Play good defense, create turnovers, and make some offense through your defense. It seems as though the worse the offense gets, the better the defense is for Pittsburgh. The team only forced one turnover but didn't allow the Atlanta Falcons into the end zone once in a Week 1 victory. In Week 2, with the offense held to just 127 total yards on the day, the 'D' came through with a phenomenal performance. The Tennessee Titans turned the ball over a whopping seven times on the day, as the men in black and gold proved once again that they have a frightening defense.

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Second year QB Josh Freeman has to be wondering if his life insurance policy has been paid up coming into this game. The Kansas State product has completed just 55.8 percent of his passes for 360 yards, but his 4/1 TD/INT ratio is clearly showing signs of maturation.

The Bucs have run RB Cadillac Williams into the ground this year, rushing him 49 times for 126 yards. That 2.6 YPC average could only go down on Sunday, as Pittsburgh is coming off of holding RB Chris Johnson to less than 40 yards after he had a dozen straight games with at least 100.

The Buccaneers have only scored four offensive touchdowns in two games, all of which have come off of Freeman's arm.

The Steelers have both won and covered three straight in this series, including a 20-3 triumph in Steeltown in 2006. The last time Pittsburgh was beaten in Tampa Bay was in 1998. Four straight have failed to reach the 'total' between these squads.

Still, the oddsmakers have lined the Steelers at minus one on the day, while the 'total' is the lowest posted all NFL season long at just 33.