The Steelers have a difficult task to accomplish when they meet the New England patriots on Sunday. They don’t have their franchise quarterback or their top defender. In fact, they don’t even have their second-best defender. Steelers fans cannot talk about anything else this week, not even the NFL picks and the odds, not when their team is facing such injury-oriented adversity.
The Patriots managed to survive without Rob Gronkowski or Tom Brady, so it isn’t impossible. The Steelers really need Ben Roethlisberger for the Sunday game. However, a torn meniscus in his left knee and the surgical procedure that will be performed to repair it, won’t allow Ben the opportunity to lead the Steelers to victory.
The Steelers do not have another game until November 6th by which time the rehabilitation might allow Ben to return for the match against the Baltimore Ravens. At 34-years-old, though, there is no telling whether Ben will recover in time for the Ravens game.
Even worse, Cam Heyward, who was sidelined because of a hamstring injury, might also not return in time for the Ravens game. And then there is Marcus Gilbert whose foot injury will keep him away from the field for a while longer.
Everyone is looking to Ryan Shazier to make up for the Steelers’ lacking roster; Ryan missed the last two games because of an injury but he will probably play on Sunday. As well as they have been doing, the Steelers are not in a good place right now.
Landry Jones will step up to take on Tom Brady on Sunday. However, it is clear that even the Steelers coach doesn’t believe in him, seeing as he allowed Ben to play on his bad knee during the Sunday game against the Miami Dolphins.
Even when his bad shoulder wouldn’t permit him to throw the ball further than ten yards in January, the coaches still preferred to let Ben play in the game against Cincinnati.
Even though Mike Tomlin had no truly positive words to say about Jones, Jones still won the backup job in training camp. He has some time this week to practice with the first-team offense.
The fact that he played so well against Arizona last season will give some fans hope, though, it is hard to see him actually performing just as impressively against the patriots.
The Steelers coaches didn’t gain any fans when they allowed Ben to continue playing in the Miami Dolphins game despite his injury. Admittedly, the doctors told Ben he couldn’t do additional damage to his knee, and it was his choice to continue playing. Either way, they have attracted criticism.
Some people think that Ben might have delivered a better performance if Gilbert was allowed to play, this despite the fact that the Steelers did just fine against the Jets a week ago without Gilbert. Ben was a physical mess by the time the Dolphins game ended.
The Steelers need to find a way to hold on against the Patriots. The Patriots were already doing tremendous work without Brady and Gronkowski; with those two stars finally back in the fold, it is difficult to imagine the Steelers holding their own, especially with all the injuries plaguing them.
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