Steelers Can Still be a Factor in AFC Playoff Race

The Pittsburgh Steelers were able to pull out a tough win over the Oakland Raiders in Week 9, but lost Ben Roethlisberger their starting quarterback to a foot injury in the process.

The win was tempered by the loss of their quarterback, but the Steelers are used to facing injuries and moving forward.

On Sunday night, Roethlisberger was diagnosed with a foot sprain and will likely miss two weeks, but not the rest of rest of the season as many had worried would happen.

Pittsburgh should win this week against Cleveland and then will have a bye week during Week 11, which means they could be 6-4 starting Week 12 and possibly have Big Ben back under center.

A win against Cleveland will mean the Steelers will be a big factor over the final six weeks of the season after their bye week.

The injury to Roethlisberger was not discussed by the players during the game. They were focused on winning and nothing else.

The Steelers are far from a perfect team, but can offset flaws with some flare. Defensively, they will allow some big plays, as evidenced by the many made by Oakland, but they can create multiple turnovers and did so against the Raiders.

The Steelers will not blow most teams out, especially if Roethlisberger is sitting on the sidelines. They need to fight and outmuscle opponents to win. Against the Browns, they will need to do the same and let the Cleveland offense to do the rest, as the Browns have been beset with offensive blunders this season.

Defensively, the Steelers as a whole played terrible in the Sunday win over Oakland. They missed tackles, let receivers get by the for big plays and easy scores.

Miscommunication happened too often, but Pittsburgh remains a tough hard hitting group, which has kept teams for going over the middles one many occasions.

Pittsburgh defenders made big hits on Latavius Murray and Amari Cooper. The hit on Murray caused a fumble and knocked the running back out of the game.

If Roethlisberger is able to return in two weeks and miss one game or two at the most, Pittsburgh has the talent to make a push for the postseason.

Pittsburgh is likely to face teams like the New York Jets and Oakland Raiders for one of the two playoff wildcard spots or the two spots could come down to just those three teams.

Regardless of whom plays, the players on the field all know it will be hard work, but they come prepared and look forward to fighting for more.