The Steelers will practice today from 1pm-3pm ET.
-Ben Roethlisberger by the numbers this week… A 300-yard passing game would be the 30th of his career… He is three regular season wins away from 100 in his career… Needs 117 yards passing to eclipse 35,000 all-time which would make him just the 12th QB to reach that milestone with one team.
-Injury Updates: Both Dri Archer and Ramon Foster were full participants in practice yesterday. Heath Miller, Brett Keisel and Troy Polamalu were given the day off while Darrius Heyward-Bey was out with an illness.
-One of the hidden stats that many fans don’t pay much attention is where the opposition starts following kickoffs. Right now Steelers’ opponents are starting at the 19 yard-line. That’s the second best rank in the league and is great because a young defense needs all the help they can get.
-For all of my bashing of the Steelers’ defense, they rank third in the NFL in terms of third-down conversion stops. They are giving up first downs at a rate of just 31%.
-Le’Veon Bell leads the NFL with 461 yards from scrimmage.
-Several Steelers’ players have already commented about Tampa Bay being 0-3 and that they can relate. This is a good sign in my opinion because it tells me they aren’t taking this team lightly. I hope…
-Sean Spence will in fact get the start for the injured Ryan Shazier on Sunday. Talk about a story coming full circle… Had Spence never gotten hurt it’s likely Shazier wouldn’t have been drafted by the Steelers. Either way, Spence deserves this start and will play well.
-William Gay will start in place of Ike Taylor but will still cover the slot in nickel and dime situations. That means Brice McCain, Antwon Blake and possibly B.W. Webb will see time.
-Shamarko Thomas will not play the nickel. Mike Tomlin said they haven’t worked him there this year. Not sure why this kid isn’t seeing the field more.
Marc Uhlmann writes for and co-owns www.steelcityblitz.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteelDad and the website @SCBlitz. Check us out on Facebook at facebook.com/steelcityblitz and on Fancred.com. You can hear him weekly during the season on Trib-Live Radio Steelers Pre-Game
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