Day After: Steelers Injury Buzz, & Statistical look at Run D woes

(Big Ben should wear No. 78 Jersey into Colberts Office This Week)

QB Ben Roethlisberger was still being evaluated of early this afternoon but a second MRI has revealed no fracture to his injured foot. The Steelers expect to have a better idea about his status as the week progresses and when the swelling has totally subdued. He is being diagnosed with a sprain.

The hamstring injury to RB Rashard Mendenhall is not considered serious and Jason LaCanfora of the NFLnetwork reports that the Steelers believe Mendenhall could be able to play against Tennessee. However, hamstring injuries are tricky for running backs and we’ll see how things play out this week.

A new injury to pop up is RB Mewelde Moore who was seen by reporters this morning in a walking boot.

The Steelers inability to stop the run and dramatic drop off from their defensive line is among the top storylines in the NFL after four weeks.

The Steelers are giving up 4.78 yards per attempt and it’s the front seven getting gashed for runs of 10+ yards that have really plagued this team defensively.

Pittsburgh has given up 19 rushing first downs, (by comparison the Steelers have rushed for 21 first downs on the offensive side of the ball) which is not a bad number but they have surrendered 9 rushes of 10+ yards and 3 rushes of 25+ yards (Arian Foster 42 yards, Ray Rice 36 yards & Ricky Williams 26 yards) highlighted by Arian Foster’s 42 yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter of yesterday’s game.

Foster who rushed for 155 yards, became the first running back since Curtis Martin (174 Yards) in 2003 to rush for over 150 yards against the Steelers.

Houston averaged 5.14 yards per attempt in Sunday’s 17-10 win and that mark might have been even better if Ben Tate didn’t go down in the first half.

Key numbers here is 5.0 + Yards per Attempt:

Week 1: BAL – Ray Rice (19 Car – 107 Yards – 5.6 YPA) | Ricky Williams (12 CAR – 63 Yards – 5.3 YPA)

Week 3: IND – Joseph Addai (17 CAR – 86 Yards – 5.1 YPA)

Week 4: HOU – Arian Foster (30 CAR – 155 Yards – 5.2 YPA) | Ben Tate (2 CAR – 20 Yards – 10.0 YPA)

The Steelers have been gashed for 20 rushes of 7 yards or more through four games. The breakdown goes: Week 1 (7), Week 2 (2), Week 3 (6), Week 4 (5)

In week 1, Ray Rice and Ricky Williams combined for two runs of 25+ yards and seven rushes of 7 yards or more.

In week 3, Joseph Addai had 6 rushes of 7 yards or more.

In week 4, Arian Foster and Ben Tate combined for 5 rushes of 7 yards or more and two rushes of 20 yards or more.