Week 12 Breakdown

I don't have fears of this supposed "bye week blues", I do have a fear of playing down to the opponent this week as our Steelers (7-3) face off against the Casselless Chiefs (4-6) First, I think we should touch on the myth that teams are getting killed after their bye weeks; prior to week 8 NFL teams were just 3-9 after their bye week, but that number has become more of an aberration since then as teams are 10-6, so lets not look into that too much.

The biggest news is that the Chiefs have had more substantial injuries than just about any team could handle, losing big name such as Tony Moeaki, Jammal Charles, Eric Berry and more recently Matt Cassel. This has forced the Chiefs to dip into thier roster to patch together a lineup. Former Pitt Panther and Steeler Tyler Palko will be in the starting lineup for the Steelers game even though Kyle Orton was claimed off waivers from the Denver Tebows.

The Steelers are 17-10 against KC all time, going 9-6 against them in the hostile confines of Arrowhead Stadium. The last match-up between these two in KC was the horrible and embarrassing 27-24 overtime loss in 2009.

CHIEFS SEASON STATS:
Tyler Palko- 29 of 44 277 yards 0 touchdowns 3 interceptions
*Second career start, lost last week 34-3

Jackie Battle- 95 carries for 436 yards and 1 touchdown
*Has one career 100 yard game, against Indy

Dwayne Bowe- 48 catches for 750 yards and 4 touchdowns
*Averages 15.6 yards per catch

Defense- The Chiefs are 23rd in the league allowing 365.9 yards per game and 25th in points giving up 25 per game. They only have 12 sacks but have an impressive 13 interceptions, two returned for touchdowns.

INJURY REPORT
Lamar Woodley- questionable; Arnaz Battle- questionable; Stevenson Sylvester- questionable; James Harrison- probable; Ben Roethlisberger- probable; Troy Polamalu- probable; Emmanuel Sanders- probable;

FINAL TAKE:
Ben has a fracture in his thumb but is assuring everyone it will not have an ill effect on his throwing, so we are all forced to believe him. On a serious note the Steelers need to make sure they are not over looking the Chiefs like they seemed to do in 2009. Run the ball, control the clock and let Ben heave the ball into the end zone; seems simple. I don't see a loss especially with the Ravens winning on Thursday, the Steelers need to win to control the wild card.

STEELERS WIN: 24-16