Can the Steelers survive the injuries?

Danny Kelly: There’s a lot to unpack from another crazy week in the NFL, but one of the biggest stories had to be the injury, again, to Ben Roethlisberger. Is there any team more snakebitten this year than the Steelers? They’ve lost Le’Veon Bell already, and Big Ben is set to miss the second stretch of games this year. For a team whose identity lies with their offense, these are enormous losses, obviously, but Pittsburgh has managed to keep themselves in this thing nonetheless.

It helps that Antonio Brown is maybe the best receiver in football, and DeAngelo Williams perhaps the best backup running back in the league, but if Ben is out more than a game or two with this new injury, can the Steelers stay afloat with Landry Jones at the helm? In his two relief appearances this season he’s done really well (12 for 18 for 247 yards and two touchdowns), but his lone start wasn’t so pretty (16 of 29 for 209 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions against the Chiefs in a loss). Which Landry Jones do you think we’re going to get, and do you think he’ll be good enough to keep the Steelers alive?

Stephen White: Even with Bell out for the season there is a ton of talent at the skill positions for the Steelers. Hell, Martavis Bryant is a threat to score from anywhere on the field, and I honestly don’t think they have featured him enough the last few weeks. Landry Jones will have opportunities to shine, that’s for sure. And with guys like Brown and Bryant, it won’t even necessarily take hard reads or throws. Just get the ball to them in space and let them work.

I still can’t call it as to whether the Steelers can stay in contention with Big Ben out. It kinda looks at this point like Roethlisberger will be back sooner rather than later, especially with the bye week coming up for the Steelers. At 5-4, the Steelers have the same number of wins as the Jets with one more loss, which would put them both as the Wild Card if the season were to end today. Thing is if they lose to Cleveland, they end up facing the Seahawks after the bye and it may not matter who is playing QB for the Steelers in that game. Whether Big Ben or Jones, I imagine the Seahawks defense is likely to give the Steelers offense fits. That to me puts a lot of pressure on the Steelers to win this game because the Browns are pretty beatable. That goes double if Johnny Manziel starts that game.

Danny: Great points about the Steelers defense, and you’re right that “faltered” was probably not the right word in describing what the defense did in those Ravens and Chiefs games. In fact, digging into the stats a little bit more, Pittsburgh, even with that bad Raiders game, goes into this week with the 12th-ranked defense by Football Outsiders’ DVOA, an incredible fifth against the run and a surprisingly adequate 13th against the pass.

Much like what we’re seeing with the undefeated Patriots, everyone talks about the Steelers’ high-flying pass offense but forgets that part of the reason they’re having success is that their defense has quietly been pretty dang good. Credit goes to Mike Tomlin and Keith Butler for managing the succession of Dick LeBeau and as the team moved toward a more youth-oriented defense after the retirements of Troy Polamalu and Ike Taylor, among others. Overall, improvement on that side of the ball has been a big part of the reason Pittsburgh has been able to weather some of these major losses like Bell and Roethlisberger.