Steelers Can Win Without Ben Roethlisberger on Thursday, Future More Uncertain

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger suffered an MCL sprain and a bone bruise to his left knee in the team's 12-6 defeat of the St. Louis Rams in Week 3. Though there is no official timetable for his return, it is expected that Roethlisberger will miss somewhere between four and six games with the injury, and he is already ruled out of Thursday night's game against the rival Baltimore Ravens.

Roethlisberger is "frustrated" about his injury and his inability to play, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Mark Kaboly. But he's also relieved—relieved it wasn't a more serious injury, one that could have cost him the entire 2015 season.

Through two games and change, Roethlisberger completed 75.3 percent of his 89 pass attempts, for 912 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. He averaged 304 passing yards per game and took five sacks. And now, that productive arm will be resting on the bench, with backup Michael Vick taking over quarterback duties for the foreseeable future.

Player	Atts.	Comp.	Comp.%	Yds.	YPG	TD	INT	Sack
Roethlisberger	89	67	75.3%	912	304.0	4	2	5
Vick	121	64	52.9%	604	60.4	3	2	19

Vick hasn't been with the Steelers long. He signed with the team on August 25 after Roethlisberger's backup of the last two years, Bruce Gradkowski, was placed on injured reserve. Therefore, his knowledge of the playbook is limited. Add in the fact that Vick has had only three-and-a-half real days of preparation before Thursday night's game, and it's clear he'll be seeing a truncated playbook.

But that playbook will have to expand every week as Vick becomes more comfortable with the offense, and vice versa. There are still major adjustments to be made, though, which head coach Mike Tomlin said (via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Ed Bouchette) includes "bringing the game to him and allowing him to play."

"We have to find what his personality and our personality is with him, letting him get a week’s preparation from that standpoint," Tomlin said.

There will be an additional wrinkle with the offensive line, as offensive coordinator Todd Haley noted on Tuesday that the line will have to adjust to Vick's left-handedness, as will the whole offense. 

Still, even with a short week of preparation for a quarterback almost entirely unfamiliar with the Steelers offense, the team can pull out a win on Thursday. And it's because the Ravens have opened the year 0-3, the first time they've done so in franchise history.

Right now, Baltimore's defense ranks 29th in passing yards allowed and 19th in passing touchdowns. While this doesn't mean that Vick will automatically light the Ravens up, it does allow for one key opening for him in the passing game—taking advantage of the Steelers' ability to create yards after the catch.

Vick excels at throwing quick passes to his first reads, whether that is receiver Antonio Brown or running back Le'Veon Bell, and those two can take care of the rest of the yards required.

Currently, the Steelers offense has totaled 217 yards after the catch through three games, 117 of which belong to Brown. Bell currently has zero yards after the catch, but he has only been back from his two-game suspension for one week. And last year, Bell led the Steelers in after-catch yardage, with 723.

Bell being used as a receiver on Thursday will be key, because the Ravens are doubtlessly going to try to limit the damage he can do as a rusher. The Ravens run defense is one of the team's few bright spots presently, ranking seventh in yards and 10th in scoring.

With Vick under center, the Ravens are right to expect a heavy dose of Bell on Thursday and to focus on stopping him. As a result, run yardage may not be Bell's biggest contribution this week.

Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

But run yardage won't be easy for the Ravens to achieve on offense either. Currently, the Ravens are averaging 72.7 rushing yards per game. Combine that with a Steelers' defensive front seven that has been getting better every week, and the sledding could be just as tough for Baltimore backs Justin Forsett, Lorenzo Taliaferro and Buck Allen.

As long as the Ravens struggle to advance the ball in the passing game—which may not be the case, given the Steelers secondary—Pittsburgh has enough tools to win the game on Thursday, especially with home-field advantage. However, it's not as much of a slam dunk with Vick in for Roethlisberger, and even an 0-3 Ravens team cannot be underestimated, given the rivalry between the two teams.

But this may be the Steelers' best chance of winning without Roethlisberger. If he is out for the full six weeks, that puts him in line to return in either Week 9 against the Oakland Raiders or Week 10 against the Cleveland Browns. It's also possible that he'll stay sidelined through Pittsburgh's Week 11 bye, which means a road game against the Seattle Seahawks would mark Roethlisberger's return.

And current win-loss records aside, the Steelers' upcoming Roethlisberger-less weeks are going to be tough ones. After the Ravens is a Monday night road game against the San Diego Chargers, a home contest against the undefeated Arizona Cardinals, another trip on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs and then back to Pittsburgh to face the currently 3-0, division-leading Cincinnati Bengals.

None of these teams were easy outs even with a healthy Roethlisberger, and now they look even more challenging with Vick in his place. The Steelers will need everyone to step up, particularly the defense, in order to maintain a winning record.

Vick is in his 30s, but he still has mobility to trip up opposing defenses. He also has a history of injuries of his own, but that's where the similarities between him and Roethlisberger end. There will need to be compensation at all non-quarterback positions to make Vick's brief tenure as starter a success.

Thursday's game against the Ravens is a winnable one for the Steelers, as long as they handle this new situation carefully and intelligently. But the weeks between Thursday night and Roethlisberger's eventual return are going to be major challenges for the Steelers. All they can do is take it one game at a time and hope the hole isn't too deep for Roethlisberger to dig them out of when he comes back.