Giants-Steelers: Hold the Line

This week's Giants-Steelers game is shaping up to be an important midseason matchup, close to the Packers-Cowboys of last year.

Two 5-1 teams. Two teams that have become favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, due to injuries to other contenders.

Two QBs drafted in 2004. One, a first-round pick panned by many until his win last year. The other, a late first-round pick, the youngest Super Bowl winning QB ever, but one who has seemed to go backward, not forward, since a dynamite beginning.

The Giants are coming off a 5-1 stretch against only one team with a winning record, and that came in the first week. From here on out, they've got five division games, three of them on the road.

They also don't play a team with a losing record until Week 17, and by then, one more win/loss might be irrelevant.

At last check, the Steelers were favored by 1.5 points, which means that they are even teams, but the Steelers get the favorite since they're at home.

If there is one song that would describe the keys to this game, it would be Toto's "Hold the Line". As they sang, "hold the line, love isn't always on time."

Except in this case, replace "love" with "pressure on the quarterback," and you've got the key to the game—pressure.

Ben Roethlisberger was punished by a Philly pass rush, to the point where Byron Leftwich made his first completions in the gold and black.

Manning will be seeing Shaun Rogers in his darkest nightmares for the next few weeks and might have an injury to boot.

Can the Giants' defensive line, talented as they are, avoid another manhandling by an AFC North team?

Pittsburgh hasn't protected Big Ben all that great this year, but the Giants have been known to take games off.

The key for the Pitt defense isn't as much the line, but the linebackers. Not only will they try and cover the many receiving weapons that Manning has, but they will also have to avoid getting crushed under the tires of the Mack truck that is Brandon Jacobs.

The Giants have an incredibly potent offense, with Plax as a playmaker, Toomer or Smith in the slot, and a rapidly emerging force in Kevin Boss.

With the a three-headed monster at running back, the Giants can pound the ball or beat you in space.

I would hope that Bradshaw gets some touches this week. Get him some quick swing passes and see what he can do against those famed linebackers.

The Giants have done fairly well against the run this year, and with Parker out, Moore shouldn't repeat his performance of last week.

The key is forcing Big Ben to throw a lot of passes, hopefully while he is on the run. He tends to make mistakes when forced to throw a lot, which is the opposite of Eli Manning, who tends to do well when forced to carry the burden.

As far as home-field advantage goes, who really has the advantage? The Giants have flourishes in hostile territory, but they lost their last away game for the first time in a year.

Will the terrible towels and obnoxious Steelers fans rattle the Giants into false starts, a problem that has plagued them in the past and killed the momentum on many a drive?

We saw a so-so victory against the Redskins, and wins of varying qualities over lesser opponents so far from the G-Men.

We've seen a tendency for a Ben Roethlisberger-led offense to disappear for a game or two, most notably this year against an NFC East team.

Will Big Ben, easily more talented than Derek Anderson, carve up the secondary like Anderson?

Will Eli Manning continue to let the running game support him, making his throws when it's most opportune?

Will Eli Manning try and force the ball to Plax against double-and triple coverage that may or may not include the dread(lock)ed Troy Polamalu?

Can Mewelde Moore take the pressure off of Big Ben and let him throw under 25 times?

Obviously, there is no way to answer these questions until 4:15 EDT. But I can give you a prediction:

G-Men - 22, Steely McBeams - 13

Stay tuned next week, when I will break down the Cowboys-Giants matchup, using Toto's "All Out of Love" as the theme. Replace "love" with "Pro-bowl quarterback," and you'll get the point. Until then...