Titanic Surprise in Tennessee Too Much For Pittsburgh?

How long will the odds makers continue to favor the reeling Steelers, whose offensive line is perhaps the most ofFENsive it has ever been?  Until the “real” Steelers show up, as they have only once in the first four weeks of the season? 

This Sunday’s game is a matchup of two teams that appear to be headed in opposite directions.  The Titans are 3-1, playing better than anyone thought they would, and proving that Matt Hasselbeck is not finished as an NFL quarterback (and just how bad the rest of the Seahawks were last year and still are). 

The Steelers aren’t even the best 2-2 team, as the offensive line problems cause about three-fourths of the team’s chronic issues: an inability to run the ball effectively; pass protection for a quarterback who is thankfully one of the best at eluding the pass rush; and injuries to the backfield.  The other major injury to former defensive player of the year James Harrison (broken orbital bone…seriously?) could make the fourth major problem of stopping the run even worse! 

The Steelers are 22nd in rush defense, the lowest it's been since 1999.  Fortunately, Larry Foote was brought back to the team and should fill in nicely for the inside spot vacated by Lawrence Timmons, who will take over Harrison’s outside position. 

Timmons has been a star-in-the-making for two years and hopefully get to showcase his ability against an effective, yet old Hasselbeck.  Assuming the offense’s rushing attack is still stalled, he’ll be on the field so much that he’ll have plenty of chances.  What hurts more is the absence of tackle Casey Hampton.

The run game is just as affected by the loss of Rashard Mendenhall (hamstring) as it is the loss of third-down back Mewelde Moore, adept pass blocker and receiver.  This is because Isaac Redman will be able to handle Mendenhall’s workload.  It would be awfully nice to still have Moore to spell him occasionally, especially seeing an increased workload. 

The one player they could not have done without is Roethlisberger, whose second lower-body injury already this year is merely a foot sprain.  He will play and be only as good as his rebuilt offensive line, featuring former player Max Starks who was not signed this year, having gained a lot of weight in the offseason.  He has since shed the weight, signed a contract, and will even start the game only three practices later.  Let’s hope he helps lower the average of 3.5 sacks allowed per game average they have going so far.

Mike’s Picks for Week 4 (11-4 last week against the spread, improving record to 17-12):

Kansas City @ Indianapolis (-2): How bad is a team if they’re not favored against a Manning-less Colts team?  Pretty bad, because Curtis Painter and his long locks will benefit from a low offensive output by the visiting Chiefs and cover. 
Arizona @ Minnesota (-3): Eww.  Arizona is fast enough to use the Viking’s turf to their advantage and send what has to be the eleventeenth message to Minnesota regarding the fact that Donovan McNabb’s days as an NFL quarterback are over. 
Philadelphia @ Buffalo (+3): Has Michael Vick ever visited Buffalo?  Shame on the league for not scheduling this game later when there is more potential for true Bills football weather.  This game will be much closer than the Wonderlic scores of the starting quarterbacks.
Oakland @ Houston (-5.5): Speaking of shootouts…Oakland only covers because the Texans will have to make do without the second-best big target in the game in Andre Johnson. 
New Orleans @ Carolina (+6.5): Highest scoring affair of the week, but New Orleans plays enough defense to hold off Cam Newton’s rise to stardom a little longer. 
Cincinnati @ Jacksonville (-2): My “who cares?” game of the week.  Jacksonville by enough, but simply because I can’t stand the Bungles. 
Tennessee @ Pittsburgh (-3): I have to go with my team in what hopefully becomes a statement game in front of a hungry, towel-waving crowd.
Seattle @ NYGiants (-9.5): Giants.  A lot.
Tampa Bay @ San Francisco (-3): The Niners are just bad.  I really don’t understand this line. 
NYJets @ New England (-8): I wouldn’t pick any team that looked as bad as the Jets did last week, even if they did face an actual defense last week, as opposed to this week, when Sanchez faces a large slice of swiss cheese.  That said, New England’s offense is just too good.
San Diego @ Denver (+3.5): San Diego’s 3-1 record isn’t all that impressive, but it’s impressive enough here to win by at least ten.
Green Bay @ Atlanta (+6): The Hawks are going to get their coach fired and it could even happen this week when they get torched at home.
Chicago @ Detroit (-5): Megatron and the Lions won’t have to come back to win this one, but it won’t be easy as Matt Forte challenges them with more versatility than their young and impressive defense has seen, even with having faced and beaten Adrian Peterson already.