The Pittsburgh Steelers looked to be done in the third quarter of their third game this season. Already at 1-1 and playing the St. Louis Rams, quarterback Ben Reothlisberger was hit low and remained down, writhing in pain on the Edward Jones Dome turf.
Roethlisberger was eventually carted off the field, with many believing that his gruesome knee injury was going to lead to a season-ending diagonis. Instead, the finding was a badly sprained MCL, putting the future Hall of Famer out for 4-6 weeks.
Since then, Michael Vick has come in and gotten the job done, leading Pittsburgh to a 4-2 record. While Vick had been nothing special, he did his part, and now the Steelers are looking at third-string quarterback Landry Jones. Jones replaced Vick last week against the Arizona Cardinals (Vick sustained a slightly torn hamstring) and played well in the second half, leading the Steelers to an upset victory.
On Sunday afternoon, Jones will make his first career start against the Kansas City Chiefs, perhaps the most disappointing team in football. Many folks had the Chiefs as a darkhorse to make a Super Bowl run, but instead they sit 1-5 and totally out of the playoff picture.
Kansas City will be without Jamaal Charles and Jeremy Maclin against Pittsburgh, who have a torn ACL and a concussion, respectively. The Chiefs have been appalling offensively, mostly due to an offensive line that has allowed 24 sacks and playcalling that limits most passes to five yards or less. It has been ugly, and there is no reason that it gets better this week without Maclin on the field.
Pick: Pittsburgh 23, Kansas City 6