Landry Jones expected to start for Steelers (Roethlisberger: torn meniscus)

[long distance]

 

[Deus Irae]

I expect Ben will have a full recovery and be back quickly. In the meantime, this is a golden opportunity for the Patriots to put some distance between themselves and the Steelers.

 

[BradyFTW!]

I bet he only misses one start and comes back after the bye, based on this.

 

[Haterproof]

I loathe the Steelers only when it comes to football! Big Ben is one of my favorite QBs to watch outside of Brady! He's easily the 2nd best QB in the AFC! I'll take him over Joe Flukeo any day!

 

[BradyFTW!]

I am so unlucky. Bought four tickets for this game 6 months ago, have everything planned out with my friends. Now instead of getting a competitive game between the two top QBs, I have to watch a slaughterfest and a steelers nation full of excuses.

What a buzz kill

I've attended close games and I've attended massacres. I'll take the Pats absolutely murdering the other team any day, but I know lots of people disagree.

 

[NG Pats Fan]

good

 

[NG Pats Fan]

I've attended close games and I've attended massacres. I'll take the Pats absolutely murdering the other team any day, but I know lots of people disagree.

So would I, it's just I had such high hopes for this game, circled it on my caldender many months ago. Lots of time invested in this weekend for me

I was expecting a Brady Big Ben showdown with Brady pulling a 2010 and putting up 40 for the win

Just disappointing a potential terrific performance from Brady could get overshadowed by Big Ben not playing...lots of excuses

 

[PatriotsPimp136]

Isn't hightower playing with a slight tear of his meniscus? Can't afford to lose that guy.

 

[Le Numéro Douze]

Sucks for the Steelers and sucks for him. It is "good" for us... I guess. I would have preferred to face them with Ben in the line-up so we can really know what we are worth against them.

Still gotta win though. The boys cannot have their head in Buffalo when it should be in Pittsburgh. Oh well, BB will make sure of it, hehe.

 

[MainePatsFan26]

I might be in the minority here but I don't think this is such a big break for the Pats. We've typically struggled against QBs that we don't have much tape on and they still have tons of weapons on offense. I don't think it'll be easy.

Also, I'd much rather beat them at full strength. We'll more than likely have to play them in the playoffs and I would like to see how we stack against them at full strength. Big Ben is one tough SOB for coming back into the game and playing on a torn meniscus.

Can't wait to see this game live next weekend!

It really is a mixed bag. Last year we had a really tough schedule that left us battle tested, but also hobbling around worse than the cast of Grumpy Old Men. This year, I think the chief objective is getting the #1 seed and, naturally, beating the Broncos in the regular season. With the full week to study up on Landry Jones, I suspect we'll be prepared for whatever Pittsburgh plans to throw at us *fingers crossed*.

 

[meatface]

So true.

This is why Bill is always one step ahead. While people complain we use high picks on QBs, we actually have competent backups.

The Steelers on the other hand can't seem to learn from past mistakes, especially when their franchise QB goes down with an injury or two, year in and year out.

The steelers carry three Qb's and for some reason they have Landry Jones and Zach Mettenberger as the backups.

 

[Gronkowski123]

wow

 

[supafly]

Yeah, pretty much where I stand as well. I just want the win, and while after the fact I'd like to know the win was against a full-strength team, going into it I'd rather just have the easier path to victory. don't particularly care if they're at full strength or not when measured against that.

Agreed.

I couldn't care less if they beat Roethlisberger or Jones. I just want to enjoy a victory over Pittsburgh and this news helps a lot.

 

[supafly]

That sucks, this was supposed to be the best matchup of the early season.

I have an extra pair of tix that I was hoping to get rid of. While Ben's injury makes me feel better about our chances, the locals here aren't going to want to go now. Bummer. I could've used the cash.

 

[pats4life12]

Well this changes the storyline for the week. In our case, it is for the better. I just hope we don't underestimate him and take him lightly.

 

[nabwong]

The steelers' punter is gonna break all sorts of records.

 

[AtomicDawg]

This right here says it all, I think.

 

[mosi]

I am not taking any team for granted in the NFL. We lost to the Bills at home. We can easily lose to Pitt at their house

Agree but that game against the Bills was with a 3rd string QB with an injured throwing hand! Now, we will have little bit better QB playing....

 

[fnordcircle]

They will be without their HoF QB, of course it's a big break. Sometimes, I really wonder.

We're a matchup/tape team, man. How many times have we seen some rookie or perennial backup over perform against our defense because we lacked recent tape on them? More often than I'd like, I know that much.

Nobody's saying the Steelers are better without Roethlisberger, but this loss doesn't make the game a slam dunk for us.

 

[Ivan]

Well, to be honest, I was looking forward to seeing how our defense would be hold up when tested by an elite offense

Still a huge break though... I obviously want the #1 seed

Yep, exactly how I was looking at it. However the Broncos and Steelers both dropping their 2nd game's this week really helps, and if the Patriots can beat both of them it would give them a big advantage for home field in the playoffs as they would have the head to head tiebreaker on three of their primary competitors.