It appears Ben Roethlisberger will return to the pocket Sunday not only wearing the familiar No. 7 on his back but a target as well.
He might be back, but how healthy might he be? He mentioned having a setback last Thursday in practice, and the unbeaten Cincinnati Bengals no doubt will want to set him back a whole lot Sunday at Heinz Field.
“We know what 7 can do,’’ guard Ramon Foster said. “Our job is still going to be to keep him safe. He’s coming off the knee thing, and I’m sure teams are going to be aiming for it.”
Cincinnati has 17 sacks in three games, led by defensive end Carlos Dunlap’s 6.5, which are tied for the NFL lead. Dunlap lines up on the left side in Cincinnati’s 4-3 base defense, which means he will go primarily against Steelers right tackle Marcus Gilbert, who has not allowed a sack this season.
Roethlisberger wore a brace in practice for the first time last week and likely will wear one Sunday to protect that MCL knee sprain.
“We have to be on point, it’s not going to be an easy role, and he knows it,’’ Foster said of Roethlisberger. “We have to prepare as if he’s still hobbling …
“With 7 coming back, it adds more pressure. They’re going to be gunning for him, they think he’s still hobbling.”
30-point target back in play
With Roethlisberger back and with Le’Veon Bell and Martavis Bryant having served their suspensions to start the season at two and four games, can the Steelers offense aim for that 30 points a game coordinator Todd Haley set as their goal?
“I’d like to think so,’’ guard David DeCastro said. “We have all the pieces there. Obviously, we are down a little bit with the O-line.’’
The offensive line is without All-Pro center Maurkice Pouncey, who remains on short-term injured reserve but has had a setback with his ankle surgery and won’t be back anytime soon, if at all this season. They also lost left tackle Kelvin Beachum for the season with a torn ACL.
Yet they have all the other starters and key personnel back from last season now with Roethlisberger.
They hit that 30-point goal only once this season in a 43-18 victory against San Francisco at home in the second game. In all others, they averaged only 19.2 points per game.
“We should,’’ Foster said of the 30-point goal. “We’ve been missing a lot of pieces here and there. We have to score points, we have to finish drives, we have to make our blocks.”
Roethlisberger’s return should help all of that.
“Obviously, Ben’s our starting quarterback, so it’s going to change dramatically,’’ Bell said.
Key stretch of schedule
The reigning AFC North champs play the current AFC North leaders Sunday at Heinz Field. As they approach the midway point of the season, the Steelers will need to beat the unbeaten Cincinnati Bengals in order to have a real chance at repeating as division champs, although a wild-card playoff spot would remain on the board.
“They’re 6-0,’’ Foster noted. “We’ll see what happens with them. They’re coming to our place. I’m sure they’ll be amped up to go 7-0. They’re trying to be the ’72 Dolphins, so our job is to ruin their party and get a win in our place.
“It’s our place, an AFC North game, we can’t drop the ball.”
A loss would leave the Steelers 4-4 and four behind the Bengals in the loss column with half a season left. But it also is the first of three consecutive home games before their off weekend. With Roethlisberger returning, they would put themselves in much better position with a victory against the Bengals, because after that they get the Oakland Raiders and Cleveland Browns at Heinz Field.
Bell not used enough
In a game that was was mostly close, with a young quarterback making his first NFL start, All-Pro halfback Bell could have been considered the key to making the Steelers offense go in Kansas City.
He was that because he rushed for 121 yards, but he was virtually ignored in the second half Sunday in Kansas City’s 25-13 victory.
Bell had 17 carries, his fewest this season since he returned from a two-game suspension Sept. 27 in St. Louis. It also was the fewest since Nov. 9, 2014, when he had 11 in a loss at the New York Jets, not counting the game he left early when his knee was injured in the regular-season finale against Cincinnati.
Bell had 11 carries for 58 yards in the first half, when the Chiefs took a 9-3 lead. Yet, in the second half, he did not carry the football until the third series, with 4:23 left in the third quarter. Bell had three carries for 17 yards to help the Steelers only touchdown drive.
He averaged 7.1 yards per carry and did not carry it enough.
“Under the circumstances, we could not run enough so I am glad we just got out of the game,’’ said Bell, whatever that meant.
Yet down just six with Bell already having success with 58 yards rushing and a 5.3 average in the first half, the Steelers opened the second half with Landry Jones throwing five consecutive passes. He completed three, one for a first down, but the series went nowhere.
The second series of the half, still down by only six, started with Bryant picking up 13 yard after taking a pitch from Bell who had taken a handoff from Jones. On the next play, Jones threw an interception, and the Chiefs started their first touchdown drive at their 47.
Ed Bouchette: ebouchette@post-gazette.com and Twitter @ EdBouchette.
First Published: October 27, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
