Steelers Their Worst Enemy

The 11-0 Indianapolis Colts should soar to 12-0 today against the 3-8 Tennessee Titans, after flattening the Pittsburgh Steelers last Monday night, 26-7.

The Steelers did have one chance at Indianapolis, or so it seemed. Because Colt quarterback Peyton Manning is easily rattled, the Steelers could have hounded him into big mistakes.

When heavily rushed or confused by change-up coverages, Manning is prone to spectacular misplays -- the hastily thrown pass that veers wildly off course for an interception.

Instead, it was the Steelers who made two unprofessional mistakes -- on the first play of each half -- that quashed all hope for an upset.

On the opening play, before the Steelers could settle into whatever game-plan mischief they intended to make for him, Manning threw the ball over their heads on an 80-yard touchdown play.

The Steelers, biting hard on a fake run, had no defensive player back to guard against that kind of play.

On the opening play of the second half, the Steelers unwisely chose to try an onside kick, a play that was much too risky -- much too likely to boomerang into an error advancing the Colts into good scoring position, which it did.

The Steelers thus took two unnecessary risks and beat themselves with their own mistakes.

They led to the only two touchdowns Manning’s team could get on a night otherwise marked by four Indianapolis field goals and the play of the stout Colt defense.

Bengals vs. Big Ben

The Cincinnati Bengals will have another opportunity to take over leadership in the AFC North today at Pittsburgh behind Carson Palmer.

Smooth and efficient, Palmer is a good-sized passer who performs with little wasted motion.

His problem is that the Steelers, to whom quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has returned, are physically tougher than his team. Yet Palmer’s well-placed passes, which beat Baltimore last Sunday, 42-29, are keeping the 8-3 Bengals in the playoff race.

Mentally at the top of his game in his third NFL season, he is an excellent reader who has begun to lead his team in a Colt-like no-huddle scheme.

He is also a great scrambler.

On a day when five NFL quarterbacks threw for 302 or more yards last week, Palmer, who had the 302, completed 22 of 30 to overwhelm injury-depleted Baltimore, which was out of the game, 34-0, before rallying late in the second half.

All of Palmer’s touchdown passes were big-yardage plays, gaining 54, 30 and 27 yards when fielded by wide receivers Chad Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh and rookie Chris Henry.

.

Bears vs. Favre

The Chicago Bears (8-3) are emerging as a dominant team in December, which has the look of their toughest month.

In their next four starts, they’ll play Green Bay twice -- and Green Bay can still score -- as well as Pittsburgh and Atlanta, before possibly settling their fate against their closest division rival, Minnesota, Jan. 1 in Minneapolis.

The Bears have been beating second-tier teams with defense this year. And if anything is worrying them now, it’s the reality that their remaining opponents all have offensive potential.

Even the 2-9 Packers, who engage the Bears today in Chicago, can still make big plays with their familiar old quarterback, Brett Favre.

So the December question may be whether the Chicago offense can outscore better opposition than it has been seeing. With Kyle Orton at quarterback, Chicago has been passable but hardly powerful.

Typically last week, when his numbers weren’t impressive, Orton, after a Tampa Bay fumble, threw a one-yard pass for the only touchdown he needed to edge the Buccaneers, 13-10. He also had a couple of critical third-down completions. And his only interception was thrown in the last two minutes of the half.

Orton has been a stand-in this season for injured Rex Grossman, who, the Bears have often said, is the best quarterback they’ve had in years.

And if things get desperate this month, they’ll doubtless throw in Grossman, the former Florida quarterback, and find out once and for all whether he’s really injury-prone

Patriots Still Alive

The New England Patriots are hanging on in the AFC East with a 6-5 team that probably will win today because its opponent is the lowly New York Jets. Still, injuries have made the Patriots a shell of the team they were not long ago.

They regained enough of their wounded defensive players to slow the Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday but still lost, 26-16. Now the injury bug has spread to the Patriot offense, which played without running back Corey Dillon, some offensive linemen as well as wide receivers David Givens and Bethel Johnson.

When they lose their running game, most passers lose some effectiveness, and New England quarterback Tom Brady, though he remains the NFL’s best passer, is no exception.

Though Brady wasn’t terribly off his game in Kansas City, some of his passes were a touch high for the Patriots’ wee wide receivers, and the four that were intercepted, three of them deflected, made the difference.

Reduced to his fourth-string ballcarrier, Brady didn’t have enough running threat to pull it out.

He will, however, pull out the division title, in part because he doesn’t have much to beat.

And their coach, Bill Belichick, will have the Patriots ready for the playoffs, when their injury situation, whatever it then is, will be decisive in their bid for another Super Bowl.

Chiefs’ Offense Classy

The Chiefs attacked New England with one of the NFL’s most dynamic offenses, which looked carefully enough constructed to be winning championships with Trent Green at quarterback, Tony Gonzales at tight end, and now Larry Johnson smartly replacing injured Priest Holmes at running back.

The 9-2 Denver Broncos will invade Kansas City today with a team that has to be pretty good to be protecting first place against the 7-4 Chiefs and 7-4 San Diego.

On Thanksgiving Day, the Broncos didn’t look that strong at Dallas, where they won in overtime, 24-21, but that may have meant that the 7-4 Cowboys are about to rip the 7-4 New York Giants today and head for the NFC East title.

New Ram Quarterback

The St. Louis Rams unveiled yet another eminent quarterback last Sunday, a Harvard man, Ryan Fitzpatrick, who turned out to have a live arm.

To rally the Rams past the Houston Texans, who led at the half, 24-3, Fitzpatrick first threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Torry Holt. Then he hauled off and threw a really long one to Isaac Bruce for 43 yards and a touchdown.

Finally, in overtime, he reached Kevin Curtis with a well-timed screen pass that Curtis turned into a 56-yard touchdown play and an astounding comeback victory, 33-27.