Time to Snap San Diego's Postseason Streak in the 'Burgh

I rewatched the regular season game between the Steelers and the Chargers again yesterday, and in addition to the obvious (Ben's head), I've compiled what I think will be the biggest concerns going into Sunday.

The Red Zone: It was the clear deciding factor the last time around. Rivers threw a costly pick at the end of the first half and Keading missed a field goal near the end of the 3rd quarter. The Steelers, despite outgaining the Chargers by about 200 yards, failed on a fourth and goal and settled for field goals. Something has to give.

Roethlisberger: The offense excelled (between the 20s, at least) in the first game with quick routes to shore up the opportunities for the ground game. And that without Heath Miller playing. If Matt Spaeth can do that well against the Chargers linebackers, I'd imagine he's primed to have a big game. Quentin Jammer did an excellent job man-to-man on Santonio, so I'd caution (more than usual) against those Bruce Arians "Fuck it, let's throw it deep to the outside" plays, at least until Ben has shown he's comfortable out there. If Ben is suffering lingering effects of the concussion, will the Steelers possibly bench him? I doubt it, unless he takes a particularly bad shot during the first half.

The I-formation: The Steelers were able to run on the Chargers without using it much in the first game, though I think it will be employed more in this contest, as San Diego, assuming the Steelers might be uneasy to throw early, will stack the box on Willie and Mewelde.

Tiny Darren: Teeny Little Super Guy gashed a weak Colts run D, though he faces a much stiffer defense this week on a field not particularly amenable to his cutback abilities. Nonetheless, he's all the Chargers have on the ground game with LaInsertInjuryHere likely out. One of the few things San Diego did well on offense in the first matchup was screens and I'd expect them to run a metric fuckload of them against the Steelers hoping to catch an attacking defense out of position facing a quick back.

Officiating: The good news is that it's not Scott Green's crew doing Sunday's game. We drew Jeff Triplette instead. Without even getting into what happened on the final return, the calls in that game were atrocious. A phantom pass interference call gave the Chargers the only touchdown of the game and the 13:2 penalty ratio was a little ridiculous. Rewatching the game, I didn't notice any such disparity in play to justify that gap in penalties.

Deep passes: Not that Rivers has anything approaching a cannon for an arm, but he's got some tall receivers (even if one of them shouldn't be playing) and a hobbled tight end he can float some jump passes to in hopes of them coming down with one or drawing a penalty. A rested Woodley and Harrison need to ensure Marmalard doesn't have sufficient time to get any of his big men down the field.

As I mentioned at KSK, I'll be at the game, so I may be a little slower than usual in getting the recap up. Here's to a joyous one.