A competitive, hard-hitting battle through the first 30 minutes. The Steelers defense continues to bend but not break, the special teams remain the team's most glaring liability, and the offensive struggles inside the red zone continue for another half. Oh yeah, Troy Polamalu's out for the remainder of the contest with a tweaked left knee. 

Despite all that, the Steelers are up by 3 and will get the ball to start the 2nd half. 

Let's Go Steelers!

1st place is at stake in the AFC North in the opening game of the second half of the 2009 season for both the Steelers and the Bengals. May the best team win. 'Nuff said. Here's to hoping for a healthy game on both sides and a sixth straight Steelers victory. 

Have fun. Scream, cheer and even curse at no one in particular, but treat one another kindly - even the handful of megalomaniacal Bengals that come to say hello. 

Let's go Steelers!

In case you weren't excited enough about Week 10's tilt with the Cincinnati Bengals for sole place atop the AFC North, here's a highlight video from last week put together by myself and BTSC's videographer kittoftheonvariety. Check out her feature on rookie Mike Wallace following Week 7's clutch victory over the Minnesota Vikings, as well as her brief demo on the nifty features of Sprint's NFL Mobile Live on the Palm Pre.  Hopefully BTSC will be able to get a few more productions out of her in the forthcoming weeks as well as in future years. Sure makes it fun to be visually reminded of why we're the luckiest fan base in the National Football League. 

Open Thread for Week 10 coming soon. Cheers. -Blitz-

by Ed Reinke - AP

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Want to learn to be a sports writer? There's a secret they don't want you to know. You are able to write game previews ("advances") in the same way each week. Just look at the Steelers. You can very easily apply this formula to every divisional game they play. Here it is:

In Week X, the Steelers and the <insert upstart AFC North team here> face off in a champions/challengers type of game. The play of <insert name of upstart AFC North team's quarterback here> has been outstanding, and these two teams hate each other, in particular the <insert upstart AFC North team here> despise Steelers WR Hines Ward. You may remember the feud that broke out between the <insert upstart AFC North team here> and Pittsburgh after one of the two Steelers victories last season. Now, Pittsburgh has beaten the <insert AFC North team here> in x of their last y meetings (x divided by y equals greater than 75 percent), but the <insert upstart AFC North team here> are ready to knock the defending champs off their throne.

Here's what our opponents are saying.

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Some picks for this weekend's intirguing slate of games in the National Football League. Check out which games are being shown in your market here. 

Denver (6-2) at Washington (2-6)

• Just about everyone has Denver getting back on track this Sunday against the lifeless 'Skins. I'm not one of them. I like Washington to snag a home victory against the Broncos. Pride is on the line for Washington, but more importantly, I'll think they'll benefit from not having Clinton Portis available. The Pro Bowl running back suffered a concussion last weekend, but he really was never in top form this year and Washington's offense has essentially been designed around him being a healthy workhorse. With him out, I think Washington will have a better game offensively than people are expecting. It also helps that Denver will be playing their second game in 6 days and we know what kind of whooping the Steelers put on them physically on Monday Night. I'm taking Washington. 

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We thought we'd just continue to use the midway point of the season as an excuse to roll out some more easy content for us to read and discuss as we wait for Sunday's pivotal AFC North showdown with the Cincinnati Bengals. Drinkyourmilkshake and I are handing out some fictitious awards, both good and bad, but mostly good. They are..

Offensive MVP- Ben Roethlisberger

Ben Roethlisberger is pretty clearly the offensive M.V.P. of the Steelers for the first half of 2009.  You could probably argue that Hines Ward, Heath Miller, or even Rashard Mendenhall should be mentioned in the conversations but all of these players have benefited from what Big Ben has brought to the table in 2009.  Roethlisberger is on pace for over 4500 passing yards, and 28 touchdowns and could break Terry Bradshaw's Steeler record from 1979 when he threw for 3724 yards.  If Ben Roethlisberger continues to perform at his current level he will not just be considered the M.V.P. of the Steelers offense he will surely be considered a possible league M.V.P. candidate.  -DYM-

Defensive MVP - Troy Polamalu

Since returning from injury against the Cleveland Browns Lions Week 6, Polamalu has helped stabilize the Steelers defense. In Weeks 2 through 5, the Steelers dropped two games and even in victory against Detroit and San Diego, the defense struggled in the secondary. When Polamalu returned, things gradually have begun returning to normal for the stingiest defense in the NFL last year. Pittsburgh has allowed just two offensive touchdowns since Polamalu's return - one against Cleveland and one against Minnesota. Polamalu also has intercepted a pass in two of his past three games, giving him 3 for the season in just four games of action. Last Monday at Denver, Polamalu helped tip the game in Pittsburgh's favor when he flew in to the Broncos backfield on first down, then intercepted a pass two plays later. What a special player. - Blitz-

Most Improved Offensive Player - Willie Colon

In my opinion, not one player has improved so dramatically this year than right tackle Willie Colon. I don't have sack statistics handy and I don't have the time to try to assess how many rushing yards have come behind his blocks in the running game, but I don't think too many Steelers fans would argue that they're thrilled to not be screaming #74's name on regular occasion, something that was an all too regular occurrence the previous two years. Colon is still just 26 years old, and with 42 games of experience under his belt, it's exciting to think that he still can, and likely will, improve even more. It will be interesting to see what kind of money he commands when he becomes an unrestricted free agent.  - Blitz-

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Just for fun, let's prorate some of the individual offensive statistics of the Pittsburgh Steelers now that we're exactly half way through the 2009 NFL season.  We'll do the same for the defense afterwards.

Santonio Holmes: 36 receptions, 590 yards, 16.4 yards per reception, 73.8 yards per game, 1 TD, 58% catch rate

• On Pace For: 72 receptions, 1,180 yards, 2 TDs

Hines Ward: 49 receptions, 646 yards, 13.2 yards per reception, 80.8 yards/game, 4 TDs, 77% catch rate

• On Pace For: 98 receptions, 1,292 yards, 8 TDs

Mike Wallace: 25 receptions, 427 yards, 17.5 yards per reception, 54.6 yards/game, 3 TDs, 61% catch rate

• On Pace For: 50 receptions, 854 yards, 6 TDs

Heath Miller: 43 receptions, 371 yards, 8.6 yards per reception, 46.4 yards/game, 4 TDs, 86% catch rate 

• On Pace For: 86 receptions, 741 yards, 8 TDs

Rashard Mendenhall: 100 attempts, 573 yards, 5.7 yards per attempt,. 4 TDs, 9 receptions, 78 yards, 8.7 yards per reception, 2 Fumbles

• On Pace For: 200 attempts, 1,146 yards, 8 TDs, 18 recetions, 156 yards, 4 Fumbles

Ben Roethlisberger:  185 - 262 (70.6%), 2295 yards, 14 TDs, 7 INTs, 104.1 QB Rating

• On Pace For: 4,590 yards, 28 TDs, 14 INTs

IX-With Larry Johnson's release this week it shines a light on the fact that if the Steelers had just listed to the fans and media throughout the years they could have a four headed monster of a back field that includes Larry Johnson, T.J. Duckett, Isaac "Redzone" Redmann, and Lorenzo Neal and get rid of this Mendenhall scrub.  Not to mention LeCharles Bentley is still sitting at home waiting for a call from Kevin Colbert and company.  Somebody always has to rain on the fan's parade and this time it is the examiner who argue that the Steelers should stay far away from the former Penn State standout.

X-Troy Polamalu and Coke Zero brought attention back to the classic Mean Joe Greene commercial with their reenactment of the commercial during Super Bowl XLIII.  But the classic Mean Joe Greene commercial actually won a "Cilo Award" for excellence in advertising in 1979 but Mean Joe was unable to attend the award ceremony and has yet actually receive the hardware for award.  In commemoration of the 30^th anniversary of the commercial Coca Cola has actually tracked down the trophy and they will present Mean Joe with the award before this Sunday's epic matchup against the Bengals at Heinz Field.  During the ceremony Tommy Okon, who was the boy in the Coke commercial, will be reunited with Joe Greene for the first time in years.  Below is the video for your viewing pleasure.

XIII-Beth Apone Salamon wrote a special tribute to her father and really all of Steeler Nation this weekend with her piece entitled "The Heart of a Steelers Fan."  Her father has a congestive heart condition that makes him sleep all day and night only to wake briefly to eat, and then back to bed.  There is one exception which usually happens on Sundays starting in September and hopefully continues all the way until February.  Her father a former Pittsburgh Press music critic, is alive and active every Steeler game and Beth's heartfelt piece gives the impression that it says as much about Steeler nation as it does her father.

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IX-In honor of veterans day let's look at this ESPN report about Rocky Bleier that previously aired before this weeks Monday Night game. Also make sure to read the story at ESPN.com. Happy Veterans Day!

X-Congratulations to Tyrone "Predator" Carter on his two interception performance that won him the AFC defensive player of the week award.  The award is Carter's first in his career and it certainly says something about the depth and standard of expectation of this Steeler team when a back-up safety is capable of putting in a game changing performance.

XIII-I was in attendance at last years' Monday Night game in Washington D.C. where Steelers fans took over one of the largest stadiums in the NFL and turned it from a hostile environment into a home-field advantage.  The reports from the game played on Monday night this year at Denver are quite similar and even more surprising considering the solid fan-base and the great start to the season that Denver has enjoyed.  Woody Paige of the Denver Post lambastes the fans for selling their tickets to Steeler fans. 

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Let's resume our weekly tally of the Pittsburgh Steelers performance in the red zone during the 2009 season. Once more, many thanks to Comcast's Red Zone Channel for sponsoring BTSC and the rest of the SBN football blogs this year. Not bad for the Steelers this week in the red zone. If not for Big Ben's pick late in the 3rd quarter with the Steelers up 4 and threatening to blow the game open, the Steelers would have had a dandy day inside their opponents' 20.

Week 9 Red Zone Efficiency:

3 trips; 2 TDs; 1 INT, 

2009 Cumulative Red Zone Efficiency:

27 Trips; 15 TDs; 9 FGs; 1 missed FG, 2 turnoves - 55.6 %  TD efficiency (+1.4%)  88.9 % scoring efficiency (-2.7%)