Longtime Cold, Hard Football Facts favorite Ben Roethlisberger was voted to the Pro Bowl this year, but the passing game is Pittsburgh's clearest statistical weakness, as evidenced by a No. 18 ranking in Passing Yards Per Attempt. Remember, when the Steelers won the Super Bowl in 2005, they led the entire NFL in Passing Yards Per Attempt.

 

It's not so much that Big Ben doesn't pass the ball well. The problem is that he takes so many sacks, 43 in fact, among the most in the NFL this year. And, naturally, our team-wide look at Passing Yards Per Attempt takes these sacks into account, instead of letting them disappear into statistical ether the way most analysts do.

 

But sacks won't be an issue tonight, as Pittsburgh faces an opponent that's even worse in the passing game. In fact, the Rams pretty much suck in every single measure of suckitude, ranking in the bottom half of the league in every single one of our Quality Stats except for Defensive Passer Rating, where they're a rosy mediocre 13th. The Rams are also a brutal 0-6 vs. Quality Opponents (only the Bobby Petrino-less Falcons are worse this year) and have been outscored by 17.8 PPG in those six contests.

 

We like Pittsburgh to cover. But Bonzo went with Rams.