The Pittsburgh Steelers defense is expected to be without three starters against the Denver Broncos: DE Travis Kirschke, ILB Lawrence Timmons and S Ryan Clark.

Clark will be held out because he has the sickle-cell trait, which could jeopardize his health when exerting himself in Denver’s high altitude. Tyrone Carter, a backup strong safety, will take Clark’s spot.

Nick Eason will start at left defensive end for Kirschke and will be spelled by No. 1 pick Ziggy Hood.

But nose tackle Chris Hoke has been taking more and more snaps at defensive end and could actually see some time there while Kirschke is out. Right now, he would only be used in an emergency if another defensive end were to get injured.

Also, Limas Sweed, who has been beset with drop problems, will be the fourth receiver against the Broncos. He is getting another chance because he has looked good in practice the past couple weeks, according to the coaches.

The Denver Broncos suffered their first loss of the season last week. NFL.com analyst Pat Kirwan and Jason Horowitz see if they can avoid losing two straight when they face the Steelers.

Steelers second-year wide receiver Limas Sweed, who has been beset with drop problems, will be the fourth receiver against the Broncos. He is getting another chance because he has looked good in practice the last couple weeks, according to the coaches.

As of now, the team will not announce whether they will allow him to play in the contest, and word is, they won’t make their decision till Monday. Clark nearly died following a game in Denver two years ago because of a rare blood disorder that is aggravated by playing in high altitude. While Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has not publicly said so, he is believed to have told Clark to sit out the game.

Clark had his spleen and gall bladder removed during separate operations and he lost 30 pounds after the October 21st, 2007, game in Denver, which ended his season. Many of Clark’s teammates told him he should skip the game.

Clark is not listed on the Steelers’ injury report because he is not hurt and he practiced all week.

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All you have to do is email the following trivia answer to matt@NFLGridironGab.com. Here is our question:

What TE Caught the game-winning TD in the Steelers Regular season upset of the Oilers in 1992 – Bill Cowher’s first NFL game as head coach of the Steelers?

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1997: (Home) W 35-24
1997: (Home) L 21-24 (AFC Championship)
2003: (Away) L 14-17
2005: (Away) W 34-17 (AFC Championship)
2006: (Home) L 20-31
2007: (Away) L 28-31

So it’s safe to say that in recent memory, Pittsburgh has had problems with this team, for a variety of reasons that go across both the Cowher and Tomlin eras and involve quarterbacks named Tomczak, Maddox, Stewart, Roethlisberger, Elway, Plummer, and Cutler, and two meetings in the AFC Championship game, with each team ruining the dreams of the other on their home field.

But the days of Jake the Snake and Elway are over, hello Kyle Orton. And the only figure that was there the whole time (Mike Shanahan) has been let go in favor of a new regime under Josh McDaniels. So far this year, the Broncos defense has really shown up as dominant, and they are currently 2nd overall in points allowed, 1st overall in yards allowed (8th against the pass, 3rd against the run).

This is Pittsburgh Steeler Territory for defense. What Denver has managed to do, with a new system, is hold teams and pass the ball. Their one loss, last week against Balitmore (this is yet another week in which Pittsburgh gets a team coming off a match-up against the Ravens) had the Ravens swarming, stopping Denver on all but 3 third downs, playing well against the pass, holding Orton with no TDs.

The Steelers two weeks ago against Brett “He’s Just Having Fun Out There!!!” Favre didn’t necessarily stop the passing attack (Favre had 300+ yards and hit 10 different targets) but they kept him from scoring and obviously the interception and fumble returns were the difference in the game. The Steelers were okay against the run, but not by any means stingy as one would want (Peterson had a decent game, but he was more effective as a check-down, ask Willie Gay).

The Broncos were not able to run effectively against Baltimore, who in turn were able to run more effectively than most teams, getting 84 yards on 23 carries, against Denver. Hey that’s nearly 4 yards per carry. Rashard Mendenhall has established himself at this point as the man, and so it will become very important to set up the Steelers passing attack with him having an effective game. C’mon, O-Line. Two weeks ago, Minnesota sacked Big Ben 4 times.

The passing game in the second half was mostly stifled–Minnesota had the ball for most of the game. If the Steelers O has troubles, is it possible to lean on the defense for another game? Sure. It worked last year all the time. But that’s a heart attack waiting to happen.

The Steelers have not been as good as usual against the pass. This has a lot to do with the pass rush on the quarterback. Ryan Clark is wounded. Aaron Smith is out. Orton has a good line, fast athletic receivers, but he’s not Fran Tarkenton.

I put my importance on this game on the Steelers pass rush. Somehow I think James Harrison is gonna get held a lot. The Denver Defense is at the top of the league in sacks (so is Pittsburgh). Every point will be important. I see this game tight until the 4th quarter.

Here’s the tidbit from PFT:

A Sports Illustrated poll of NFL players has found that Hines Ward is considered by his colleagues to be the dirtiest player in the league, with Albert Haynesworth and Joey Porter tied for second.

The question, “Who is the dirtiest player in the league?” was asked of 296 players during training camp this summer, and Ward, the Steelers’ wide receiver, got 11.6 percent of the vote, according to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Haynesworth, the Redskins defensive tackle who as a Tennessee Titan in 2006 received a five-game suspension for stepping on the helmetless head of Cowboys center Andre Gurode, got 6 percent of the vote. Porter, the Dolphins’ linebacker, also got 6 percent.

Rounding out the Top 5 (or should it be Bottom 5?) are Bengals safety Roy Williams, who got 5.1 percent of the vote, and Titans center Kevin Mawae, with 4.6% percent.

Now wide out Hines Ward is speaking out about Clark, and saying that he shoudn’t put his life on the line just to play in the game. “I know he wants to be out there but life is way more precious than football,” Ward said in today’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “When football ends, you can still go on and have a productive life. What Ryan went through the last time he was there, to see him lose his spleen and to come to find out it was because of the Denver trip … if it were me, I wouldn’t play. It’s not even a question. But I can’t speak for somebody else. I don’t know how he and his family feel about the situation.”

Clark has yet to say if he is going to heed the warnings and try to play in the game. He didn’t say it on Monday if he’ll play, and Mike Tomlin said that he and Clark will make that decision together. Clark should do the right thing, and put his family and his body first and skip the game. It’s not worth the risk of having another life threatening setback.

Do you agree?

For sure the teams win over the Vikings has opened eyes again that the club is going to be a force to be reckon with in the AFC come January, but at this point, are the Steelers really a “great” football team? I am not going to lie, I had a feeling of dread as Adrian Peterson ran over William Gay Sunday to put the Vikings in at least a position to tie the game in the final minutes before the pick six saved them.

They have had two fourth quarter let downs already (Cincy and Chicago), and it just felt like another one was coming as they were up 10 before they were able to pull it out. Where do you stand with this team right now after four straight wins and a bye week before going to Denver to play possibly another undefeated team (personally I think the Ravens are going to beat up the Broncos).

If I had to make a statement right now, and I think Mike Tomlin would agree, I would call the Steelers a “very good” team. They are better on offense than any year I can remember, but even with that Sunday were shut down a bit by a good defense. The special teams needs to get better, as shown by Percy Harvin, and the defense needs to close out games better than they have.

They are a very good team. Nothing more, and right now, by no means is this team great. That could change though with a few more wins.