Pittsburgh Steelers "Short week demands a short memory"

A must-win game in Week 16 of the NFL season probably isn't the best time to cross off a "Cities to Visit" list, but the Steelers have never played the Rams in St. Louis. They also can't deny the fact they were steamrolled by visiting Jacksonville 29-22 last Sunday - just four days from kickoff against the 4 Brett Favre White jersey
3-11 Rams. Can Pittsburgh respond? The team has played the Thursday Night game late in the season before, destroying the Browns 27-7 in Week 14 of 2006. The Steelers' very playoff lives might depend on it. The hard-charging Browns pulled even with the Steelers (Pittsburgh holds the tie-breaker) on top of the AFC North at 9-5, and their remaining schedule (at Cincinnati, vs. San Francisco) seems, on paper, a little easier of a task than Pittsburgh's remaining foes - at St. Louis, at Baltimore. The Steelers have lost four of six on the road this year. If anything, their recent two-game slide to New England and Jacksonville has varied not only in location but in keys to the opposition's victory. Patriots QB Tom Brady shredded the Steelers' secondary for 399 passing yards and four touchdowns two weeks ago. Sunday, Jacksonville manhandled the Steelers' depleted front seven for a Heinz Field-record 221 rushing yards. St. Louis may not possess the same kind of offensive firepower as the Pats and Jags, but the down-and-out Rams will try to play spoiler nonetheless. The Rams have been decimated by injuries all season, losing QB Marc Bulger, LT Orlando Pace, RB Steven Jackson and a slew of others for significant time. They've started three different quarterbacks this season (Bulger, Gus Frerotte and Brock Berlin), and they haven't beaten a team with a record over .500 going into Week 16. Still, short weeks test a team's resolve. Tuesday, for example, is usually a day off for the players. However, yesterday was technically Friday for the Steelers in terms of game preparation, and with the playoffs on the line, they don't have time to recover physically from the beating Jacksonville put on them.All Pittsburgh needs to clinch a playoff spot is one victory. A win and a Browns loss gives them their first AFC North title since 2004. A Titans loss sends both Cleveland and Pittsburgh to the postseason. Beating St. Louis is crucial for Pittsburgh, because arch-rival Baltimore is licking its chops at the thought of ending the Steelers' season at M&T Bank Stadium in Week 17. It's a position the Steelers can relate to -- they ended Cincinnati's playoff aspirations in Week 17 last year with a 23-17 overtime thriller at Paul Brown Dallas Cowboys jersey
Stadium. Either way, they'll have 10 days to prepare for the Ravens. How the Steelers use the four days between Jacksonville and St. Louis to forget about the Jags and Patriots will be paramount in their once-strong AFC North championship hopes. Neal Coolong is the author of Die Hard Steel for the Sports Cartel Network, and is a contributor to Steel City Insider.