Posted by ESPN.com James Walker
Following a second week of games, let's dig into the mailbag.
Jason Mills from Knoxville writes: How do you think the Steelers will fare with the loss of Brett Keisel on that D-Line? They were decimated last year with the loss of Aaron Smith and Keisel is just as important to that defense as is Smith. Can Eason and Kirschke fill the shoes of a player that doesn't get the credit as the linebackers of the team, but is probably just or more important?
James Walker: Good question, Jason. Word out of Pittsburgh is that Brett Keisel is week-to-week and that the calf injury is not as bad as originally feared. Without a doubt, Keisel is an important part of what the Steelers do defensively. But he's part of a five- or six-man rotation and others, such as Nick Eason and perhaps now Orpheus Roye, will have to step up. Fellow defensive end Aaron Smith also is playing tremendous football right now on the defensive line, which is a good sign.
Mark from Orlando writes: Can you please shed some light as to why an offense with Chad johnson, carson palmer, and TJ cannot even score more than 1 TD over 2 games?! From what I saw everything about the Bengals is bad so far, but the Defense can't be expected to carry the team or even improve at all if the offense doesn't gain over 150 yards.
James Walker: How is it going, Mark? I addressed Cincinnati's offense in this week's "Seven-step drop," but I'll give you the short version. Similar to last year, the running game isn't consistent and the passing game has dropped a couple notches from 2007 because of poor pass protection and receivers not getting open. Last year the team was one dimensional. So far the offense this year doesn't have any dimensions.
Matthew from Baltimore writes: James, in my opinion the NFL screwed up big time with this Ravens-Texans game that was supposed to happen. Why didn't they just play it at Baltimore, Dallas, or at a college relatively near by? Why did they underestimate this storm?
James Walker: I know you're a Ravens fan, Matthew. But the NFL did not want to give Baltimore an extra home game and take one away from Houston. The league would've faced more scrutiny for disrupting the competitive balance than anything else. The game also couldn't be in Dallas because the Cowboys hosted the Philadelphia Eagles Monday. It was an imperfect situation, so there was no perfect solution. Two teams lost a bye, which may or may not hurt. But in terms of travel and keeping eight home games and eight away games, the NFL kept everything intact.
Will from Huntsville writes: What do you see as Ray Rice's workload with the return of Willis McGahee?
James Walker: Rice received 22 carries in his first game, Will. That number will probably decrease to about 12-15 carries if McGahee is fully healthy. The Ravens want to utilize a two-back system, which is one of the hottest trends in the league right now. Out of necessity they went with Rice and fullback Le'Ron McClain in the season opener. Now the team can go back to the planned pairing of McGahee and Rice, which should be more explosive.
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