“Oh-no!”

“Oh-no!”

To steal a quote from my son Owen.

If you have seen the commercials for the new Disney movie “Chicken Little” you will understand what it feels like to be a Steelers fan this morning. Ben Roethlisberger is hurt and to all Steelers fans the preverbal sky is falling.

All of Steeler nation is waiting by their computers this morning, Googling Roethlisberger to find the results of this morning’s MRI on the left knee of the second year QB.

To most Steeler fans this could be the season. This could be the end of the year that they were finally going to make the leap from being the NFL’s version of the Atlanta Braves to being XL Champions.

It’s pretty easy to figure out where this is going. If there is ligament damage Big Ben’s season is over, if there isn’t he will be back this season.

Now for the Steelers’ chances if he is out . . .

If it is a hyper extended knee, it’s a few weeks and I think that the Steelers can persevere through the next few games with Charlie Batch at QB. Jacksonville at home, Cincy on the road, and Baltimore at home. With those 3 games I think that they can go 2-1 and be 5-2 overall when Big Ben returns.

If it is a season ender, then I think over the long haul this team can make the playoffs, but as far as making it to the XL Super Bowl, then I think that the outlook is very cloudy. The Steelers have a good team, but losing Ben for the long haul, that will be too much to overcome.