Upgrade Ward to four minifootballs if he is active on Thursday night

But….he has helped me win me three consecutive regular season championships, so I can’t complain too much. This week we are going to take a look at which players will likely perform well in Week 14. Let’s start with this Thursday’s match-up between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns.Pittsburgh Steelers Cleveland Browns (weather forecast: 20 F, 60 percent chance of snow, 30MPH winds) SteelersQB Ben Roethlisberger On paper, Big Ben has a great match-up against a Cleveland secondary that he torched for 417 yards and two touchdowns in Week Six. However, the weather forecast may make you want to lower your expectations for the sixth year star QB from Miami of Ohio. Keep in mind that there have been several great passing performances in worse weather than is expected in Cleveland. Also, Big Ben was born & raised in Ohio and will surely want to put on a show for family & friends. I’m thinking Ben has a field day in the snow and performs well in his hometown.RB Rashard Mendenhall The forecast for Thursday night’s game calls for the type of weather that any big bruising running back, like Mendenhall, prays for.

However, the game-plan might change a bit with the expected snow and winds in Cleveland. I expect Mendenhall to carry the ball at least 25 times and punch it in the end zone at least one time.WR Hines Ward Ward is very questionable for Thursday’s game after tweaking a hamstring late in Sunday’s loss to the Raiders. If he does play, he is most likely the best bet for a solid performance amongst the Steelers’ WR group Ward tends to play well in bad weather conditions. Upgrade Ward to four mini-footballs if he is active on Thursday night.WR Santonio Holmes Holmes has been on fire the past five weeks averaging nearly seven catches and 100 yards per contest while catching one touchdown in each of the past two games.

04/11 Shop for Montreal Canadiens Tickets performing in TD Garden. Montreal Canadiens is performing in Boston. Montreal Canadiens tickets

04/11 Find Boston Bruins Tickets performing in TD Garden. Boston Bruins is performing in Boston. Boston Bruins tickets

04/11 Buy Washington Capitals Tickets performing in Madison Square Garden, 1. Washington Capitals is performing in New York, Tampa and Baltimore. Washington Capitals tickets

As of now, it looks like Ward will be a ‘no-go’ for Thursday, making Holmes the default go-to-guy for Big Ben. Look for Holmes to put up another good performance for the Steelers, who are in dire need of a win to keep their diminishing playoff hopes alive.WR Mike Wallace Wallace, who has shown a great deal of promise this season, has cooled off in recent weeks.

He’s recorded only five catches in his last four games with a big goose-egg two weeks ago at Baltimore. With Ward likely out for this week’s game, Wallace will be pushed into the starting lineup for the black & gold and has the speed to get behind the Browns’ weak secondary. However, keep the forecast in mind before you start him as the weather may slow the game down quite a bit.TE Heath Miller Miller has only two catches in the past two games. He’s put up some good games this season but has seen Ward & Holmes garner most of Big Ben’s attention in recent weeks.

With snow in the forecast, this might be the week that Miller rebounds. Brady Quinn and the Cleveland Browns have put together a couple of pretty good performances of late and should be coming into Thursday’s game brimming with confidence. That being said, you can’t not play the Steelers’ defense against the Cleveland Browns in the snow in what should be a low scoring affair. Three weeks ago against Detroit, he threw for 304 yards and 4 touchdowns. Although, I am in no way, shape or form suggesting that you start the Notre Dame alum against Pittsburgh, I am suggesting that you consider him for Weeks’ 15 & 16 as the Browns are at Kansas City and then come back home to welcome the Oakland Raiders. Last week against the Chargers was one of those flashes that made people wonder why this guy doesn’t get more touches. In limited action, (he is sharing time with Chris Jennings) he totaled 97 yards on 17 touches and caught two touchdown passes.