Oct 23, 2015 3 min read

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Ben Roethlisberger in officially listed as questionable for Sunday’s game at Kansas City for the Steelers, but I don’t expect him to play.

He’ll be back next week against Cincinnati, but it will be Landry Jones in this game getting his first career NFL start.

It will be interesting to see how Jones reacts to what should be a very hostile crowd in Kansas City. The Steelers will not have seen a crowd like the one they will see at Arrowhead since the opener in New England.

Despite the Chiefs being 1-5, I don’t expect the fans in Kansas City to give up on their team.

So it will be plenty of silent counts for the Steelers, which also will be interesting given Alehandro Villanueva will be making his first career start at left tackle, as well.

Jones should be OK. He’ll throw the ball downfield more than Mike Vick did, but the Steelers still will be careful. Their recipe for success this season has been not turning the ball over and living to fight on another down or series.

That could especially be true in this one. Kansas City has 12 touchdowns this season. Five of those were scored by Jamaal Charles, and he’s out for the season.

That leaves tight end Travis Kelce, with his two touchdowns, as the team leader in scores. By comparison, Martavis Bryant has two scores this season – and he has played in just one game.

If the Steelers take care of the football and continue to keep the ball in front of them defensively – they’ve given up yards but not scores – they’ll be fine in this one.

Kansas City’s offensive line is terrible, having allowed 23 sacks this season.

Stephon Tuitt will be out of this one for the Steelers, as well, but the Steelers should be able to generate enough of a pass rush against a terrible offensive line to pressure QB Alex Smith.

If Jeremy Maclin (concussion) also does not play for Kansas City, that’s a plus for the Steelers.

I’ll take the Steelers to win a close one, 24-19 – Note, that was 24-20 on my podcast, but I’m making a slight adjustment.

As for Roethlisberger, it will be interesting to see if the Steelers use him as their No. 2 quarterback. I would expect that Tyler Murphy will be activated on Saturday from the practice squad one way or another, just to be cautious.

@ Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that center Maurkice Pouncey had not yet had the second surgery on his injured leg.

That surgery occurred Thursdsay in North Carolina. There are still no prognosis on his long-term prospects of a return this season, however.