That’s almost half of the season.

When a guy gets suspended from the NFL with still a few more months left before the 2010 NFL football season begins, you can’t help but wonder what moves will that guy’s team make to save themselves from limping out of the gates come September.

That is the dilemma the Pittsburgh Steelers are in these coming months as they prepare to start their campaign this coming season without their prized quarterback who already led them to two Super Bowl titles in four years.

That’s right, the NFL finally suspended Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for six games after rape allegations were thrown at the young NFL star. In a letter to Roethlisberger, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said that Roethlisberger must adhere to any counseling or treatment that is recommended by the professional evaluators to help him make better decisions and avoid situations that can cause legal or other problems. A professional behavioral evaluation is mandatory for anyone that has violated the personal-conduct policy.

Also according to the letter, Roethlisberger may not attend any team offseason activity until he has completed the evaluation and the evaluating professionals confirm with the commissioner that Roethlisberger may resume football activities. If so cleared, Roethlisberger will be able to participate in training camp and…

That’s right, the Steelers are probably starting to get sick and tired of all this shit their star quarterback always finds himself into during the offseason.

In case you haven’t heard, Ben Roethlisberger faced allegations that he sexually assaulted a 20 – year – old college student in the town of Milledgeville, Ga thus tarnishing his good and squeaky clean image.

The Pittsburgh Steelers meanwhile, are known for being a blue-collar franchise with a reputation for toughness without any tolerance for nonsense. It’s understandable that they are very upset with Roethlisberger and his recent antics.

The Steelers already tried to clean house and keep their reputation intact by dealing star wideout Santonio Holmes to the New York Jets for a measly 5th round pick after the Super Bowl MVP was suspended by the league due to violations of substance abuse policy.

Now it looks like it’s Roethlisberger’s turn although I don’t know if the Steelers will really trade the guy who already got them two Super Bowl titles.

But if they do, rumors have circulated that the Buffalo Bills are interested, but an even stronger possibility is the St. Louis Rams. The Rams hold the no.1 overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft and according to the rumors, the Steelers are keen on drafting Sam Bradford, a guy they consider to be a ‘’sure thing” as a franchise quarterback.

The Rams may offer their no.1 pick as well as their 2011 first round pick, and perhaps even more, in exchange for Roethlisberger.

The Rams are desperate for a credible playmaker on offense…

Really? He is?

Yes, Ben Roethlisberger is once again making the headlines prior to the start of the football season. This time, it doesn’t involve motorcycle accidents, Super Bowl hangovers or any other shit Big Ben usually finds himself into. This time, coming to the 2010 NFL football season, Roethlisberger is trying to rebuild his image after sexually assaulting a 20 – year – old college student.

Wow. First it was Tiger Woods and now Ben Roethlisberger? Jeez… These guys who have these once squeaky clean reputations are really getting hammered these days huh? Who’s next? Jerry Sloan?

Roethlisberger, who luckily won’t be facing criminal charges after the 20 – year – old student gave up on the case since her accusations could not be proven beyond reasonable doubt, apologized to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the NFL, and more importantly, to football fans for the entire fiasco.

Oh yes, Roethlisberger will walk, just like Kobe Bryant did a few years ago after the alleged rape incident in Colorado. Huge stars like them usually get a free get – out – of – jail card.

”Here the overall circumstances do not lead to a viable prosecution. If they did, I would be pursuing it vigorously,” Ocmulgee Circuit District Attorney Fred Bright said. ”We do not prosecute…

I’m hoping the Patriots will have the balls to go ahead and sign this dude.

The 2010 NFL football season is shaping up to be an interesting one to say the least with two of the league’s biggest and longest tenured running backs parting ways with their respective teams.

The releases of LaDainian Tomlinson and Brian Westbrook have set off a firestorm of rumors and speculation about where the two backs might end up next season. Both still have a little something left in the tank, so it’s just a matter of finding the right team for their skill sets.

As far as LaDainian Tomlinson is concerned, he limits his prospective employment to teams capable of winning the Super Bowl. He has reduced his options to a very small field. And then he’s going to have to take a very modest contract, given his performance level in 2009 (730 rushing yards, 3.3 per carry, 20 catches) for a very good team.

There is a reasonably good chance no Super Bowl contender will offer Tomlinson, 30, that chance. But history says that Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots might, or Mike Shanahan in Washington could. This is not to say the Redskins are a Super Bowl contender.

It appears that unless Tomlinson is willing to join a team like the Cincinnati Bengals or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his best chance to reach the Super Bowl still might be through San Diego. And he just cashed out there.

One good fit for Tomlinson are the New Orleans Saints…

But for how long?

In case you haven’t noticed, the New England Patriots haven’t been Patriot – like lately this 2009 NFL football season. They are just barely leading a football division they should’ve been dominating with both the Dolphins and the Jets breathing down their necks.

Last Sunday though, the New England Patriots may have discovered an even bigger issue they need to address. There’s some sort of dissension going on withing the mighty Patriots contingent and as far as some Panthers are concerned, Randy Moss is in the middle of it.

Despite losing to the New England Patriots last Sunday, 20-10, two of the Carolina Panthers secondary, specifically Chris Gamble and Chris Harris, felt the need to call out Moss, saying that the Patriots wide receiver wasn’t giving his all for his team last Sunday.

”We knew he was going to shut it down,” Chris Gamble said. ”That’s what we wanted him to do. That’s what we did. He’d just give up a lot. Slow down, he’s not going deep, not trying to run a route. You can tell, his body language.”

”I know everyone who plays against him, they can sense that. Once you get into him in the beginning of the game, he shuts it down a little bit.”

Rumors claim that this was the result of Moss getting sent home…

Uh oh.

It looks like the New England Patriots are having all sorts of problems this 2009 NFL football season. After suffering back to back losses in the last two weekends, the Patriots finally snapped their losing streak last Sunday. However, despite beating the Carolina Panthers 20-10 to get themselves back in the win column, it seems they still have one huge issue they need to address.

Apparently, Randy Moss had the worst performance of his three-year marriage with the Patriots and according to two Panthers corners, the enigmatic Patriots receiver did it on purpose. Yikes.

Randy Moss finished with just one catch for 16 yards, one dropped pass, one lost fumble and a fourth quarter false start penalty for the New England Patriots. Moss was so terrible last Sunday that the home crowd at Foxboro started to boo him. Was it because of the fantastic defense shown by the Panthers or did Moss just stopped playing?

In case you didn’t know, Moss was sent home by head coach Bill Belichick when the receiver was late for a team practice in preparation for this contest against Carolina. The Patriots lost two in a row and were in desperate need of a win then and being late for an agitated Belichick is definitely something you don’t want to do. Moss did, Belichick sent him packing and the receiver’s ego was hurt since.

Against the Carolina Panthers, Randy Moss looked like…

Holy mother of god, the Steelers have now sunk to a whole different level.

In what is shaping up to be one of the most disappointing runs in the 2009 NFL football season, the Pittsburgh Steelers lost their fifth straight game to drop to 6-7 and possibly out of the playoff race.

Yes, the Pittsburgh Steelers, a year removed from winning Super Bowl XLIII, have now lost FIVE straight games. However, what’s even more unsettling is the fact that the champions lost to a team that shouldn’t have any business beating them in the first place and in case you missed the headline, yes, the Steelers lost to the freaking Cleveland Browns.

You read it, the Cleveland Browns, a team ten games below .500, kicked the defending champions’ butts Thursday night to put an end to the Steelers’ hopes of defending their title in the playoffs. The last time something like this happened to the champions was almost four years ago when the Super Bowl XL champions had a sub par campaign the following season.

Guess what, that team was the Pittsburgh Steelers too.

Of course, all is not lost for Ben Roethlisberger and the rest of the Steelers, yet. They are 6-7 and still have a shot at a wild card playoff spot. However, they need other wild card hopefuls to start losing games the way they’ve been losing too.

Five weeks ago, the Steelers were 6-2 and looking at a return to the Super Bowl. Unexpected losses to the Kansas City Chiefs (that was bad…), the Oakland Raiders (that was worse…) and the Cleveland Browns (now that’s just pushing it…) pushed this team over the edge and on the brink of not even making the playoffs.

It’s humiliating and the Steelers…

Can the defending champions get the chance to defend their title?

That is the question some football fans are wondering coming to Week 14 of the 2009 NFL football season. You see, the defending champions Pittsburgh Steelers are in danger of missing out on the opportunity to defend the championship they won last February. Hell, with the rate the Steelers are going, they could even MISS THE PLAYOFFS. Ouch.

At 6-6, the Pittsburgh Steelers are in danger of not even making the postseason. They have dropped four straight and are still trailing the Broncos and the Jaguars for that wild card playoff spot.

Luckily, they have the Cleveland Browns, a team that has lost seven straight to put themselves in a three-way tie with the Buccaneers and the Rams for the worst record in the league at 1-11. The Browns are going nowhere and the Steelers shouldn’t have a problem taking care of business this Thursday night to kick off Week 14.

Besides, despite losing last Sunday, Ben Roethlisberger had a quarterback rating of over 100.0 for the second straight game. And since he had a whopping 417 yards and two touchdowns the last time he played the Browns, I don’t expect him to have a bad game against this team.

Steelers by 14 points on Thursday Night Football.

Next, we have a classic NFC East rivalry on Sunday Night Football where…

Because a player like him certainly won’t settle being a gadget player for the remaining days of his career.

And in case you haven’t notice, that’s exactly how his new team, the Philadelphia Eagles, have been using him this 2009 NFL football season, a gadget player. For a guy who was once the highest paid quarterback in the NFL, it’s probably eating him inside the way the Eagles have been using him, sparingly, in the field.

And if the Philadelphia Eagles don’t give him more minutes on the playing field soon, the guy they signed for $ 1.6 million could move to Buffalo. You see, the Bills were one of those teams that initially wanted him anyway and since the Bills are struggling at the quarterback position, getting Vick makes sense.

Tony Dungy, the former NFL head coach who helped lead the Indianapolis Colts to win Super Bowl XLI and now serving as the adviser to Michael Vick (among others…) claims that Vick could end up in Buffalo since the Bills and Michael Vick ”talked originally” when his man was still looking for a job in the NFL.

Vick could definitely help the Buffalo Bills, one way or another, since he is a lot better than anybody they have at quarterback in Buffalo.

”I told Michael to just worry about this year,” Tony Dungy said. ”It’s technically up to Philadelphia. If they want him back, he has to stay there. If they don’t, there are some teams looking for quarterbacks; Cleveland, St. Louis and Washington.”

”But I think a dark horse is Buffalo. They talked…”

This week, we’ll go across the border, in Canada.

Because Week 13 of the 2009 NFL football season will kick off in Toronto where the New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills will renew their AFC East rivalry on Thursday Night Football.

That’s right, the Buffalo Bills, trying to reach out to fans across Lake Ontario, is scheduled to play a total of five contests in Toronto, one per season through 2012. Unfortunately, the experiment did not begin well last year, with many in attendance supporting the opposing team in the Bills’ 16-3 loss to the Miami Dolphins on December 7.

On the verge of four straight losing seasons with a 3-7 mark, the Bills gave their home fans reason to smile with a 31-14 win over Miami last Sunday.

After averaging 12.3 points in the previous eight games, Buffalo broke out with 24 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, including a 51-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Terrell Owens, the second time the duo hooked up for a lengthy score in the last two weeks.

As far as the New York Jets are concerned, rookie Mark Sanchez will look to bounce back on Thursday as he has continued to struggle, tossing only two touchdowns against seven interceptions in the last three games. Sanchez was 13 of 17 for 154 yards and just one interception Sunday, enabling the defense to carry the Jets to a 17-6 victory over Carolina to snap a three-game losing streak.

Will that be enough to beat the Bills? We’re giving…