Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger won’t
start tomorrow when his Pittsburgh Steelers host the St. Louis
Rams.

Charlie Batch, an 11-year National Football League veteran,
will start in his place, Steelers spokesman Nathan LoCascio said
today in an e-mail. Roethlisberger, 29, is listed as
questionable for the game.

A Pro Bowl selection in 2007, Roethlisberger is recovering
from a sprain to left ankle sustained two weeks ago. He didn’t
practice this week after throwing three interceptions in a 20-3
loss at the San Francisco 49ers on Dec. 19.

The Steelers (10-4) have clinched a playoff spot and are
battling with the Baltimore Ravens (10-4) for first place in the
American Football Conference North division.

The Rams (2-12) are tied with two other teams for the
fewest wins in the NFL this season. Their starting quarterback.
Sam Bradford, is listed as doubtful for the game because of an
ankle injury.

Batch has thrown 60 touchdown passes and 47 interceptions
in 78 games with the Steelers and Detroit Lions. He hasn’t
completed either of his two passes this season.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Eben Novy-Williams in New York at
enovywilliam@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Sillup at
msillup@bloomberg.net

The San Francisco 49ers will look to rebound from their November 24 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in a matchup against the St. Louis Rams. San Francisco will try to clinch the NFC West division championship and a playoff berth with a win. At 9-2 this would allow them to clinch the division with still four week left to play in the regular season.

The Rams have struggled greatly this season and have seen a regression from quarterback Sam Bradford(notes). Bradford has not played nearly as well in his second season and the team is just 2-9 through the first 11 games. For St. Louis, receiver Brandon Lloyd(notes) has played very well for the team since they traded for him and is always a downfield threat. Lloyd has scored a touchdown in each of the last three games. Steven Jackson is also a very good player and is a threat in any game. San Francisco’s defense is playing historically well against the run and should be able to continue that this week. This will leave the Rams very limited offensively in this game.

49er fans should pleased to hear that fullback Bruce Miller(notes) is likely to return in this game from a concussion. Without Miller the rushing attack struggled against Baltimore. Miller will look to help open up running lanes for Frank Gore(notes) and Kendall Hunter(notes). San Francisco should have no trouble moving the ball up and down the field and should be able to control the game against the Rams.

San Francisco should be able to use this game and then final month of the season to improve the offensive line and other areas they have struggled.

In this game fans should expect to see San Francisco return to their style of physical football and control the game from start to finish. They are clearly a superior team and will prove that on the field. This is a big game for the team to show that they can mentally and physical rebound from a big loss. I thin Jim Harbaugh and his staff will have the team ready and they will respond to the challenge.

Prediction: 49ers 27, Rams 13

Kyle Rapoza is a Featured Contributor for the Yahoo! Contributor Network and grew up in Northern California rooting for the 49ers teams led by Joe Montana and Steve Young. Follow him on Twitter @kyler11.

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The Seattle Seahawks are headed to St. Louis to take on Steven Jackson and the Rams in what is sure to be a great divisional contest.

The Seahawks (3-6) do not have the win-loss record they would have hoped for, but they boast wins against both the New York Giants and the Baltimore Ravens. Tarvaris Jackson has been underwhelming at the quarterback position, but is starting to get more of his weapons rolling. In particular, Marshawn Lynch is starting to look a little more “beast mode” than he did in the early part of the season.

The Rams (2-7) are a different story. Picked by many to take the next step in 2011, injuries have doomed St. Louis and their talented QB, Sam Bradford, hasn’t been able to overcome. Jackson, however, has been a bright spot, looking healthy and rejuvenated.

Stay tuned as a live blog all of today’s action!

Game starts at 4 p.m. ET on FOX.

Fantasy football owners that need to take a risk in Week 11 should go with quarterback Tarvaris Jackson(notes) of the Seattle Seahawks. Though he had some struggles early in the season, Jackson has started to figure things out with the Seattle offense. During Week 10 against the Baltimore Ravens, he managed 217 passing yards without committing a single turnover. Now he gets to play against the weak defense of the St. Louis Rams, and becomes a candidate for putting up some great fantasy statistics.

It’s an understatement to say that Arizona has played really badly this season, and that could continue against a Seahawks offense that is putting it together on the field now. The Rams have one really good defensive player in Chris Long(notes), but if the Seahawks offensive line can contain him on Sunday (Nov. 20), this could turn into a blowout. The line has definitely stood up for Seattle in the last two games, as the Dallas Cowboys managed just 1 sack (none by DeMarcus Ware(notes)) and the Ravens also got only one sack (by Paul Kruger(notes)).

Jackson will look to spread the ball around on offense against the Rams, and having Marshawn Lynch(notes) coming out of the backfield on screens is going to help out a lot. Lynch has started to show why he was such a high draft pick by the Buffalo Bills originally, and he has had two straight games of more than 100 rushing yards. He will likely meet and surpass those statistics against the Rams, and that will force the defense to allow receivers to roam free if they don’t to keep Lynch under 200 yards.

It’s hard to pin down a receiver to pick up this week from the Seahawks offense, but someone like tight end Zach Miller or receiver Doug Baldwin(notes) might put up some really good statistics. Other candidates include Golden Tate(notes), Sidney Rice(notes) and Anthony McCoy(notes), but it all depends on which guys get a clean bill of health for the game. If the pass rush is lacking from the Rams, it will certainly free up Miller to post some of his best numbers of the season.

Jackson is a great quarterback to pick up this week if you are suffering through a bye week or this recent injury to Cam Newton(notes). The teams with byes in Week 11 are the Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Texans.

More From YCN :

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Sources:

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When the Broncos fired him as head coach last year, Josh McDaniels had an 11-17 record. That included a 6-0 start in 2009.
(Jeff Curry, Getty Images
)

GREEN BAY, Wis. — It was one misguided pass, thrown in one frustrating moment as part of one rough season.

But when the ball came to rest in the hands of Packers cornerback Sam Shields in the Green Bay end zone Sunday, it was another opportunity lost, another touchdown that evaporated, another reason for first-year St. Louis Rams offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to rub his face as if he were trying to make it all go away.

“There are always throws you want back,” Rams quarterback Sam Bradford said. “That’s obviously one I want back. We just have to find a way to change our mistakes into touchdowns. I think everyone’s comfortable with the plan. We just have to find a way to do better.”

When McDaniels was fired as Denver’s coach last December with an 11-17 record, the Broncos talked about restoring the “integrity” of a franchise with two NFL titles. They talked about rebuilding “the faith” of the fans and reconstructing the roster to “a championship level.”

But when McDaniels was hired by St. Louis coach Steve Spagnuolo to jump-start an offense on what had been considered a team on the rise, it looked like he had made out just fine.

The Rams were 7-9 in 2010, played for a postseason berth in the regular season’s final week and had a franchise quarterback in Bradford, a former Oklahoma star and the No. 1 pick of the 2010 draft.

Bradford passed for 308 yards and three touchdowns against McDaniels and the Broncos as a rookie, leading the Rams to a 36-33 victory in Denver.

Yet the Rams are 0-5 this season and rank last in the 32-team league in scoring, averaging only 9.8 points. Bradford is limping with a high ankle sprain he suffered on the final play of Sunday’s 24-3 loss to the Packers. He has been sacked more than any other quarterback in the league. The Rams gained 424 total yards against the defending Super Bowl champions but failed to score a touchdown.

“We’ve been able to move the ball

(Click image to enlarge)

up and down,” Bradford said, “but we just have so many mistakes, it doesn’t allow us to put the ball in the end zone. We’ve got to find a way to score touchdowns. The way we’ve played at times has been positive. We understand we can do that and there’s no reason, if we keep working, we can’t do that in the red zone, that we can’t score touchdowns.”

McDaniels has talked about getting it right, about the Rams trying to play their best football offensively in November and December. He has saluted Bradford’s resolve amid all the hits and emphasized the importance of Bradford continuing to stand in the pocket to make the necessary throws.

“We have to find a way to do better. Looking back doesn’t do you much good,” McDaniels said. “We’re going to find that formula.”

Even before the Packers sacked Bradford three times Sunday, Mc-Daniels said: “Every quarterback gets hit. And we want ours to be hit less, there’s no question about that. We’ve got to do a better job of making sure that happens. But that’s part of his job. He’s going to take some shots, and as a quarterback I don’t think there’s anything more satisfying than getting hit and making a play at the same time.”

Injuries have slowed the Rams’ progress. They lost wide receiver Danny Amendola for the year in Week 1 and lost running back Steven Jackson for several weeks after his first carry in the season opener.

The schedule has been brutal, with the Rams already having played the Redskins, Ravens, Giants, Eagles and Packers. Games against the Cowboys, 49ers (twice) and Saints remain. Looking for hired help, the Rams on Monday traded for wide receiver Brandon Lloyd, a Pro Bowler with the Broncos. Lloyd resurrected his NFL career when McDaniels brought him to Denver. He had 77 catches for 1,448 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2010.

“As long as we keep grinding, grinding in this system — we know it works — there’s no reason it won’t come soon,” Bradford said.

“Josh came (into the Green Bay game) with a good game plan,” Jackson said. “These guys were ranked third against the run and we moved the ball. We think we can do better, especially in the red zone. We know we can, but we don’t accept losing or moral victories.”

Jeff Legwold: 303-954-2359 or jlegwold@denverpost.com