2012 AFC Wild Card: Ben Roethlisberger Makes Steelers Offense Unpredicatable, In A Bad Way

Read More: Ben Roethlisberger (QB - PIT), Brady Quinn (QB - KAN), Rashard Mendenhall (RB - PIT), Tim Tebow (QB - NYJ), Pittsburgh Steelers, Denver Broncos

As the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos prepare for their 2012 AFC Wild Card matchup on Sunday, much of the focus has been on Tim Tebow and Brady Quinn, but the Steelers have also been dealing with trying to figure out the status of Ben Roethlisberger's ankle. A lot of pressure will be placed on Big Ben to produce points for a Steelers team that will be without Rashard Mendenhall, so what is the feeling on how the star QB will perform?

This statistical breakdown is presented by the staff at Behind The Steel Curtain, SB Nation's Pittsburgh Steelers blog, and all stats are taken from ProFootball Reference or NFL.com:

So Big Ben has been worse in 2011 than in the previous year, but can it all be pinned on the lingering ankle injury he has been dealing with? Does it even matter if that's the reason at this point in the season? Once again the staff at Behind The Steel Curtain explain the significance behind the numbers:

It's been said many times before, but this offense will go as Ben goes. If he manages to figure out how to play reasonably well on the bad ankle, this post-season begins to look a lot more promising. What's concerns me is that the injury seems to have interfered to a greater or lesser extent with Ben's kinesthetic sense. This isn't too surprising. After all, if he can't step properly into a throw as he's accustomed to doing, the ball is going to do some unpredictable things.

So who are the 2011 Steelers offensively? Basically, they are who Ben is on any given day.

For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Denver. For more in-depth coverage of this matchup, head to Broncos blog, Mile High Report, and Steelers blog, Behind the Steel Curtain. For more news and notes from around the NFL, visit SB Nation's NFL news hub.