Big Ben ran out of the tunnel and raised his arm as he was greeted with a standing ovation by the Pittsburgh faithful.

He responded by throwing for more than 250 yards and three touchdowns to the delight of the crowd.

Running back Rashard Mendenhall carried the ball 27 times for 84 yards and a touchdown against a tougher than expected Browns run defense.

With Baltimore’s loss to New England, the Steelers have jumped into sole possession of first place in the AFC North.

With a bye last week, Roethlisberger had two weeks of practice with the team to prepare for the Cleveland Browns.

With the game at home, it will be very interesting to see the type of reaction Big Ben receives from the crowd.

Head coach Mike Tomlin said earlier last week that Big Ben would get the start over veteran Charlie Batch.

In a recent interview, he said he contemplated quitting football and believes he has made changes for the better.

The Steelers held a four-point lead late in the game and managed to stop the Ravens on the one-yard line with just under three minutes to play.

Pittsburgh was then very cautious and conservative with the ball, running three times before punting back to the Ravens.

With just over a minute to play, the Steelers allowed the Ravens to march right down the field for the game-winning touchdown.

Pittsburgh got the ball back with 30 seconds to play, but Charlie Batch threw an interception to Ray Lewis.

It took a long touchdown run from running back Rashard Mendenhall in overtime to finally put away the Falcons.

The game went back and forth as the team’s traded field goals, including some missed opportunities.

In the end, it was Pittsburgh’s constant pounding on the ground that seemed to wear down Atlanta.

Wide receiver Hines Ward finished with six catches for 108 yards while Mendenhall had 120 yards on the ground.

Big Ben was actually expected to go into the meeting asking Goodell to reduce the suspension from six games to just three, but it remains unconfirmed whether this actually happened.

Reducing the suspension by one game would have allowed Roethlisberger to take the field against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 4, which would have been huge for the team.

Instead, Goodell stuck with his original plan, which was to reduce the suspension by two games if he felt Roethlisberger was working to change his life.

Goodell has said on a few occasions that he believes Roethlisberger has gone above and beyond to make significant changes in his life and become a better person.

The star quarterback sat on the sidelines and watched as Byron Leftwich and Dennis Dixon stole the show.

Dixon was particularly effective, which could cause another quarterback controversy over who should start while Big Ben is suspended.

Head coach Mike Tomlin said Roethlisberger didn’t play because he wanted to get Dixon as many snaps as possible.

Dixon played well last year in a game at Baltimore that Roethlisberger missed because of the aftermath of a concussion.

Woodley feels as though he has done everything asked of him yet the team won’t step up and do something for him with his contract.

The linebacker said he was told by the Steelers that nothing would be done for him until at least the final year of his contract.

That means he will make just $550,000 this season, which is certainly a huge steal for the Steelers.

He said that it’s frustrating watching other teams take care of other players and that it makes him wonder what’s up with Pittsburgh.

Colon tore his right achilles tendon while participating in offseason workouts and will undergo surgery.

It typically takes about a year or so for a player to return from this kind of an injury, so Colon is just hoping to be 100 percent for next season.

Pittsburgh’s offensive line is not nearly as good as it used to be, but Colon was by far the top player.

It’s a huge hit to a Pittsburgh team that will already be without Big Ben for four games and traded away its best wideout in Santonio Holmes.