Brady Quinn has thrown for 675 yards and accounted for eight touchdowns (seven passing and one rushing) in his last three games. In that same span, the once-vaunted Steelers defense -- minus safety Troy Polamalu -- has allowed Matt Cassel, Joe Flacco and Bruce Gradkowski to throw for a combined 845 yards and six touchdowns, with zero picks.

All of which might tempt a desperate owner to think with his heart and not his head and start Quinn tonight against the Steelers.

One word of advice: Don't. As well as Quinn played in parts of losses to the Lions and Chargers, he still should not be in anyone's fantasy lineup -- especially in Week 14, which should mark the start of your league's postseason. Quinn is no better than a No. 2 QB in fantasy, and that would have to be as a low-end No. 2 in 12- and 14-team leagues.

Before we get to the rest of the start-and-sit list, here are a few notes on the defenses:

-- The Steelers have the No. 5 overall defense and are the league's best against the run, giving up only 77.8 rushing yards per game and 3.6 yards per attempt. Pittsburgh has allowed three rushing TDs in 12 games.

-- The Steelers are much more ordinary against the pass, the area at which Polamalu's injury is most evident. Pittsburgh is No. 17 vs. the pass and has only eight interceptions, compared to 15 TD passes allowed.

-- The Browns are the league's worst defense at 400.3 total yards per game, and Cleveland ranks 29th vs. the run (154.2 yards per game, 14 TDs) and 26th against the pass (246 yards per game, 18 TDs, six picks).

START

Steelers: QB Ben Roethlisberger, RB Rashard Mendenhall, WR Santonio Holmes, TE Heath Miller, K Jeff Reed, defense and special teams

Browns: None

Quick slants: The assumption here is Hines Ward will not play because of a hamstring injury. If he is active, start the Steelers' receiving leader (72 receptions, 922 yards, six TDs). ... Roethlisberger threw for 417 yards, two TDs and one pick in the Steelers' win over the Browns in Week 6. He has thrown for 3,145 yards in 11 games, a total that is 368 shy of his career high of 3,513, set in 2006. ... Mendenhall has rushed for 842 yards in nine games as the Steelers' lead back. He has six TDs in that span. ... Holmes, who had five catches for 104 yards in the last meeting against the Browns, has scored a TD in two straight games and has 34 receptions for 490 yards in his last five contests. ... Miller, who had five catches for 80 yards and a score in Week 6 vs. the Browns, has only two catches for 29 yards in his last two games. He had 54 receptions for 490 yards and five TDs in the first 10. ... The Steelers forced four turnovers and had a pair of sacks in the last meeting against the Browns. ... Reed had nine points in the Steelers' 27-14 victory.

SIT

Steelers: WR Mike Wallace (if Ward is active)

Browns: QB Brady Quinn, RB Jerome Harrison, RB Chris Jennings, WR Mohamed Massaquoi, K Phil Dawson, defense and special teams

Quick slants: Quinn's eight TDs in the last three games are three better than the Browns' team total on offense in the first nine games. ... Harrison, who has battled an illness all week, is probable for tonight. He was effective last week (35 yards rushing, seven catches for 62 yards and two TDs), but shouldn't be much of a fantasy option until Weeks 15 and 16, when the Browns play at Kansas City and play host to Oakland. ... Massaquoi has two TDs in his last three games, but has only three catches for 36 yards in his last two. ... Dawson, who has 29 points in seven games, scored a combined 228 in 32 games from 2007-08.

Vegas oddsmakers — and we’ve learned to never mess with them — predict Thursday’s Titans-Steelers game will be the lowest-scoring of the NFL’s opening weekend, with the over-under set at 35 points.

Pittsburgh led the league a year ago by allowing only 13.9 points per game, followed by Tennessee at 14.6.

Does that mean you should bench Chris Johnson or Hines Ward?

To quote Chad Ochocino: Child please (or would it be kiss the baby?).

On to the first start and sit of the season ...

START ’EM

-- Santonio Holmes and Hines Ward, WRs, Steelers: Holmes was the Super Bowl hero, but Ward is the better player and fantasy option. Both had productive games in the Steelers’ 31-14 loss at Tennessee in Week 16 of last season. Ward caught seven passes for 109 yards and a touchdown against the Titans, and Holmes had five for 93 and a score.

-- Chris Johnson, RB, Titans: The Steelers had the league’s No. 1 overall defense and were No. 2 vs. the run last season, allowing only 76.9 rushing yards per game and 3.3 per carry. Still, I wouldn’t sit Johnson, a first-round pick in fantasy who had 69 yards and a TD last year against the Steelers.

-- Pittsburgh’s defense and special teams: The unit that ranked first overall, first against the pass and second vs. the run returns almost intact.

-- Tennessee’s defense and special teams: Don’t expect the Titans to shut down the Steelers in their home opener, but if you drafted their defense, which ranked sixth vs. the run and ninth vs. the pass in 2008, there’s no need to acquire another just for one week.

SIT ’EM

-- Ben Roethlisberger, QB, Steelers: He’s a fringe fantasy starter, but there are much better Week 1 matchups than this.

-- Willie Parker, RB, Steelers: He was disappointing in 2008, when he scored only five times and finished nine yards short of 800 on the ground, and I wouldn’t expect a huge game here, even with Albert Haynesworth in Washington.

-- Heath Miller, TE, Steelers: He was effective last season at Tennessee (eight catches for 69 yards), but his biggest value to the Steelers is his blocking.

-- LenDale White, RB, Titans: He’s only of much use when he reaches the end zone, and I wouldn’t expect that tonight. Considering he drew the Steelers’ ire by stomping on a Terrible Towel after the Titans’ 2008 rout, I’d say it’s a safe guess that — Patron-less offseason diet or not — he will be a target of Pittsburgh’s defense.

-- Justin Gage and Nate Washington, WRs, Titans: Washington left the Steelers to sign with the Titans in free agency, but he will be a game-time decision because of a hamstring injury. Gage is a better fantasy player, one who had five receptions for 104 yards and a TD against Pittsburgh last season, but I wouldn’t anticipate a repeat at Heinz Field.

-- Bo Scaife, TE, Titans: He is an effective tight end in point-per-reception leagues, but he scored only two TDs last season and shouldn’t get anywhere close at Pittsburgh.

Before we get to the finale of our six sets of football rankings, here are a few links:

-- For the complete football rankings that were published in last Sunday's editions, click here.

-- For Mark Podolski's 25 bold predictions for the season, click here.

-- For my breakdown of the most muddled backfield situations, click here.

-- Go here on Saturday for an audiocast by Podolski and I, in which we will discuss the benefit of using ESPN.com's mock drafts. I will also have a column for Saturday on the topic. That will also be posted in the Sports section at News-Herald.com.

On to the rankings of the top defenses and special teams ...

Rank, team Pts-Yds-TD-Sacks-TO
1. Steelers 13.9-237.2-3-51-29
2. Giants 18.4-292.0-2-42-22
3. Ravens 15.3-261.1-6-34-34
4. Titans 14.6-293.6-4-44-31
5. Vikings 20.8-292.4-4-45-25
6. Eagles 18.1-274.3-8-48-29
7. Chargers 21.7-349.9-5-28-24
8. Jets 22.3-329.4-6-41-30
9. Bears 21.9-334.7-6-28-32
10. Packers 23.8-334.3-9-27-28
11. Cowboys 22.8-294.3-2-59-22
12. Patriots 19.3-309.0-1-31-22
13. Panthers 20.6-331.2-2-37-25
14. Dolphins 19.9-329.0-2-40-30
15. Buccaneers 20.2-306.1-7-29-30
16. Cardinals 26.6-331.5-6-31-30
17. Colts 18.6-310.9-4-30-26
18. Jaguars 22.9-330.9-3-29-17
19. Raiders 24.3-360.9-6-32-24
20. Seahawks 24.5-378.0-4-35-20
21. Falcons 20.3-348.3-3-34-18
22. 49ers 23.8-326.0-4-30-18
23. Texans 24.6-336.6-3-25-22
24. Bills 21.4-326.1-5-24-22

KEY: Points and yards allowed are per-game averages. TD totals are defensive and special-team touchdowns. TO is turnovers forced. ... Statistics are from the 2008 season.

QUICK SLANTS

The Steelers led all teams by allowing 10 points or fewer in eight of 16 games. The Ravens and Eagles were next with seven. ... The Bears’ sack total dropped to 28 last season after a combined 81 in 2006 and '07. ... The Patriots had 31 sacks after recording a combined 91 the previous two years. ... The Cardinals were excellent in the TD department (a combined six on defense and special teams in 2008), but allowed at least 25 points in six games. ... The Jets’ defense allowed 25 points or more five times last season, and the 49ers and Texans both had eight such games.