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PFT: Ben Roethlisberger’s suspension has been reduced from six games to four by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ star quarterback was told he could return on Oct. 17 against Cleveland.

Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc. believed Dennis Dixon was the best choice to be the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ Week 1 starter even before Byron Leftwich’s knee injury.



That prospect is closer to reality now that Leftwich reportedly suffered a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee. That likely rules out Leftwich for Pittsburgh’s regular-season opener against the Atlanta Falcons. He was hit low against the Carolina Panthers Thursday during a pass attempt in the first half.



All eyes are now on Dixon to take over during Ben Roethlisberger’s suspension. Despite his inexperience (one career start), Williamson likes what Dixon adds to Pittsburgh’s offense.



“Dixon is talented,” Williamson wrote this week. “His running ability is extremely impressive and that playmaking ability with the ball in his hands is the first thing you notice with Dixon. He also has a big arm and can deliver the ball on the run or from improbable body positions.”



Pittsburgh’s running game will be vital during this period. The Steelers’ best chance of winning without Roethlisberger is to run the ball well and play great defense.



Williamson believes Dixon’s mobility keeps defenders on edge, which could help starting tailback Rashard Mendenhall. Dixon also showed multiple times in the preseason that he can run for first downs when plays break down.



“Playing man-to-man against the Steelers is tougher to pull off with Dixon in the lineup,” Williamson wrote. “But much like when Vince Young took over in Tennessee last season and Chris Johnson’s rushing totals went through the roof, it is harder to defend the running game from an alignment and assignment standpoint on defense. The contain defenders must respect the bootleg and can’t crash down on the inside run as hard.”



Pittsburgh’s quarterback derby was unique from the start and had plenty of twists and turns. Therefore, it was only fitting that a last-minute curveball would occur right before the start of the regular season, which opened the door for Dixon.

Let’s take a quick look at what folks are saying about the Redskins’ 20-10 loss in Arizona:

• Paul Tenorio of the Post thinks the diminutive Brandon Banks may have sealed his fate with yet another fumble during a return. I’ve been pulling for the 5-6 Banks out of Kansas State, but he’s just been too inconsistent. Hopefully he’ll end up on the practice squad.

• Tenorio has put together a nice, long summary of Thursday’s events. It was pretty funny to see Albert Haynesworth on the field in the fourth quarter of a fourth preseason game. I’m anxious to see how he react.

• Excellent blog post from Matt Terl on last night’s Redskins loss.

• Here’s some instant analysis from Comcast Sportsnet’s Ryan O’Hallran.

• Albert Haynesworth was on the field until the bitter end. He was out there for 49 of the Redskins’ 55 players, according to the Post’s Jason Reid.

Leftwich

It appears Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Byron Leftwich is out for the Sept. 12 regular-season opener against the Atlanta Falcons.



ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports Leftwich suffered a second-degree sprain of his medial collateral ligament in his left knee.



Leftwich was the favorite to start at quarterback during Ben Roethlisberger’s suspension. But Leftwich was hit low in the first half of Thursday’s game against the Carolina Panthers and didn’t return. Backup quarterback Dennis Dixon is now the favorite to become the starting quarterback for Pittsburgh.

Leftwich

It appears Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Byron Leftwich is out for the Sept. 12 regular-season opener against the Atlanta Falcons.



Scott Brown of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review is reporting that Leftwich suffered a torn medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his left knee and is out indefinitely. The injury typically keeps players sidelined for several weeks.



Leftwich was the favorite to start at quarterback during Ben Roethlisberger’s suspension. But Leftwich was hit low in the first half of Thursday’s game against the Carolina Panthers and didn’t return. Backup quarterback Dennis Dixon is now the favorite to become the starting quarterback for Pittsburgh.

After three preseason performances, the most negative thing that could be said about Tim Tebow is that he is a rookie quarterback who is prone to making rookie mistakes.



But, most important, Tebow has shown that he looks like he belongs in the NFL. All he needs is to make progress.



That will likely be done as Denver’s No. 2 quarterback.



Broncos coach Josh McDaniels is not making any proclamations and we may not know anything officially until Denver announces its emergency quarterback prior to the season opener at Jacksonville on Sept. 12. But it sure seems like Tebow has done enough to beat out Brady Quinn as Denver’s backup quarterback.



Tebow relieved starter Kyle Orton in the past two weeks. Thus, it would be a surprise if Tebow isn’t the backup in the season opener.



While Quinn has struggled a lot in the preseason (he played decently Thursday night), Tebow put up solid preseason numbers. He was 25 of 39 for 344 yards and he threw two touchdowns in the preseason.



As he did Sunday night, Tebow bounced back Thursday against the Vikings after a slow start; Tebow fumbled his first snap and then was intercepted on the next drive. However, Tebow settled down and completed 12 of 13 passes at one point.



He continued his preseason trend of throwing some nice down-field bullets. It is clear Tebow’s teammates respond well to him, and he moves the ball when he is on the field.



Again, Tebow is a rookie and he often looks like one. But he also looks like a future NFL starting quarterback.

Let’s take a quick look at what folks are saying about the Eagles’ performance:

• Jonathan Tamari of the Inquirer thinks that seventh-round pick Kurt Coleman made a strong case for sticking around with his two fumble recoveries — and touchdowns.

• Michael Vick is curious what his role will be in the Eagles’ offense, writes the Inquirer’s Jeff McLane.

• Paul Domowitch of the Daily News also has a note about Vick.

• Here’s a transcript of what Andy Reid said following the game. He was thrilled for Coleman.

• The NFL Players Association is taking a closer look at a recent trade by the Eagles. The union wants to know if the Eagles made a trade in order to avoid putting money into the rookie salary pool.

Patriots receiver Wes Welker says he is a “long ways off” from how he felt before knee surgery.

The preseason ended last night, so now we can get onto the real thing. But let’s take one very quick look back at what happened around the NFC South last night.



Carolina managed to go through the preseason without scoring an offensive touchdown.



Perhaps the biggest news out of Carolina is that right tackle Jeff Otah is not expected to be healthy enough to play in the season opener and, beyond that, there’s a question of when he’ll be able to return. Geoff Schwartz has been working in his place. Otah reportedly had a setback in his recovery from a knee injury.



New Orleans running back Chris Ivory, who has been a big hit throughout the preseason, left the game against the Titans with a knee injury. The Saints weren’t offering any details. Same with linebacker Jonathan Casillas, who left with a foot injury. The team said both players will be evaluated Friday.



Quarterbacks Patrick Ramsey and Chase Daniel each did some good things as they concluded their battle for the backup job behind Drew Brees. What’s going to be interesting here is if the Saints carry three quarterbacks. They often have carried only two in coach Sean Payton’s tenure.



Receiver Arrelious Benn and defensive back Corey Lynch each had big games in Tampa Bay’s preseason finale.



The biggest news out of Tampa Bay’s preseason finale was that quarterback Josh Freeman, recovering from a fractured thumb, threw extensively before the game. Freeman is likely to begin practicing soon and is expected to be ready for the season opener.



The Falcons sat virtually all of their starters in the preseason finale. That gave players like safety William Moore, receiver Andy Strickland and tight end Michael Palmer a chance to make positive impressions.

The good news is that the New York Giants‘ first-team offense drove the ball down and scored on its first possession in Thursday’s 20-17 preseason win over the New England Patriots. Bad news is that former starting running back Brandon Jacobs decided to blow off some steam following the game, according to ESPNNewYork.com. Jacobs, who’s started for the Giants since Tiki Barber retired after the ‘06 season, isn’t happy with his new backup role to Ahmad Bradshaw.

Jacobs

“No one’s your friend in this business,” said Jacobs. “This is a cutthroat, backstabbing business. That’s just the way it goes. It’s been like that before me. If you expect anything else out of a business like this, you’re crazy.”



Of course, this business has made Jacobs a very wealthy man, but on Thursday, he complained about the strings attached to that money.



“If I would have stayed making minimum, this wouldn’t be a problem,” Jacobs said. “Once you get paid, you’re always in danger of running into problems like this. It doesn’t matter who you are or what team or organization you play for, that’s just the way it is.”



It appears that Jacobs has made quite the psychological breakthrough: People expect a lot more from you when they write a check for $13 million. We’ll see if Tom Coughlin responds to Jacobs’ comments at all. He’s preached “team first” throughout camp, so he might not like Jacobs’ little rant.



OK, let’s see what folks are saying about the Giants’ win this morning:

• Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com manages to mix in a Janet Jackson reference in his postgame column.

• Running back Andre Brown has suffered another setback, but this time it’s only turf toe.

• Mark Viera of the New York Times focused on Eli Manning and Rhett Bomar.

• Mike Garafolo of the Star-Ledger reports that Shawn Andrews had an excellent game at left guard.