Word of advice to Steve McNair and Donovan McNabb this Halloween weekend: Find a rabbit's foot. Put some garlic in the hallway. Concoct a witch's brew. Do something to protect yourself.
The Steelers are coming.
That's usually a sign that something is about to happen to the starting quarterback.
It could be an injury. Perhaps a poor performance. Quite possibly a first-round TKO by that noted quarterback basher, Jason Gildon. Whatever the reason, the Steelers keep walking into games where they get to face the backup quarterback, not the starter.
It's happened in three of the past five games, and it will happen again tomorrow against the Baltimore Ravens (5-3). Trent Dilfer, not Tony Banks, will be making his first appearance as the Ravens' starting quarterback because Baltimore's offense hasn't produced a touchdown in the past four games.
"We were due for some luck at some point," said safety Lee Flowers.
Luck?
The Steelers have had such good fortune with the way starting quarterbacks keep falling by the wayside that they should consider playing the Super Six Lottery.
It started in Week 3 against the Tennessee Titans when former teammate Neil O'Donnell had to start the game for an injured McNair. Two weeks later, Vinny Testaverde was knocked from the game on the first offensive play and had to be replaced by Ray Lucas. Last week, the Cleveland Browns lost quarterback Tim Couch for the season on the last play of Thursday's practice, forcing the Browns to start Doug Pederson with just one day of work.
That does not count the 15-0 victory two weeks ago against the Cincinnati Bengals in which the Steelers made starter Akili Smith look so bad that he was replaced by backup Scott Mitchell, who looked even worse.
"It is odd," said cornerback Dewayne Washington. "The last three, four weeks, the quarterback that has started hasn't finished the game."
About the only time the Steelers had a stroke of misfortune is when Gildon knocked O'Donnell from the Tennessee game with 2:45 remaining. That forced the Titans to use McNair, who was still sore with a bruised sternum. All McNair did was beat the Steelers with an 18-yard touchdown pass.
"That was all our fault," Flowers said of the winning touchdown. "That was a total miscommunication. Things happen. Things happen for a reason."
Things have been happening for the Steelers (4-3) -- good things -- which explains, in part, their four-game winning streak and resurgence in the AFC Central Division. Getting to face another backup quarterback tomorrow could be construed as another stroke of good luck, particularly because Dilfer had not taken one snap with the Ravens prior to last Sunday.
Dilfer, who was Tampa Bay's No. 1 pick in the 1994 draft, completed 7 of 13 passes for 58 yards with one interception after replacing Banks in a 14-6 loss to Tennessee. He even threw what looked to be the tying touchdown -- and the Ravens' first touchdown in 16 quarters -- when he hit Steelers-killer Qadry Ismail with a 33-yard touchdown in the back of the end zone. But the officials and replay review ruled that Ismail was out of bounds.
Unlike last week, when Couch was injured late in the week and Pederson had little time to prepare for the Steelers, Dilfer has known all week he would start against the Steelers.
"That was a break for us in that [Pederson] hadn't played in a while, and we knew in two days he couldn't completely grasp the game plan they were putting in," Gildon said. "In that situation, it definitely helped us because of short notice."
That's why the quarterbacks of the Steelers' next two opponents -- McNair and Philadelphia's McNabb -- better be careful. If this trend keeps up, the Steelers will probably be down to the opponent's scout-team quarterback by the time the regular-season finale in San Diego rolls around. By the way, his name is Ryan Leaf.
"You look at the past couple years -- Coach [Bill] Cowher always called it the edge -- we lost the edge," Flowers said. "Right now, we're starting to get the edge back. There is a fine line between a Pro Bowl player and a guy sitting on the bench. If you can find any weaknesses on anybody's offense, then you got to explore them."
The Steelers haven't had to find too many weaknesses.
Several have been handed to them.
Steelers' backup plan to receive another test 
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