Dec 24, 2010 By Herald Standard Staff 3 min read

PITTSBURGH – Win. Rest. Wrap gifts. Rest. Open gifts. Rest. Eat. Rest. Watch football. Rest. Cheer for Cleveland. Rest. Hope Cleveland wins. Rest. That’s the Steelers’ plan for a Merry Christmas, even if they must depend on the Cleveland Browns to give them the most important present they can receive this holiday season.

The Steelers took care of business with a 27-3 win over the Carolina Panthers Thursday night.

Next up is rest, followed by a few holiday-related items, all to be followed immediately by more rest.

All of this rest in hopes of + you guessed it, an extra week of rest.

The watching will take place Sunday, when the Browns host the Baltimore Ravens. A win by the Browns would hand the Steelers the No. 2 seed in the upcoming NFL playoffs. With it, of course, comes a week off while the league’s 12-team playoff pool is dwindled to eight.

The week off isn’t just important to the Steelers. It is vital, maybe even critical, that the Steelers earn the extra time off before hosting a playoff game the third week in January.

You want a reason? Here are two pretty good ones: Troy Polamalu and Aaron Smith.

A Cleveland win Sunday would mean Polamalu would not have to rush back for a game seven days later. He would be able to rest his ailing body while his teammates take on these same Browns a day after 2011 hits. That would give him three weeks to get better.

A Cleveland win over Baltimore would also give Smith extra time to work on the weights and get back into playing shape. He hasn’t played a down of football since suffering a partially torn triceps muscle on Oct. 24 at Miami. You might think he’s had more than his fair share of rest, but he needs the time to fine tune his game and racket it up for the playoffs.

While Pittsburgh’s run defense has held its own without Smith, the unit is simply better with him in the game. You don’t have to be convinced the Steelers defense would be better with Polamalu, do you?

As for last night’s game, Carolina gave it their best effort. How would you like to go against the Steelers defense, even without those two stalwarts, with a rookie quarterback? Want try to outwit Dick LeBeau with a rookie at the most important offensive position?

Even with Jimmy Clausen’s passer rating well south of 50, the Carolina defense showed up to play. It challenged the Steelers offense, but Pittsburgh made enough plays to win, which is all it needed to do.

Along the way, Carolina showed the Steelers they have some work to do, regardless of how much rest is in their plans.

Special teams were gouged on a few occasions, which is especially troubling after giving up a game-opening touchdown in a loss four days earlier. The offense need to work on its precision after converting a paltry 4-of-12 third downs and lost two fumbles against the Panthers.

Which is another reason the Steelers need a bye week heading into the playoffs.

Sure, it’ll be hard rooting for the Browns, but take heart. They’ll really be rooting against Baltimore.

Sports editor Mike Ciarochi may be reached at mciarochi@heraldstandard.com.