The Steelers rank No. 1 overall on defense, No. 1 against the pass and No. 3 against the rush. They'll need all of that against the Redskins, who have the NFL's top rusher in Clinton Portis, who is 260 yards in front of anyone else with 984 yards rushing, and a quarterback who has not yet thrown an interception, Jason Campbell.

"When you've got a quarterback that hasn't thrown an interception, you've got a great chance of being 6-2," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said.

That's not been the case for his own quarterback. Ben Roethlisberger, who threw 11 interceptions all last season, has 10 in seven games this year, including four in a 21-14 loss to the Giants last Sunday. He also was sacked five times to put his number at 23, third most in the NFL and on pace to tie Pittsburgh's 25-year-old single-quarterback sack record of 53.

Tomlin has said many times that Roethlisberger holds the football longer than most quarterbacks because he's trying to make a play right until the end. Sometimes, the end comes with a sack, sometimes the end comes with a big play.

"When he holds the ball and we beat people like we did in Jacksonville, then we sit in press conferences and we cheer him," Tomlin said this week. "When we lose like we did the other night, we question him. He's a competitor. He's a great player. He's our quarterback. We'll ride into stadiums and we'll play with him."

Roethlisberger also had to play without left tackle Marvel Smith the past two games, without starting halfback Willie Parker the past four games, and without wide receiver Santonio Holmes against the Giants.

Tomlin will start Holmes after deactivating him last week following an arrest for marijuana possession. Holmes thought the Steelers would have won with him in the lineup on a day in which Roethlisberger completed just 13 of 29.

"I know I would ... yes, but I wasn't there to help the team," Holmes said.

Roethlisberger said he's glad to have him back. Holmes is the team's second-leading receiver with 22 receptions for 360 yards.

"Him and I have really come a long way, both on and off the field," Roethlisberger said. "He's a weapon for us and it will be fun to have him back out there."

Some of Roethlisberger's sacks came because no receivers were open against the Giants. Rookie Limas Sweed, who had one catch in one game played before last Sunday, stepped up to No. 3 with Holmes out.

"Having a young guy in with Sweed filling in and not being on the same page with Ben, not having as many reps throughout practice and not having the experience being in that tough situation, I feel I could have made big progress with the team," Holmes said.

SERIES HISTORY: 76th regular-season meeting. Redskins lead the series that began in 1933, 42-30-3 including a 21-12-3 record in Washington. The teams last met Nov. 28, 2004 in Pittsburgh with the Steelers winning 16-7. This will be their first meeting in Washington in 20 years or since Chuck Noll coached the Steelers and Joe Gibbs was in his first tenure with the Redskins. The Steelers have a three-game winning streak against Washington, which last beat them in 1991.