"On a weekly television appearance on a local Sunday night postgame show, cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha talked about having to prepare for two quarterbacks for this week's game in Pittsburgh against the Steelers.

Raiders coach Tom Cable seemed to have little doubt as to which one will be the starter.

"All indications are Ben (Roethlisberger) will be back," Cable said.

The Steelers, who lost overtime games to Kansas City and Balitmore over the past two weeks, turned to San Leandro High School and Oregon product Dennis Dixon against Baltimore. Dixon started the season as the No. 3 quarterback and was elevated to No. 2 when Charlie Batch was lost fo rthe season to a wrist injury.

When it was determined Roethlisberger had not sufficiently recovered from concussion symptoms sustained against the Chiefs, Dixon played against Balitmore and his 24-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter had the Steelers in position to win.

However, the Pittsburgh defense allowed the Ravens to drive for the tie at regulation, and Dixon's overtime interception to rookie Paul Kruger against a zone blitz set up Baltimore's winning field goal.

– Quarterback Bruce Gradkowski talked glowingly about returning to Pittsburgh, noting it was the third time he had started in his home town. Gradkowski was a star quarterback at Seton-La Salle High School in the city and his father is a longtime employee in the business department of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

"It's always exciting getting back to Pittsburgh," Gradkowski said. "My whole family's from Pittsburgh and grew up watching the Steelers."

Gradkowski remembers going to games at Three Rivers Stadium and said his family and friends could number 100, although fortunately he's not entrusted with the ticket details.

"They already told me, `Hey, don't worry about it, we'll find our own tickets,' " Gradkowski said. "That's good they know I am thinking about a lot of things, that I've got a lot on my plate right now."

Foremost among them is having some success in Pittsburgh beyond the glory days of high school.

Gradkowski started the season finale for Cleveland last season in Pittsburgh, and had a start as a rookie in 2007 with Tampa Bay. In the two games, Gradkowski was 25-for-50 for 193 yards, no touchdowns, five interceptions and was sacked eight times. His Heinz Field quarterback rating is 20.3 and his teams lost by a combined 51-3.

If finally getting into the end zone is a relief for Darrius Heyward-Bey, he wasn't showing it.

"Tell you the truth, I really haven't looked at it that way," Heyward-Bey said. "It's like, a touchdown was what we needed at the time, and now if I can help out the team more, it'll be great."

Cable said Monday the Raiders were very close to connecting on plays which could have gone for big yardage and sustained drives. Toward that end, following a walkthrough, quarterbacks, receivers and running backs were still on the field, working on their timing.

"We're an inch away from being a good passing offense," Heyward-Bey said. "We understand that. We wish we weren't an inch away. We wish we were hitting those. It's positive. It's a good thing to look at. Going into these last five games, we hope we just hit those big plays and go into the offseason with a good feeling.""