PITTSBURGH – As the coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Bill Cowher had the decision made for him by circumstances. As the coach of the New York Giants, Tom Coughlin made the decision for himself.

And so began the respective playing careers of Ben Roethlisberger and Eli Manning, and the two will be the starters for their respective teams when the 12-1 Steelers visit the 5-8 Giants at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Giants Stadium.

Spending a high first-round draft choice on a quarterback is a major decision for any franchise, because for every Troy Aikman and Peyton Manning and Donovan McNabb, there seem to be a bunch more Ryan Leafs and David Klinglers and Tim Couches lurking to send the franchise that selects them into a tailspin.

Spending a high first-round draft choice on a quarterback also creates a lot of excitement throughout a team’s fan base, and today’s NFL (which in this case really does stand for Not For Long), doesn’t allow for a long, slow development process for a rookie quarterback. If the guy doesn’t play in his first season, he better be starting at the start of his second season, or risk being labeled a bust.

Both Roethlisberger and Manning were drafted by teams planning to start veteran quarterbacks in 2004 – Tommy Maddox with the Steelers and Kurt Warner with the Giants.

But with Pittsburgh, fate intervened twice. The first time was during training camp when Charlie Batch, the veteran backup quarterback, sustained a knee injury that landed him on the injured reserve list. Then on Sept. 19 in Baltimore, Maddox was sacked by Gary Baxter on a play in which he sustained a partially torn tendon in his right arm. That injury didn’t require season-ending surgery, but it did force Maddox to rest his right arm for six weeks before beginning rehabilitation.

With Batch already on injured reserve, Cowher had no real choice but to turn things over to Roethlisberger. It has worked out splendidly, with Roethlisberger being a key component to a team that goes to Giants Stadium with an 11-game winning streak and the AFC North Division title.

In the case of the Giants, Coughlin benched Warner in favor of Manning with his team at 5-4 and coming off back-to-back losses to Chicago and Arizona. In those games, Warner was a combined 37-for-66 (56.1 percent) for 388 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also was sacked 13 times.

When he made the move, Coughlin told reporters in New York, "(Manning) has earned that right. Now he has a chance to grow and learn and be the quarterback of the New York Giants. He is the future of the New York Giants. It just starts now."

The start has been a rocky one. The Giants are 0-4 with Manning as the starting quarterback, and while the hope was that his quick release and nimble feet somehow would compensate for a leaky offensive line, he has thrown six interceptions and been sacked nine times in his four starts.

But Coughlin stands by his decision to bench Warner, and he’s sticking with Manning as the starter against the Steelers.

"Because I think with Eli, you have to get back up on the horse," said Coughlin about why Manning is starting one week after compiling a passer rating of 0.0 in a loss to the Ravens.

"He did not play well last weekend. He is our starting quarterback, he will continue to be. He has faced some of the most outstanding defenses in the National Football League pretty much one week right after another since we named him the starter. That is the way the game goes. That is the nature of the business. Certainly, the Steelers defense is an outstanding defense. They have made many outstanding plays this year. They played against some of the fine, fine offenses in football week in and week out and literally done a super job. So it will be a great test for Eli, but it is something that I think is priceless experience, sometimes difficult and painful, but nevertheless a priceless experience."

Everyone will be watching Roethlisberger versus Manning, even though the two won’t butt heads on the field Saturday. Here are some of the other interesting matchups:

Steelers RBs Duce Staley and Jerome Bettis versus Giants Ss Brent Alexander and Terry Cousin: The way most teams have decided to deal with the Steelers running attack is to deploy eight men around the line of scrimmage, with the eighth man typically being a safety. When the Giants do this, their choices are Cousin, a converted nickel back who is 5-foot-8, 185 pounds, or Alexander, normally a free safety at 5-11, 200. Staley’s status for the game figures to be determined during warmups, because he is listed as questionable on the team’s injury report, but a matchup of Bettis against either Cousin or Alexander at the point of attack would seem to favor the Steelers.

Steelers Gs Alan Faneca and Keydrick Vincent versus Giants DTs William Joseph and Fred Robbins: Before the Steelers can worry about the eighth man in the box, they’re going to have to deal with the interior of the Giants defensive line. Norman Hand will miss his third straight game with a groin injury, and he will be replaced by second-year pro William Joseph, who will team with Robbins to try to protect MLB Kevin Lewis, who is the team’s leading tackler. Coming into the game, the Giants were allowing 4.4 yards per rushing attempt and 137.5 yards rushing per game.

Steelers ILB James Farrior versus Giants RB Tiki Barber: This matchup includes two guys having outstanding seasons. Farrior is the only player in the NFL with three or more interceptions, sacks, fumble recoveries and forced fumbles. Barber has accounted for almost 1,800 yards of offense -- 1,238 rushing and 505 receiving – to go along with 11 total touchdowns. The Giants always are looking to get Barber the football, and Farrior can be expected to track him all over the field.

Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau versus Giants QB Eli Manning: There may come a time when Eli is the outstanding student of the game that his brother, Peyton, already is, but right now he’s still learning. Manning had a lot of trouble against the Ravens last week, and the Steelers can pose some of the same recognition problems, and the hesitancy those recognition problems create can become painful when the blitzers arrive. Both the Jaguars and Jets tried to counter the Steelers pressure with seven blockers; against the Jets the Steelers simply dropped more guys into coverage and intercepted Chad Pennington three times. Manning will have his work cut out for him on Saturday.

Steelers ROLB Joey Porter versus Giants LT Luke Petitgout: Even if LeBeau cannot scheme the defense into situations where rushers outnumber blockers, the defense still can mount pressure as long as one or more rushers win their individual matchups against the guy blocking them. Porter’s history this season has shown his sacks come in bunches, even while his pressure on the quarterback has been consistent. Porter has seven sacks – he got three of those in the game against New England and two in the game against the Redskins. He has 24 pressures – at least one in every game in which he played except at Baltimore and versus the Eagles. He could be due for a multiple sack game.

Steelers WRs Hines Ward and Antwaan Randle El versus Giants CBs Will Peterson and Will Allen: The strength of the Giants defense would be its cornerbacks, who have combined for 28 passes defensed and 120 tackles. With Plaxico Burress out for another game with the hamstring he injured in Cincinnati, the Giants may believe they can match up with the Steelers receivers and then commit the rest of their defense to stopping the run. If they think that, the Steelers have to make them pay the price.