This sums of the Pittsburgh Steelers 2008 season: Unless they win their division they will not make the playoffs.
The Pittsburgh Steelers over the last 35 years have been the best managed football team in the NFL. They've never been a team to overpay for players and they never have built through free agency only through the draft. Steelers football has always been in the trenches. They also keep their coaches for a long time.
However this year has many aspects that don't bode well for the Steelers. First off the Steelers have the hardest schedule bar-none in the NFL. Because they won the division last year they have the "honor" of playing the winners from all the other AFC divisions who are: New England, Indy, and San Diego. If that weren't hard enough they'll have to also play arguably the toughest division in the NFL the NFC East and next to that the AFC South, the ONLY division last year to have each team finish without a losing record.
With that said I believe the Steelers post season hopes boil down to two games: September 14th and the last game December 28th. The schedule makers must have put that game there on purpose. Why are those games so important? They are the two games against the Cleveland Browns. Many people believe the Browns will have a break out season. The Steelers have to win these two games to win the division. Otherwise I think the weight of their schedule won't allow them to get a wild card spot.
Secondly I believe the Steelers are a lot weaker than they have been the past few years. True they locked up Big Ben for a long time. That was key. They also had the fortune of drafting a Steelers RB, Rashard Mendenhall, so late in the first round. However what has made the Steelers so successful over the years has been their play in the trenches. This is where they have become weak. They let their best offensive lineman go to the Jets. Do you know who he is? He's the lineman that made the key block in the SuperBowl to spring Willie Parker for the longest rushing touchdown in Super Bowl history. His name in Alan Faneca and he's now protecting Brett Favre. The offensive line is shaky at best.
The defensive line is also a major question. All the starters are over 30 years old. How will they be after playing against New England, Indy, San Diego, Jacksonville, and Dallas? Probably worn down. If Casey Hampton their nose tackle goes down their defense could be crippled. Chances are too that their moving missile Troy Polamalu will most likely miss some games with knee issues or concussions and the Steelers will have troubles slowing down all these high powered offenses.
whose gonna taste your salt water kisses?
1 comment:
Hey, I figured I would share a little tip for any fellow Steelers fans looking to go to a game at Heinz Field this year…
If you are looking to save some money but see a game then wait till Wednesday night or the Thursday before the game. These are the days when ticket holders start to reduce ticket prices big-time on sites like StubHub, RazorGator and eSellOut… Why? Because many of the guys still holding tickets live out of the state in areas like California or Texas even and have no chance or want to attend the game BUT they would much rather take $50-$100 for their tickets instead of nothing. Think about it this way…If you tried to get tickets of a scary scalper on game day your walking around with nearly $300-$500 cash without any idea of what you might get. Being from Norwin in Pittsburgh I always use eSellOut because it is locally owned by an IUP alum. Check them out: http://www.esellout.com/ResultsGeneral.aspx?kwds=Pittsburgh+Steelers or use who you are most comfortable using BUT try this method sometime and notice how much money you will save the next time you head off to a game!
~Mark Guilles
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