The Steelers and Big Ben appear to have recovered completely from the questionable civil suit brought by some blonde bimbo. It is easy to recover when ESPN decides to bury the story similar to the way BYU buried Oklahoma’s season.
There are few things more difficult in sports than repeating a world championship because all eyes are on the champions, which puts an unreasonable amount of pressure on the players. Champions have to face injuries, hungry opponents, and demanding fans. It takes a really strong team to repeat, but the Pittsburg Steelers have shown that they have the ability to repeat. The Steelers have a tough minded coach, a strong defense (defense wins championships), and strong team leaders.
A Steelers fan notified me yesterday that Big Ben has won 2 world championships in just 4 seasons as an NFL player. He has thrived as an underdog his entire career. The Steelers are once again being overlooked and many superbowl predictions feature the New England Patriots or the San Diego Chargers as the favorites in the AFC.
The Patriots have lost much of their championship defense that carried them for so many years. Richard Seymour, Willie McGinness, Teddy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel, Asante Samuel, and Rodney Harrison. The Patriots deserve the hype because they have a good coach and a good quarterback. They will most likely finish with a good record, but until their defense gets back to championship form, they should not be the favorites to win a championship. The Chargers have never won anything so they should not be the favorites to win a championship.
Unlike the NFC… The AFC is loaded with talented teams. So when examining teams like the Steelers, Ravens, Patriots, Colts, Jags, Titans, and Chargers, experts lean toward teams that will most likely win home field advantage. The Chargers are expected to win home field advantage because the AFC West is weaker than Ivy league football today.
In order for an expert to pick another AFC team over the Steelers, he/she must analyze why the current champion will not win before assuming that more talented teams will just leapfrog the world champion. The Chargers may have an easy schedule, but this will hurt them in the postseason because they will not be prepared for a hungry and talented team.
I think the Steelers are tough and hardnosed, which causes a lot of grind it out, close scoring games based on great defense and a consistent running game. It is not the recipe to win 12+ games and win home field advantage, but the Steelers have shown that once in the playoffs, this strategy can work even against the biggest offensive juggernauts.
The Steelers may be facing a difficult challenge of repeating as world champs, but they appear to have the heart and the ability to make a good run at another championship. Injuries are possible, but outside of Big Ben having another motorcycle accident, the Steelers should be good enough to make the playoffs. Once in the playoffs, the Steelers know what it takes to win, which is why the Steelers should be the favorites to win the Superbowl in 2010…