Quote Originally Posted by zulater View Post
Still no one has the Steelers as a serious contender.
Till now. I thought about this for a while. Looked at the rest of the conference, thought about our roster, depth, weaknesses, etc... I think we take the division. Top tier quarterback, solid playmakers at receiver particularly if Wheaton plays the way I think he will, a few talented tailbacks; hopefully one steps up. Interior of the offensive line will be fine, tackles are iffy but that's nothing new. Believe it or not Gradkowski is probably worth two wins in my opinion. Ben is going to get banged up for a start or two at some point and I have good faith in Bruce - hell, I'd probably pick this team to make wild card if he were the fulltime starter. Defense is a bit of an enigma to me. Not worried about the secondary, the line will be fine, too. It all depends on the pass rush. LaMarr is in very good shape right now so I have every reason to believe he'll have a strong year. We need a guy to step up with him though. Jones has looked good, Worilds has unrealized talent and I think Baxter beats out Carter for good reason. Comparing this evaluation of the team with the rest of the AFC, I feel pretty strongly that we're going to have a good season. The Bengals scare me within the division but if we even split with them I think we win the North. If it wasn't for my OT concerns I'd probably say AFCCG or better. But considering my lack of faith in our lot at that position, plus the uncertainty of the pass rush, I'm voting win AFCN but come up short of the Lombardi. I like this team, but it has the look of maybe being a year away to me. I think this squad could potentially be the belle of the ball heading into the regular season next year.