Hello all!

Here we are! The 2017 Steelers are at 7-2 and currently the top seed in the AFC with 5 of their last 7 at home! Excited?! I would have to say for me that it's more of a controlled excitement with the hopes that they will turn things around. The issue is that I'm not too certain they will.

How can I speak of them turning things around when they're 7-2?
Well besides the Steelers, here are your top teams in the NFL:

8-1 Eagles
7-2 Saints
7-2 Rams
7-2 Vikings
7-2 Patriots

Can we say that we can beat any of these teams the way the Steelers are playing right now? I truly can't. Should every game be a blowout for the Steelers? Of course not, but these teams are hitting their stride and handling their business.

This Steelers team reminds me of the 2000 Portland Trailblazers. Like the Trailblazers the Steelers are extremely talented accross the board. Portland had Scottie Pippen, Arvydus Sabonis, Rasheed Wallace, Detlef Shremph, Jermaine O'neal, Greg Anthony, Steve Smith, Damon Stoudemire and Bonzie Wells.

Like the 2000 Blazers, this Steelers team wins off of spurts of the talent that they have. The problem with this Trailblazers team? They were not fundamentally sound. They also had no discipline and had sloppy play. They got by the first 2 rounds of the playoffs on talent alone. They finally faced their Kryptonite in the Western Conference Finals vs the Kobe/Shaq led Lakers in Phil Jackson's first year.

Kobe and Shaq later on had their differences but the 2000 Lakers were very much a fundamentally sound team. For the Steelers, we may not like to admit it, but we need to look no further than the Patriots. With our special teams gaffes and lapses in secondary coverage, the Patriots will destroy us. This doesn't even come to mention their lack of good play calling and execution on offense.

New England showed that they will kill you for your mistakes as they did vs Denver last night with their 3 special teams gaffes. This Steelers team has shown no polish. They have not shown that they are sound fundamentally, lack discipline and are sloppy just as that 2000 Blazers team.

I'm grateful that they're 7-2 and I hope for the best. The truth is though, if they don't clean up their act, a sparkling record will only be a mirage after being dismantled once again by the Patriots in another AFCCG letdown, and that is if they can make it that far.

I can only hope that this team has not peaked yet, but after 9 games of evidence, this team looks like this just may be who they are. Let's be honest, winning the Superbowl is the goal and the Steelers only look close by record. I think we all can say that if the top teams in the league that I mentioned above would have played the Colts, the game wouldn't have been close.