With the preseason coming to a close and the end of productive Sundays drawing much closer as the regular NFL season starts tomorrow, I thought it would be appropriate to share my predictions for the Pittsburgh Steelers this year.
This season will be the first one in which I will not be in Pittsburgh to experience, and I say experience because each and every day consists of me either turning on 93.7 to listen to Starkey and Mueller after school, listening to Coach Tomlin's news conferences, breaking down the following week's match up, or actually watching the game. I pretty much live football between September and early February.
That being said, I think health will be the difference between a division title or potentially a bye week and a wild card playoff berth. With Le'Veon Bell out the first three games and Martavis Bryant out for the year, the offense will likely be concentrated and centered around Ben, AB, and the running back of the week, whomever is in the game. As those players got banged up towards the end of the season and in the playoffs last year, the team faded and impeded what many fans believed to be a Super Bowl-worthy one. The sixteen game season is truly a war of attrition, and this year it will take its toll on the entire team including the offensive line, who always seem to lose a starter to a season-ending injury. That has yet to happen, and I hope it never does because Pouncey and DeCastro lead a fairly strong O-Line that needs to stay healthy.
As for the defense, they pretty much hit rock bottom last year before steadily improving as the season progressed. The mix of young talent and a new defense created that slow start, but with a year under their belt, I expect them to be nothing less than an average defense this year. However, the secondary has shown flashes of big, splash play abilities by creating lots of turnovers, something recent Steelers' defenses have lacked. The offseason additions of Artie Burns through the draft and Justin Gilbert in a trade from the Browns will provide a boost to the unit that was torn apart last year for quite a few long completions.
I'm so confident in the Steelers, that IF they stay healthy at the key positions, I believe their only losses will come Week 4 at home against the Chiefs, who ended the 2015 regular season with ten consecutive wins, and Week 7 at home against the Patriots who have had the Steelers' number since the 2005 AFC Championship Game. I truly believe the Steelers will win end the regular season 14-2 with a first round bye that would set them up nicely for an attempt to win a 7th Super Bowl. Football games are played on the field though and not on paper, so a lot can change over quite a long season. All a fan can do is hope for the best.
