Well, the Steelers also had the one game this season when they were perfectly healthy and in shape... against the Vikings.

Ouch.

Anyway, I think Colts/Chargers is looking likely for the AFC. Sorry, the Steelers are just too banged up to go to the Big Dance this year, I think. Much as I like them (except when they play the Vikings), I just can't see it for the Steel Curtain this year.

Steelers is a homer pick for me.

But, I will say that this would not be the first time they've been in this situation. Last time, they won a Super Bowl, coming out of a #6 seed.

I've heard this argument and I'm not disagreeing, but I find many people discount the easy schedule the Vikings have had. Not to take away how well they're playing, because they are, but look at their opponents and their records:
Cleveland 1-10
St. Louis 1-10
Detroit (twice) 2-9
Seattle 4-7
Chicago 4-7
San Francisco 5-6
Baltimore 6-5
Pittsburgh 6-5
Green Bay 7-4

So they have seven games against sub-.500 teams and two games against teams that are wildly inconsistent. Not too tough. And then there is GB. The most amazing thing with reviewing that is I didn't realize GB was actually 7-4. They seem much more like a 5-6 team to me.

Yeah, I would agree with all of this as well, actually.

Well, your opponents are never really up to chance year to year... most of the time, I think it works out that 14 of 16 games are pre-determined well in advance. Only 2 games are "strength of schedule" based.

However, at least the Vikings are (for the most part) blowing out the teams they should be blowing out. We'll see what happens Sunday night with Arizona. That will be an interesting test.

Very true, and a wonderful counterargument to those who say "of course X team is doing good this year, the league gave them an easy schedule." Even the strength of schedule based games are predetermined as to which division they will face, so even those are less apt to chance than many people believe.

I never said the NFL deliberately gave any of these teams an easy schedule. That's a pretty over-the-top way of putting words in my mouth.

I miss the 90s. When the right teams were great and the right teams sucked.

That wasn't what I intended. I'd think you'd know me better than that, T.

Just that, well... the Vikings are 9-1, which is where they should be. So honestly, they're doing "as they should" right now. Losing to a fully healthy Steelers team in Pittsburgh is nothing to be ashamed of, especially since the Vikings dominated statistically. Just fluky turnovers at the end cost that game.

If they are 11-1 or 10-2 after playing Arizona and Cincy, then I think that's a better indicator of their status as elite. Or not, if they drop both.

I certainly was not directing my comment to you either, Thawmus, and my apologies if it came across that way. You don't come across as that type of person at all. Mine was just a general b***h and moan comment about people that complain without using their brains. Quite a different crowd than you.

Man, Steelers....


Kudos to the Redskins. Put up a heckuva fight yesterday.

Yea, losing to the Raiders at home?!? Did you see that steelers fan they did a close up on that was like a 50 year old dude just crying?!?! I am so glad I am not some wacko die hard fanatic like that hahaha.

When Tomlin said they were going to unleash hell I guess he meant on the steelers fans.

Part of that, I think, is Gradkowski and this team figuring themselves out finally. But I also think the Steelers had too much locker room distraction this week. The team's in turmoil over this concussion garbage, and nobody seems to keep their story straight.

This weekend, I heard one of those Fox guys say, "Ben was right to sit out", and then turn right around and say, "Ben got the message."

What message was there to get? If he was right to sit out, then he should have discarded the message. If he received it, then it wasn't right to sit out.

Jeez, I'm so tired of this already. The media is just begging to get a story out of Pittsburgh's locker room, and the players are not helping at all.

I feel your pain. And I really have to downgrade the Vikings. Not necessarily for losing to the Cards in Arizona, but the nature of the loss. That with EJ Henderson out for the season... I think they can make the NFC Championship still, but barring some crazed Viking fan going Tonya Harding to Drew Brees' Nancy Kerrigan, no Superbowl this year.

I feel bad for the Redskins. They're playing as well as, perhaps one could argue, they were meant to from the beginning. They've just lost so many games that they didn't know how to kill New Orleans.

Their defensive squad is just impressive, all around. Ignore the 33 points, because it doesn't show how much they made New Orleans struggle.