HOW WOULD YOU FEEL ABOUT 8-8?
Trying to go through an NFL team’s schedule game-by-game to predict what kind of season it’s going to have can be a dangerous propostion.
But, then, Danger is my middle name, so here goes.
SI.com was nice enough to come out with its pre- training camp NFL power rankings and, since I’m way too busy to do my own evaluation of each team, I’ll go with theirs.
The Steelers are ranked 14th, which puts them almost exactly in the middle of the pack.
Don Banks, who does the rankings, mentions the uncertainty at quarerback, the identity problem because of the off season talk about running the ball more and keeping Troy Polamalu healthy.
Most of the focus has been on those first four games that the Steelers will have to play without Ben Roethlisberger, but it’s possible that they could go 3-5 in the first half.
The Steelers play four teams that are ranked higher than them in the first eight weeks and they play three road games in a row in Miami, New Orleans and Cincinnati. Three and five is a distinct possilbity.
The second half of the schedule is easier. For one thing, it has a stretch of three consecutive home games.
There are two gimmes on the schedule. At Buffalo and the last game of the season in January in Cleveland, but they also have to go to Baltimore and they have to play the Jets at home.
Right now, I’d be surprised if they won more than 8 games..