Friday, November 9, 2018

The Path For The Steelers

So I'm working at The Caring Place last night and early in the evening a buddy and I are discussing what the Steelers need to do in the second half of the season to position themselves for a run into the playoffs and, we hope, a trip to the Super Bowl.  Here's what we came up with:

Of the eight remaining games, four are with what we would call Good Teams: Panthers, Chargers, Saints, Patriots.  The other four are with Not-So-Good Teams:  Jaguars, Raiders, Broncos, Bengals.  (Okay, maybe you could say that the Bengals should be considered a "Good" team, but, c'mon, they're the Bengals.  Also, we know that the Jags did to the Steelers last year, but they've kind of hit the skids in recent weeks.)  So we figure that the Steelers need to split the four games against the Good Teams and go 3-1 against the Not-So-Good Teams.  We figure that each of those goals is doable.  That makes them 10-5-1 which should win the AFC North and get them into the Playoffs where as we all know, it's a "crap shoot" and "anything can happen" (sounds like Neal Huntington, doesn't it?).

So, there's the formula, Mike Tomlin.  Now it's to you and your players to, you know, execute it.

Like I said, that discussion took place early in the evening, and when I got in the car to come home last night, I hear the mellifluous tones of Billy, Tunch, and Wolf describe James Conner's two yard run for a touchdown  to put the Steelers up 21-7. In the first quarter.  I get home in time to watch the remainder of that 52-21 dissection that the Steelers put on the Carolina Panthers, yes, one of the aforementioned "Good Teams", last night.

Jesse James Scores
He was one of seven Steelers to score a TD,  and one of 
nine different Steelers to catch a Ben Roethlisberger 
pass in that game last night

No team is as good as it looks on its very best day, and let's face it, that performance that Rooney U put on last night was one of the best all around performances I've seen in years, but after a shaky 1-2-1 start, the team has won five straight games and has looked awfully good in doing so.  It was hard to find fault with anything that they did last night.

Could be a fun ride the rest of the way for this team.

A subject that I have pretty much avoided in this space all season is the holdout of Le'Veon Bell and all the drama that has surrounded it. It now appears that he will report to the team on Tuesday.   I certainly have my opinions on that subject, which I shall share with you when his rejoining the team becomes a fait accompli.

Until then, #herewegosteelersherewego

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