AFC North

Really sucks this year the AFC Wildcard team might have a better record then the team [Steelers] who wins this division.

But they may not be the better team. If we can stop having so many people getting injured and this team can get their chemistry going they could surprise people. Yes the AFCN is mediocre this year but the Steelers were in every game and made them competitive except the first one.

I'd love nothing more than to see this team win the division in spite of questionable coaching and injury.
I don't care what any wildcard team record is. We were the first team to win the SB as a 6th seed. We can be the first team to come from 1-4 to win one.

If they won the division, considering the injuries and exit of talent, somebody at some point would have to give Tomlin a little credit...

Let's look beyond just the North for a second. I saw the following question asked on Twitter ...

Right now, who is the 3rd best team in the AFC, behind the Pats* and Chiefs?

AFC North is a mess right now. None of the teams are consistent, and none are dominant. The Bengals are the bottom of the conference without a doubt. I'd say we're second to last, and I'd put the Browns in 2nd. The Ravens are in first, but not because they're a dominant team. They have a lot of glaring weaknesses right now. Their run defense is suspect, their QB play is mediocre. The sports media was in love with Lamar Jackson over his two games against the lowly Dolphins, and hapless Cardinals. Most of his stats came in those two games. Outside of that he's been inconsistent throwing the football, and we exposed his mediocrity on Sunday. He barely managed to escape a team that was playing it's third string QB. Jackson simply isn't that good (as a QB).

The Brownies were the offseason favorites. Their offensive line is swiss cheese they have so many holes. They just got stomped on by a 49ers squad that we could've beaten. Despite having two of the best receivers in football, they can't make plays because their O-Line is abysmal, and their QB is just a sober version of Johnny Manziel.

Honestly I think the Steelers despite our record are a team that keeps improving and has been victim to an absolutely brutal schedule, and brutal injuries. Our defense has managed to keep us in most games, and if not for some huge mistakes and bad luck we could just as easily be 4-1 instead of 1 and 4. The defense just seems to get better every game, we have some ridiculous talent rushing the passer. Could be better in our run defense, but at the end of the day the defense has given us many opportunities to win. We're getting turnovers and the offense simply isn't getting points from those opportunities and to me that's the most glaring issue with this team. You can't generate as many turnovers as we have, and get so few points in return.

The offense struggles with consistency. They haven't been able to put together a full game yet. They haven't capitalized on the opportunities our defense has afforded them, and they have got to do more as far as controlling the time of possession. We're getting our butts kicked in that department. If you don't control the TOP, you're not going to win many games.

Despite the negatives, we have seen some improvement, and I'm not ready to close the book on the season just yet. I think we have a pretty damned good defense, and if we had at least a halfway competent offense that hadn't been riddled with nasty injuries then we'd probably have a winning record right now.

Either way, the disparity between the teams in our conference isn't as big as the records would indicate.

Injuries,bad OC and terrible officiating are as much to blame as players not stepping up for us on offense.We will most likely start an undrafted, practice squad QB Sunday night and I predict that not only will we win. We will dominate.
Our defense sacked the very mobile Jackson 5 times last week and if not for 2 missed tackles in the backfield would have taken his lunch money.In 5 games we have 19 sacks. We're on track for 60 this season. We are actually catching the ball for Ints and covering pretty good. A big problem still remains in the middle of the field.
We have the best defense in the AFCN and could be the best in the AFC by season's end. Still we have a DC (or HC depending who is actually calling the defense) that at the very least falls short in scheme.
I know this. I'm not nearly smart enough to call an NFL defense or offense but just as sure as I am about that I'm equally sure neither coordinator is.
We have talent. We have attitude. We need coaches who will "work for SBs".

I believe we currently are the best team in the AFC North, but as long as Fichtner keeps sabotaging this team we will lose many games we should win.

I think this could still be a magical season.

There has been nothing but heartbreak so far.

But a win by the Bengals and a win on Sunday night could change a lot of things.

The frustrating part is how long it's been since the Steelers have been in the driver's seat of the division.

They had what a 3 game lead last year could have easily cruised to a division title and they had the epic collapse, or did you forget that?

Looking at the schedule to December 1 we very well could go on a 6-1 type run which gives an 8-5 record then 3 games versus: Bills-Jets-Ravens. Bills may or may not be better than they were and they always seems to play the Ravens well in Baltimore.

Quote :

vs Dolphins
vs Colts
vs Rams
@ Browns
@ Bengals
vs Browns
@ Cardinals

Need 8 or 9 wins from here on out depending on what the Ravens and Clowns do. Got to beat the Ravens in Baltimore and take at least 1 game from the Clowns to make it realistic ally... the rough start made almost every game a playoff game with no room for errors.

I think 10-6 will take the AFCN this year. We are capable of doing that if Mo,Larry and Curly don't screw it up. If I was coaching this team I'd be telling these guys it's balls to the wall from here on out. If we get out to a lead we choke the ever loving life out of anyone we play. Not like last night.No mercy,no apologies.If we get behind we pull all stops until we win.

The Ravens have the Seahawks, Patriots***, Bengals, Texans, Rams, 49ers, and Bills up next.

IMO, that's a tougher schedule than we have in the same span. I could see them losing at least 5 of those games (Seahawks, Patriots***, Texans, Rams, 49ers)

They do have a tough series of games. Heres to hoping they lose 4 or 5 and put us in the drivers seat.

Going 6-1 is even for contenders a hard task, let alone for a mediocre team like ours. 4-3 the next seven games will be good and with 5-2 we can be very happy.

vs Dolpins and @Bengals we should win
vs Colts and Rams we're the underdog, but we can hope we win 1
we split the series vs the Browns
@Cardinals will be a toss up, always a difficult game

Ravens at Seattle this weekend and then bye. Brown/Steelers bye this weekend. Steelers come back with Dolphins at home, Browns at Pats*. So if Ravens lose this weekend, after next week's games, Browns loss to Pats* and Steelers beat Dolphins, Steelers would be 2nd place one game behind Ravens. Not that 3-4 record is anything to be excited about but they'd be right in the hunt.

Well Seattle decided to have their worst game of the year. They lost to the Rats. Makes our road even steeper.

I was really banking on Seattle to win that game. Ah well.

I just want to watch some Steelers football again. The bye week is rough (especially when Notre Dame was on a bye, too)

Seahawks shit all over themselves... lol ugh.

SteelerFreak58 wrote:

Seahawks shit all over themselves... lol ugh.

They pulled a Steelers and played down.

Bastard ass Seahawks. Come on. The one game I wanted them to win. It's like rooting for the Browns to get you to the playoffs...

Stella Nation wrote:

Going 6-1 is even for contenders a hard task, let alone for a mediocre team like ours. 4-3 the next seven games will be good and with 5-2 we can be very happy.

vs Dolpins and @Bengals we should win
vs Colts and Rams we're the underdog, but we can hope we win 1
we split the series vs the Browns
@Cardinals will be a toss up, always a difficult game

You are right. 4-3 is likely optimistic the way thing have gone. If nothing else I'd like to see them sweep the Browns. I was so sick of all the offseason hype from the media and fans about how they were going to the Super Bowl. It would be awesome to see them finish around 4-12.

9-7.

The Steelers’ next six opponents have a (14-31-1) record. Here's what we have left, what record do you predict from here?

Quote :

@ Browns
@ Bengals
vs Browns
@ Cardinals
Bills
@ Jets
@ Ravens

In the next 6 games I think they beat Browns 2x, Bengals, and Jets. Cardinals a win, also think they will beat Bills at home. 6-0 seems very improbable, though. So, maybe 5-1, that even seems unlikely but it's hard for me to see 2 losses coming out of that group.

Ravens game tough to call. Had it not been for a bad call or 2 Steelers would have won the 1st meeting.Maybe Ravens have everything clinched by then and are playing for nothing. They still have 49ers and Rams on their schedule, so if Steelers next 6 goes very well, and a loss or 2 from the Ravens, the last game could have a lot riding on it.

Maybe too optimistic, but I think we end 10-6