Prior to the start of the season, I (and many others) thought the Pittsburgh Steelers had the toughest schedule of all NFL teams. Boy, was I wrong. The Steelers and those terrible towels are now headed to Tampa to play in the Super Bowl.
Pittsburgh was a respectable 12-4 in the regular season – good for second in the AFC overall. All four Steeler losses came against highly regarded teams.
While the Steelers don’t have the greatest offense of all-time, we all certainly know why they have made it this far: they have one of the best defense’s, ever.
This season, Big Ben took more hits than this Kwanzoo.com blog, and this site gets hit quite often.
The Steelers rushing attack was more effective than, well, just nine other teams out of the 32 in the league. Maybe it was because Willie Parker was injured, a lot, or maybe it was because the Steelers offensive line just couldn’t get the job done.
Either way, the Steelers offensive rankings break done like this:
Points 21.7 per game (20th overall)
Yards 311.9 per game (22nd overall)
Pass Yards 206.3 per game (17th overall)
Rush Yards 105.6 per game (23rd overall)
Does like look like a Super Bowl bound team? Not really.
How about these stats?
Points allowed 13.9 per game (1st overall)
Yards allowed 237.2 per game (1st overall)
Passing Yards allowed 156.9 per game (1st overall)
Rushing Yards allowed 80.2 per game (2nd overall)
Yes, indeed they do look Super Bowlesque. Could they possibly look any better on paper on the defensive side of the ball?
Sure, the Steelers could have been ranked No. 1 overall in rushing defense, but that doesn’t make the slightest bit of a difference in their next game against a non-rushing Arizona squad. Although, the Cards sure have improved their rushing assault during the playoffs.
What about the Steelers four losses?
They all came against teams that made the playoffs.
Certainly, the Steelers season-long resume is much more impressive than their NFC counterpart. Pittsburgh played much better during the regular season than Arizona did too.
And in my opinion, the Steelers wins in the playoffs were more impressive than those of the Cardinals.
Sure, the Cardinals did have some shocking wins – three of them to be precise – but it seemed like the Steelers had to earn their victories more so than the Cardinals did.
The Cardinals did win fair and square, I’m not taking that away from them, but I think the Steelers were challenged more by their opposition.
And the Steelers, should they win, will own more Super Bowl rings than any other franchise in NFL history.
Clearly, the Steelers – as a team and a franchise – belong in the Super Bowl.
They have been here before, many, many more times than their opponent has.
Stay tuned for updates throughout the week on my thoughts on why the Steelers have the advantage to win the Super Bowl and my predictions on the outcome of the game.
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