Three weeks into the season, we're already down to just three unbeaten teams.
What kind of odds do you think you could have gotten at the beginning of the season that those three unbeatens would be the Steelers playing without Ben Roethlisberger, the Chicago Bears and the woeful Kansas City Chiefs?
Which one is the biggest surprise to you?
Even though I picked against the Steelers to win the first two weeks, I'd still have to go with Kansas City.
I'm still nowhere near sold on the Chiefs being a playoff contender – I think Chicago and Pittsburgh are – but they've already beaten San Diego and San Francisco - a pair of teams picked to win their respective divisions by many.
After watching the Steeler's first team defense in the preseason, I expected 3-1 at worst.
ReplyDeleteI'd rate KC as the biggest surprise. Saw Chi against GB and was not impressed with them. If not for those major penalties on GB in the winning drive, Chi would have lost.
Hands down Kansas City is a surprise. I don't think their streak will last long.
ReplyDeleteI picked the Steelers to start 3-1, losing to Baltimore. Not so sure they will lose to them now.
i picked the steelers to go 3-0
ReplyDeleteThey all are a surprise to me, but KC probably the most so. Here is what I expect though.
ReplyDeleteKC plays Indy this weekend...loss. If not, I may be sold on them. That is truly a test game for them.
Chicago I just don't understand them at the moment. They have beaten Dallas and Green Bay, but probably should have lost to Detroit and Green Bay had they not been so bad with the penalties.
Pittsburgh plays Baltimore this weekend. Who knows what happens there? The D won't give up many points, but can the O give us enough against that D?
I expect we will be competitive for the division, conference and the SB.
Chicago will probably be a playoff team because their schedule overall is pretty soft.
KC I expect to fall apart after their first loss. The mentality of "we have been here before" about losing will come back after a loss or 2 and they will crumble like Denver did last year.
I'm not so sure Baltimore's D as tough as before. The Seneca Wallace led Browns put up 17 on them with Peyton Hillis rushing for over 140yds.
ReplyDeleteOffensively, Flacco hasn't looked great and Ray Rice may be out.
as much as i like batch, an average or better CB knocks down the first TD pass and the second one was dumb luck. don't expect him to be airing out TD passes on the ravens. their secondary isn't great, but it's also not as bad as Tampa's was.
ReplyDeletethe raven's D will be capable of shutting down the steeler's O. our o-line must play well and the steelers must use Heath Miller in the play action passing game to help neutralize Ray Lewis.
our D should match up well. the ravens will throw some jump balls down field and hope for the best. that's their solution when the dink and dunk is shut down.
should be a close game and could go either way. i'll be happy at 3-1 with all things considered.
I'd rather be 2-1 and beat the ravens rather than 3-0 and lose to them.
ReplyDeleteIts early, but this is a huge game in a division where likely 1 game will separate the division winner from the other team fighting for a wildcard.
patrick,
ReplyDeletei think every steeler fan would rather be 3-1 with a win over the ravens than 3-1 with a loss to the ravens.
yeh well, you're right its a no sh*t comment, but I mean it more like at this point, 3-1 with a loss to the ravens who would also be 3-1 is not a incredible position to be in.
ReplyDeleteIts a big game and I'm thrilled with how the Steelers have played, but 3-1 after this week and they aren't really on easy street.
It will be worth watching Pouncey match up on Ngata for sure.
ReplyDeleteI, too, think Balt's D is on the downhill side but this will still be a fierce hitting game. Lucky for the Steelers they have their bye week following it.
I think Balt will put a lot more heat on Batch than either TN, who stopped blitzing when Batch came in, or TB did. I expect the Steelers to continue to run behind Flozell Adams who's still a beast in run blocking.
To me, Flacco seems to have regressed since his rookie season. The D will give him some short stuff early then slowly choke off every option until Flacco comes unglued.
Most surprising team for me is the Steelers. I bought into the D getting old and I was worried about how Aaron and Troy would be coming off injuries.Obviously the whole BB thing was another huge ?? and ST's were hard to predict.
ReplyDeleteThe D has been magnificent, the ST's much better and improved., the offense has held together all things considered. It could all change with one key injury but there is no way I thought they would be 3-0. KC is a close second but they got ST's points in a few games that saved them. Not sold on them yet as a playoff team.
As you all know, I had the Steelers going 2-2 in their first four, losing to Atlanta - who's better than many are giving them credit for - and at Tennessee and beating Tampa and Baltimore.
ReplyDeleteI just thought it would take this team some time to get its sea legs under it with a new QB, particularly with how Tomlin handled that situation in the preseason.
But watching the D in training camp, I thought it would be outstanding. They have depth at every position.
I give the Steelers a lot of credit for recognizing that they'd lost a lot of quality depth on both D and ST and bringing back and in vets to address it.
ReplyDeleteMcFadden, Foote and Allen have all improved the defense. Allen and Battle, along with Madison, have made a big difference on ST returns and coverage.
I don't think one can underestimate the job Kugler has done with the OL and Everest with STs.