So here we are.
It doesn’t seem long ago that James Harrison was intercepting Kurt Warner at the goal line or Santonio Holmes pulled of a miraculous catch in the corner of the endzone.
After the Super Bowl XLIII win and the Penguins subsequent run to Lord Stanley’s Cup, all we did was make fun of people and celebrate all year long.
But guess what? Party’s over.
It’s back to work for the Steelers and here’s 21 bold predictions for the upcoming season. Jump it!
1. Ben Roethlisberger misses at least two full games due to injury. The offensive line isn’t much better and after you win a Super Bowl, good luck is tough to come by.
2. Willie Parker outgains Rashard Mendenhall and Mewelede Moore by quite a bit and surprises a lot of people. Announcers say “He hasn’t lost a step.”
3. Number of times James Harrison is held and no flag is thrown: 251.
4. The Steelers will lose one of the first two games of the season and people will call for heads, most likely Bruce Arians.
5. Number of times James Harrison is held and a flag is thrown: 7
6. Brady Quinn doesn’t fare any better than Derek Anderson. The Browns finish 6-10.
7. Isaac “Redzone” Redman dresses for two games and scores a touchdown.
8. He will struggle again early, but by the end of the year, Limas Sweed is clearly the Steelers third best wide receiver.
9. The Bengals “improve,” but still only finish 6-10. Ryan Clark will nearly end Chad Ochocinco’s career.
10. Three Steelers who become heroes at some point during the season: William Gay, Mewelde Moore, Keyaron Fox.
11. Three Steelers who become goats at some point during the season: Roethlisberger, Lawrence Timmons, Sweed.
12. Stefan Logan scores 3 TDs this season. Gets compared to Darren Sproles three teams each game.
13. The Baltimore Ravens finish 10-6, as the defense slips a bit and Flacco falters down the stretch.
14. Ray Lewis will still play like he’s 25 and I’ll be in awe. Ditto with Derrick Mason.
15. James Harrison won’t be the only Steeler LB attending the Pro Bowl at the end of the season.
16. This is *finally* the year that Santonio Holmes becomes the Steelers number one receiver.
17. The Steelers finish 11-5, winning the AFC North again but an inconsistent offense leaves doubts.
18. Drew Brees wins the NFL MVP.
19. People will complain about number 20 on this list. “OMGZ but yinz a Stillerz blog!”
20. The Steelers lose to the San Diego Chargers in the divisional round of the AFC Playoffs.
21. Holmes will be the Steelers offensive MVP and Harrison the defensive pick.
So that’s that. As always, we strive to be mostly objective and call things like we see them. If you got any beef or other predictions, hit up the comments.
