Friday, October 11, 2013

Looking forward: A fearless prediction

Before the season began we were fairly confident that the Steelers would lose their first four games -- nothing in the preseason made us believe that the mediocre team from 2012 had done anything to improve -- and now that that has come to fruition we turn our attention to the remaining twelve games.  Where will the Steelers' record end up, and how will it get there?  To steal a line from Peter King, here's what we thing we know:

Wins
10/13 @ New York Jets -- If the Steelers don't win this game then everything else we say here is automatically null-and-void.  This will be Pittsburgh's only road victory this season.

11/10 vs. Buffalo -- The unsettled nature of the quarterback position for the Bills will work to the Steelers' advantage.

11/17 vs. Detroit -- This is very much a coin toss kind of game, but we are feeling generous.

12/08 vs. Miami -- Ike Taylor will abuse Mike Wallace.

12/29 vs. Cleveland -- The Steelers will end their sorry 2013 season with a win than means nothing except a lower draft pick.

Losses
10/20 vs. Baltimore -- The defending champs will not miss on an opportunity to kick their rivals while they're down.

10/27 @ Oakland -- Since the merger, including playoff games, the Steelers are 12-14 versus Oakland and have not won a game in Oakland since 1995.

11/03 @ New England -- The injury to Vince Wilfork is a big blow to New England's defensive unit, and the game might be a little closer because of it, but no win here.

11/24 @ Cleveland -- The resurgent Browns are this season's NFL version of the Pirates.  More to the point, the Browns are proving effective at running the football and the Steelers are having a problem stopping people from running.

11/28 @ Baltimore -- Four days to prepare?  Uh, okay.

12/15 vs. Bengals -- We would love to pick the Steelers here, and the Bengals could always implode before the end of the season, but we think that is mostly wishful thinking.

12/22 @ Green Bay -- This may be a blowout of epic proportions.

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