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View Full Version : Hardest Regular Season Schedule then Opposite of 05 Playoffs



RuthlessBurgher
01-12-2009, 01:31 PM
Everyone knows that we faced the toughest regular season schedule in decades this season, and still earned a first round bye in spite of numerous injuries throughout the season.

Our reward for overcoming that? A healthy roster in the playoffs with a schedule that is pretty much the polar opposite of our difficult path to Super Bowl XL.

That year, we had to beat the top 3 seeds in the AFC all on the road and then beat the #1 seed in the NFC in the Super Bowl. I doesn't get any tougher than that.

This year, the opposite happened in the playoffs. We had a bye in the opening round, play the team with the worst regular season record among AFC division winners (8-8 San Diego) in the divisional round at home and play the team with the worst regular season record among AFC wild cards (11-5 Baltimore) in the AFC Championship game at home. If we advance to the Super Bowl, the two teams remaining are the team with the worst regular season record among NFC division winners (9-7 Arizona) and the team with the worst regular season record among AFC wild cards (9-6-1 Philadelphia).

We played San Diego without Tomlinson and this weekend, and Baltimore sustained various injuries to Suggs, Rolle, McClain, and Anderson. Arizona has been playing without the injured Anquan Boldin, and Brian Westbrook has played but has been struggling with injuries recently. By contrast, for the first time all season, we are virutally injury-free. *Knocking furiously on wood*

Things finally seem to be going our way (except for the fact that James Harrison can be legally tackled by an o-lineman on any play :evil: but I won't go there now).

TallyStiller
01-13-2009, 08:06 AM
Don't want to jinx us, BUT... every one of those teams has beaten at least one 12 + win team already to get where they are, which is why we're the only such team left. At this point in the post season, everybody you run into is there because they're doing something right.

The last time a 9 win team made the Super Bowl, it was the '79 Rams, who we played in SB XIV. I remember everybody saying it was the biggest mismatch in Super Bowl history, and that we were gonna roll them. Turned out to be a tense ball game. We didn't put them away until the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter, despite our two score victory.

They beat Dallas in the divisional round - everybody was looking for a rematch of X and XIII... both classic ballgames between two great teams. As it turned out, those Rams were pretty much as up to the task of beating us as Dallas had been, and we had to come back from behind to win.

I think we're better than anybody else in the field, but if anything has been demonstrated in these playoffs, it's that the "Any Given Sunday" rule is alive and well.

Oviedo
01-13-2009, 08:38 AM
Regular season wins now are just a nice historical footnote. The play offs are all about who executes the best. We have to keep our focus and execute flawlessly against the Ravens because they are playing very good football on both sides of the ball.

Like most games, the team that takes care of the ball this Sunday will win. We have to force Flacco to try to win the game with his arm. If we can do that then I like our chances.

Ozey74
01-13-2009, 09:53 AM
Like most games, the team that takes care of the ball this Sunday will win. We have to force Flacco to try to win the game with his arm. If we can do that then I like our chances.

I have a feeling that the winds are starting to shift for the Ravens. On paper they got beat by the Titans. Had it not be the turnovers by the Titans, we'd be in Nashville this week. No turnovers are a must for the Steelers this week. I like Ben in this situation!!!


:tt2

SteelerNation1
01-13-2009, 10:28 AM
Like most games, the team that takes care of the ball this Sunday will win. We have to force Flacco to try to win the game with his arm. If we can do that then I like our chances.

I have a feeling that the winds are starting to shift for the Ravens. On paper they got beat by the Titans. Had it not be the turnovers by the Titans, we'd be in Nashville this week. No turnovers are a must for the Steelers this week. I like Ben in this situation!!!


:tt2
$$$$$$. The key, as it always is, is #7