9/4/17-The Quest Begins Now

By: Mike Pelaia

The 2017 season is mere days away and that means the black and gold are about to embark on another quest to hoist Lombardi Trophy number seven. It’s never an easy path in the NFL as the old adage goes, any team can win on “Any Given Sunday”. Injuries occur, rookies emerge, veterans falter. You just don’t know what will happen.

At this point though, as the Steelers enter week one, they appear healthy and they are a legitimate contender to not only get to the Super Bowl but to win it.

As Ben Roethlisberger typically says, the team likes to approach the regular season in four quarters and I see them coming out of each one of those quarters with a healthy record.

In the first quarter of the season, the Steelers begin their quest on the road at the Cleveland Browns. The Browns are still a doormat and Big Ben owns the state of Ohio. The black and gold will win the opener and head home to a week two opponent from the NFC, the Vikings. In playing the Vikings, the Steelers will pick up their second win of the season as I fully anticipate Minnesota to take a step backwards this season. Following the 2-0 start, the Steelers hit the road again and head to Chicago to take on the Bears where they will face another league doormat. This should be an easy win and the undefeated Steelers will head into the final game of the first quarter on the road at Baltimore. I don’t think the Ravens are a playoff team this season but they always get up for the Steelers and I expect them to do so again and come out on top.

The Steelers will end the first quarter 3-1.

The second quarter of the season starts with an easy victory at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The black and gold will then head out to Kansas City for a later afternoon game against a very stingy Chiefs team. The Steelers will put up a fight but the Chiefs will come out victorious in this one. Following the loss, the black and gold head home for a tough rivalry game against the Bengals which will be a nasty, ugly game but Pittsburgh will win. The Steelers will finish the first half with a road win against the Lions.

After the first half of the season, they’ll be 6-2.

After a bye week, the Steelers begin the second half with a win on the road against the Colts, who just aren’t what they used to be. Four days later, on a Thursday night, they’ll host an upstart Titans team who will be in the playoff mix this season, the Steeler will handle their business at home with a win. The following week, the black and gold will face the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football and will be taken down by the Aaron Rodgers show in a high scoring affair. The killer B’s will head to Cincinnati the following week for a second hard hitting affair that will see the Bengals come out on top and knock the Steelers to 2-2 in the third quarter.

Heading into the final quarter of the season, Pittsburgh will be 8-4.

The Steelers will start the final quarter of the season on a mini two game losing streak but they will rectify that at home with a win against the hated Ravens. The following week will see Tom Brady bring the defending champion Patriots into town and in all likelihood destroy the Steelers once again. The final two games of the season will see the Steelers pick up wins on the road at Houston and at home against the lowly Browns.

The team will finish 11-5, win the division and pick up the #2 seed in the playoffs.

The Steelers will win in New England in the AFC Championship game and head to the Super Bowl to go on to defeat the Green Bay Packers in a 2010 Super Bowl rematch.

The quest begins now…