Ginger Spice and Ben Roethlisberger. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports

Here it is December 21, 2012 and the world did not end.  However, if the Steelers continue their woes of underperforming and being mistake-prone, their season will end this Sunday at home against the Bengals.  I don’t think that’s going to happen.  Do I have some mind blowing statistical analysis to back me up?  Of course not, what do you take me for, some kind of expert?  But there are some valid reasons to consider though if you’re willing to believe in my bold statement.

The Bungles

They can draft well and get rid of their dead weight like Palmer and Ocho all they want but they’re still the Bungles.  Cincy has not made consecutive trips to the playoffs since the 80’s and haven’t won a playoff game since Milli Vanilli were popular.  I realize AJ Green is a talented wide receiver and Ginger Spice Dalton is a giant step up at QB from their previous gun slinger but they’re still wearing those stripes which means they’re still subject to all the mediocrity that comes with them.  As good as Dalton and Green have been together along with the addition of Benjarvus Green Ellis they still haven’t been able to beat the Ravens or the Steelers.  When the playoffs are on the line there’s one thing you can count on, the Bengals will blow it.

This is not 2009

There has been a whole lot of comparisons made between this year’s Steelers and the 2009 team where Mike Tomlin declared will “unleash hell” in December but lost to horrible teams such as Oakland and Cleveland and failed to make the playoffs.  That 2009 team did not control their destiny with 2 games remaining like the Steelers do now.  I sat in Dolphins stadium that year and cheered the Steelers final victory of the year hoping they still had a chance and then sat in a pool hall in Ft Lauderdale and watched all my hopes dashed as all the teams the Steelers were counting on losing so they could enter the “tournament” won their games and collectively ended that horrible season.    This time around the plan is pretty simple; win the last two games and you’re in, if you do that and the Ravens lose, you’ll even win the division.  It’s a whole different scenario than the 2009 team dealt with.

Keys to victory

The Steelers haven’t really put together a signature win all season.  Their most dominant performance was against the Redskins at home but other than that there haven’t been games where the passing and running game have both been successful and no games where the defense has turned a game around with a score or big turnover at a key moment.  The Steelers need to be firing on all cylinders this Sunday.  I’m not sure what happened to the running game, I was all about Jonathan Dwyer starting after his early success but now I’m not even sure the right Steelers running back is even on the roster right now.  This should go without saying but the turnovers need to friggin stop.  Don’t put the piggy on the ground!  The Steelers need to convert their 3^rd downs like they did early on in the season and beat teams by the most effective strategy there is; keep the Bengals offense on the sidelines.

This up and down season has been uber frustrating for Steeler Nation.  Thankfully, it’s about time for an upswing on that coaster right about now.  I don’t think this team is going out like that.  2012 began with the Steelers losing in Denver at the hands of Tebow; it’s not going to end at Heinz Field at the hands of Ginger Spice.  It just can’t.  I think the biggest issue the Steelers will have other than avoiding turning the ball over is containing AJ Green.  In the first meeting, Ike Taylor held Green in check the entire game and limited him to only 1 catch for 8 yards.  It happened to be a touchdown catch but that’s all he got that day.  Now Taylor will be on the sidelines conducting the secondary (hopefully Keenan Lewis) to repeat his success on Green while he recovers through his ankle injury.  We all know the Steelers are good enough to flip the switch and win it all, we know they’re better than how they’ve been playing as of late.  This Sunday is all or nothing, everything is on the line and when those are the odds who would you pick to come out on top?  Here We Go Steelers!

Follow me on Twitter @Kimmy_KimKimM and follow all of NPC’s posts @NicePickCowherC

Keisel one of many Steelers that need to take care of business in Cincy. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Pugliese-US PRESSWIRE

How about a little AFC North road action?  Everybody ready?  Oh what’s that you say?  You’re nervous?  Yeah me too.  The Steelers haven’t won a road game since January 1^st in Cleveland at the end of last season.  However, they are the winners of 9 of their last 10 regular season meetings in Cincinnati.  In spite of their 4^th quarter collapses in 4 out of the 5 games played, the Steelers defense still ranks 5^th overall in the NFL.  Battered and bruised from injuries and critics, can the Steelers, particularly the Steelers defense, take care of their road business this weekend against the Bungles? (more…)

You can always trust Kimmy's picks.

It’s that time of year again when I gaze into my crystal ball and pull out sure to be inaccurate predictions for the NFL season that is upon us.  I’d like to say that there is an in depth statistical analysis that goes into my picks but it’s so much more than that.  There are also my deep rooted biases and a hefty amount of guessing that goes into it as well.  When it all comes down to it, those “analysts” that get paid to do this are pretty much guessing as well.  There’s no way to know who’s going to get injured, who else is getting suspended, and who is just going to tank.  Not since the Patriots in 2003 has the team with the best regular season record hoisted the Lombardi Trophy surrounded by confetti that same February.  Just as the Packers and Giants from last season can tell you, it’s all about getting hot at the right time.  So without further ado, here go my predictions sure to go wrong team by team for the 2012 NFL season. (more…)

Above is a link to a short segment with ESPN’s John Clayton talking about the last restricted free agent in the NFL without a deal – Mike Wallace.In the clip, Clayton says ‘no deal’ as of yet (duh) but that the Steelers organization is optimistic about signing a deal with Wallace before camp starts.  He notes the Steelers are good at ‘taking care of’ their top players such as Ben Roethlisberger and Troy Polamalu. The Steelers are confident that there won’t be a holdout either.

Taking care of their top players.  Very true Mr. Clayton.  But, I am hard pressed to put Mike Wallace in the same breath as Big Ben and the Tazmanian Devil. Wallace is a very good young player. But, he has yet to fully prove himself as a high impact and ‘can’t do without’ player such as Ben and Troy. That’s why a deal hasn’t been signed yet in the first place. Wallace wants money equivalent to the top paid receivers in the league. That would be like taking Andy Dalton and signing him to the same kind of money Big Ben has. Dalton of the Cincinnati Bengals is a very good young quarterback. But is he elite? Can the Bengals not win without him? And, while most of us chuckle and think, ‘It’s tough for the Bengals to win with anyone’ I think the Bengals can win without a guy like Dalton. So if he were to have the same kind of numbers this season and next as he had last season, then stand on his box and ask for a $100 million contract, he would be laughed at. Much like how Wallace can’t be taken seriously right now demanding for a paycheck as big as Larry Fitzgerald’s. No way.  No how.  Not when you essentially disappear halfway into the season.

The only way the two sides come to an agreement is if Wallace sucks it up and signs what the Steelers are willing to pay him – my guess is six years with $8 million/year on a sliding scale getting him up to $11 million in his last season of his contract that is chalk full of incentives to keep him producing. Will he sign something like that? Right now, the way this situation has been silent, I would say no. But, the Steelers Omar Khan has a way of getting contracts done.

We don’t have much time before camp starts.  Will a contract get done in time.  Right now the scale is tipping in favor of a ‘no.’

Even I don't know how good I'm going to be, Pouncey! Credit: Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE

I would have to say that the AFC North had one of the more interesting drafts of all the divisions in the NFL.  Each team made key (or head scratching) moves directly involving offense.  Each team is primed to have either a great offense or one that quickly swirls down the toilet bowl.  Each quarterback also has a chance to have the season of a lifetime.  For us to jump down this rabbit hole, we’re going to have to make a few assumptions.

First we’ll have to assume that nothing will happen to Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger or Bengals QB Andy Dalton.  Ben appears to be flying the straight and narrow these days, and Andy Dalton has about an exciting life as a three-toed sloth – no chances for any events that will steer them away from the football field.  We must also assume that Joe Flacco and the Baltimore Ravens will tidy up the contract dispute currently on the table.  Flacco wants the big money and the Ravens are biting… yet.  Joe doesn’t appear that he’ll be a hold out as he attended the OTA’s and mini camps.  Now there’s about 10 (maybe he has 9?) Joe Flacco fans out there who will argue that there’s no way he’ll hold out.  And perhaps that’s true – he has the lack of spine to show up in camp.  But I’m not convinced that Uni won’t try and pull a power play right before camp – after all, he is ‘the best’ right?  But for now, we’ll assume that he’ll be taking the snaps.  Our last assumption is the hardest one to make, but we’ll have to go on blind faith in order for this poll to work.  We’re going to have to assume that Brandon Weeden will be the starter for the Cleveland Browns.  Although it may seem easy to think that Weeden will be the starter, Colt McCoy and Seneca Wallace are the other men competing for that job.  And while it may also be easy to write off McCoy, cause boy the analysts sure did on draft night, he will still have some fight in him.  The Browns will be going for broke as they always do since they have no fighting chance of taking the division.  If they feel Weeden is the guy to inject some type of pulse into that offense, then he’ll be the one to start.  Ok, I’m game.  Weeden it is.

The Steelers added a ton of weapons to the offense, and that includes the offensive line as being a weapon.  With the addition of great run blockers like David DeCastro and Mike Adams, the tallest TE in the business Leonard Pope, and new offensive coordinator Todd Haley, the Steelers have the potential of blowing up the scoreboard.  Can’t forget to mention NFL record setting receiver Antonio Brown and the other pass catchers, Heath Miller, and Isaac Redman primed to carry this team to the playoffs.  Big Ben has the potential of the best season of his career.  But will it be the best among the AFC North?

Is he wearing his helmet? Oh wait that's just his.... never mind. Credit: Frank Victores-US PRESSWIRE

Andy Dalton proved that ginger can be cool.  He had a great rookie season, and connected with star receiver A.J. Green.  Were he to have one good game against the Steelers last season, the Bengals could have had the Steelers on the outside looking in come playoff time.  But with any rookie season came highs and lows.  Now it’s time for Dalton to settle in with his offense once again (that surprisingly ranked 20th in the passing game) and make another push for the playoffs.

Joe Flacco and the rest of the Ravens have quite a bit to deal with going into camp.  Holdouts, injuries, etc.  All distractions, and all things that can affect the overall chemistry of the team.  Ray Rice, should he continue his hold out, could throughly screw this team by taking any semblance of a running game.  No running game means more responsibility and pressure on Joe Flacco.  And well, sometimes that just doesn’t work out to well for our friend Bert.  He does have plenty of weapons still at his disposal – none more electric than Torrey Smith.  Smith proved numerous times, including several against Pittsburgh, that he has amazing speed.  Should he improve his ability to catch the football, Flacco could have TD after TD bomb.

Do I have to talk about the Browns offense?  Wait.  Is there even a Browns offense?  Well, if there is, then Weeden has his work cut out for him.  He’ll have to …. ummm….. weed out (sorry just couldn’t help myself) the bad from the good in the huddle and hope for the best.  Who know, this kid and the rest of the dogs could surprise us come mid season – although the Homers will tell you the Browns are playoff bound and rulers of the North!

So – who’s it going to be?  Big Ben, Andy Dalton, Joe Flacco or Brandon Weeden?  They all have the potential (except maybe Weeden) to have a great statistical season.  But who will come out on top as the best?