The Pittsburgh Steelers are Super Bowl bound.  So says Peter King in Sports Illustrated‘s annual NFL Preview issue hitting stands today.

For those without access to that fine publication, here’s the Cliff’s Notes version:  the Black and Gold start the season 3-1 with their back up quarterback.  Ben Roethlisberger returns from exile and leads them to an 11-5 record and second seed in the AFC.  They’ll humble the Jets and Colts, then set their sights on Green Bay in Super Bowl XLV.  Since the Steelers never lose in the big game (I refuse to count the one Neil O’Donnell was paid to throw), they’ll upend the Packers 33-27 for their seventh Lombardi Trophy.

Throw in box seats with Kate Mara and I’m pretty sure that scenario is every Steeler fan’s wet dream.

While I certainly hope the skunk-haired prognosticator is correct, I am compelled to point out some facts about Mr. King.  First, he’s nuts.   This man ranked Willie Colon the 48th best player in the entire NFL.  To put that in perspective, imagine if every player on every team were a free agent, then you held a draft of those players.  He’s saying a member of one of the worst offensive lines in football, a line which can’t run block and surrenders 50+ sacks EVERY YEAR, would be a mid second round pick?   Seriously?

Let’s also examine some of Peter’s prior predictions.  Last year, he had the Patriots over the Bears in the Super Bowl.   Chicago went 7-9 and didn’t make the playoffs while the Spycammers got crushed by the Ratbirds in the Wild Card game.   In 2008, his crystal ball foretold of the Patriots (sensing a pattern yet?) over the Cowboys.  Neither team made the playoffs (To be fair, losing Tom Brady wasn’t in the equation).  In 2007, the rotund insider envisioned a Colts-Saints match-up.  New Orleans didn’t make the playoffs while Peyton “Choke Artist” Manning had his usual one-and-done.

So what we’ve learned is one of his teams usually does make the playoffs but gets bounced out fairly quick.  The other team doesn’t make it all.  And he’s never ever right on either pick.  Not exactly the most inspiring of track records.

Let’s hope the Blind Squirrel Theorem holds true for once.  After all,  that nut must be found some day, right?

I’ve watched this video twenty times and you know what? It never gets old!

Don’t get me wrong. When it happened, I was not happy. On the contrary, I was concerned because the Pittsburgh Steelers were only up by a field goal. It definitely appeared that the undefeated Minnesota Vikings were closing in on the tie if not the go-ahead touchdown. Then the Steelers defense rose to the occasion, picking off Brett Favre and leading the Black and Gold to glorious victory.

So now I can gloat.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know I’m not a fan of Will.i.am Gay. For one thing, he acted like a complete moron at the Super Bowl Victory Parade. But what really grills my cheese is the way he poses and celebrates after making the most ordinary of plays. I’m not some old geezer. I don’t mind guys celebrating, say after catching the winning TD pass in the Super Bowl. However, Gay seems to think tackling somebody for a two yard loss is worthy of a choreographed dance straight out of an episode of Glee.

Thanks to Brett and his Fighting Wranglers, I have a new reason to dislike Gay. He sucks at football. If you saw the game, you probably noticed they targeted him all day. He blew one play where he was supposed to blitz but stopped long enough for the ball to go lofting over his peabrained head. On a crucial third and long, Gay totally whiffed on trying to tackle Percy Harvin. He misses a lot of tackles because he doesn’t wrap people up so much as dive desperately at their feet hoping an ankle falls into his mitts.

I didn’t worry much when Bryant McFadden left to join the Arizona Cardinals Pittsburgh West. After all, B-Mac only started one year and was routinely beaten out by ninety-five year old Deshea Townshend. Hindsight being 20/20, I realize we’re going to miss him. Gay has blazing speed but is a lousy tackler with mediocre coverage skills. Maybe Mike Tomlin, who started out as a secondary coach, can coach him up but I’m not holding my breath. We’ll have to make due until next year when either rookie Joe Burnett is ready to start or we take a better corner in the draft.

In the meantime, I’ll relish the irony of the above play. Gay has spent this season trying to draw attention to himself and his meager accomplishments. Well, he’s got attention now. From this point forward, whenever a “Best Plays of 2009″ highlight package airs, I’m sure you’ll see the clip of young Will.i.am getting JACKED UP by Purple Jesus. Be careful what you wish for…

Sports Illustrated released their semi-annual list of the best owners in sports. To no surprise, the Rooney family were named the best owners in the NFL. When you helm the most successful franchise in football history, you deserve all the accolades which come your way.  Just think, if not for some horse at some race track back in 1933, the late great Art Rooney doesn’t win the $2,500 he used to buy the team that would some day be known as the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Yesterday was a sad day for Steeler Nation. Myron Cope, long-time voice of the Pittsburgh Steelers and inventor of the Terrible Towel, passed away at the age of 79.

John has already posted a very nice tribute elsewhere on this site but as someone who bleeds Black and Gold, I would also like to say a few words about Cope. He loved to refer to himself as “Cope.” Not many people can refer to themselves in the third person and not come across as a pretentious ass but he could. And that was just one reason why he was a beloved part of the city of Pittsburgh.

There are things we all know about Myron. His work as a broadcaster. His famous sign off, “Myron Cope…ON SPORTS!” The Terrible Towel. Less known is how great he was as a sports writer. A couple years ago, my parents bought me a book entitled, “Sports Illustrated: Fifty Years of Great Writing.” There, among nationally famous, Pulitzer Prize-winning authors I found a story written by none other than our Myron Cope. Had he never stepped into an announcing booth, he probably would’ve still had a memorable career as a columnist, reporter, or author.

But his announcing is what he’s most remembered for and it’s the reason we love him. It makes me sad that there will be a whole generation of Steeler fans who will never have had the pleasure of hearing him call a game. Luckily, I found this awesome collection of Cope Clips for your listening pleasure. To understand how much Cope meant to football fans in this city, I remember many of us watching Steeler games with the sound off and the radio on so we wouldn’t have to listen to one of the blowhard television commentators and could instead enjoy the hilarious homerism of Myron Cope.

I have two favorite Cope memories. First was during the infamous Coin Flip Fiasco against Detroit where Jerome Bettis called tails but referee Phil Luckett insisted he called heads and awarded Detroit the ball which they took for a game-winning score in overtime. They were in commercial during the flip. When they came back, Cope was absolutely flipping out over the referee screwing us on the call. He never forgave Luckett for that travesty, either.

The other memory I have is just a random moment during yet another epic beatdown of the hapless Cleveland Browns. Vinny Testaverde, whom Cope also seemed to have a strong dislike for, was playing quarterback for the Brownies. Testaverde threw an interception which led to this classic bit of analysis, “The football people say Vinny doesn’t see the field well. Well, that’s just a nice way of saying he’s dumb.”

I was watching ESPN yesterday afternoon when I saw the scroll across the bottom of the screen announcing his passing. It read, “Myron Cope, former Pittsburgh Steelers announcer, passes away at 79.” You got it wrong ESPN. He might not be in the booth any more but Myron Cope will ALWAYS be the voice of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Thank you, Myron.

Memo to Anthony Smith: Shut the hell up!! In case you missed it, safety Anthony Smith “guaranteed” a win this Sunday when the Steelers face the Patriots. Predictably, the Patriots reacted to this stupid bit of boasting by, uh, trying to figure out who Anthony Smith is. “I didn’t know who he was until we started preparing for them,” model-diddling quarterback Tom Brady said.

Sports Illustrated’s Peter King also predicted a Steelers upset this weekend. And, best of all, Las Vegas must have read my Five Reasons… post because the game is magically back on the board with the Steelers a meager 12 point underdog. Twelve points? That’s practically a pick ‘em when the game involves the Greatest Team in the History of the Universe (GTITHOTU).

Usually, I break down the Patriots offense vs. the Steelers defense and vice versa but this week I’m going to do something different. If you’re a football fan, I’m sure you’ve seen enough of the GTITHOTU to know what they do and how they do it. Instead, I’m going to look at their past two games, against the Ravens and Iggles, and try to break down exactly why what were supposed to be embarrassing blow-outs turned into heartstopping near upsets.

The Colts, Ravens, and Eagles gave everybody a blueprint of how to play the GTITHOTU on defense. Primarily, you have to roll your safety coverage over the top on Randy Moss and jam him hard so he doesn’t get a free sprint down the field. You also HAVE to blitz Brady. Teams didn’t do this early on for fear their receivers would burn them in man-to-man coverage if they didn’t get the sack. However, sacking Brady isn’t important, making him move around and preventing him from stepping up into the pocket is. Unlike Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady might be more virile but he isn’t great at throwing when he’s on the run.

The GTITHOTU has pretty much become a pass first, pass second, and, for good measure, pass third offense. Which is fine except if the defense can prevent the big play and make them grind out a scoring drive of 8-10 short plays instead of 4-6 longer plays, they are more likely to miss a pass and have to punt or settle for a field goal. Plus, the weather is getting rougher, such as the windy night in Baltimore, which also affects the passing game. Dammit, where is Bob Kudzma when you need him? If ever we were in dire need of a dependable weather forecast, now’s the time.

As for the GTITHOTU’s defense, they have not been defending the run very well lately. Part of this is because their linebackers are old and the grind of a long season might be wearing them down. Or this might have been a weakness all along, it was just hidden early in the season by quickly getting 20+ points up on the opposition and forcing them to abandon the run and throw to catch up. Keeping the game within reach is key because it will allow us to stick with the running game. Not that the passing game is off the menu, either. Philly exposed how vulnerable they are to pass patterns to the inside because their corners play outside technique and are not good enough to take away in-patterns. It also doesn’t help that their linebackers are weak in zone pass coverage.

WR Hines Ward will be a major factor in this game as he’s the Steelers best threat over the middle and that is where the passing game is going to be most effective. RB Willie Parker will also have to shake off last week’s disastrous effort and provide a steady ground threat. Most importantly, QB Ben Roethlisberger cannot make ANY mistakes. None. The Ravens would’ve won except for one ill-timed Kyle Boller interception, the Iggles had victory within their sights except for one stupid A.J. Feeley interception. You simply can’t afford turnovers against the GTITHOTU. If you’re inside the red zone, you have to score a touchdown. If you’re in scoring range, you have to come away with at least a field goal. There is no room for error on offense.

On defense, S Troy Polamalu looks to be out again this week. Interestingly, we have a 3-0 record when he’s riding pine. Still, I’d like to have him and his ability to jam receivers, rush the quarterback, and play physical in coverage. In his absence, this game will come down to the Three Amigos (Ike Taylor, Bryant McFadden, and Deshea Townshend) having to play another shut down game like they’ve done pretty much all season. Also, it’ll be imperative for safeties Tyrone Carter and, yes, I’m looking at YOU, Anthony Smith, to step it up. You talked the talk, now back it up so next time we meet they’ll know who you are, no introduction required.