SteelerNation - The World is Not Over & Neither is the Season



Time for Big Ben & Co. to Get Up, Dust
Themselves Off, and Get Back to Winning


Its hard to show any optimism after the Steelers fail to show the ability to put pretty bad teams away.  Its also hard to show any optimism after the Steelers blow lead, after lead, after lead, after lead...you get where I'm going with this.  However, when everyone on Twitter and Facebook is going crazy with their thoughts surrounding the Steelers' season, I'm going to try and put some optimism into everyone's minds to get everyone on the right track heading into the prime time game between the Steelers and Bengals on Sunday Night Football. 

The Steelers are 2-3, and lets not start talking about the AFC playoff picture, but just talk about the AFC North.  The Steelers are looking up at the Baltimore Ravens at 5-1.  The Ravens have been a very fortunate team as the Steelers at times can't buy a break.  Underneath the Ravens are the Bengals.  The Bengals are coming off back to back losses to the Dolphins and the Browns and are 3-3.  Then in the back row are the Steelers 2-3 and the Browns 1-5.  The next 3 games are going to be huge for the Steelers in many ways.

2 of the next 3 games the Steelers play will be on the road.  If you follow the Steelers you know they haven't won a road game yet this season.  However, they will have plenty of opportunities to get that statistic rectified.  The first of the next three games is in Cincinnati to face the Bengals in Prime Time.  This is the Steelers 2nd Sunday Night game of the year, and Mike Tomlin typically has the team motivated to perform well on National TV.  Couple that with the Steelers success they've had in Cincy and I would say there is a good chance the Steelers will be able to capitalize on the Bengals in many different ways.

For a long time now the Steelers have played up (and down) to their competition.  Everyone knows they can't beat the crappy teams (Raiders and Titans) but seem to play well against better competition (Jets and Eagles).  The Steelers road ahead is tough, and I hope that the Steelers focus will be forced to improve as they head into Cincinnati this weekend, and then to the New Meadowlands to face the Giants in 2 weeks.  Aside from the road games, they have the Redskins, Chiefs, and Ravens coming to town in their next 3 home games.  Aside from the Chiefs, they better have their best performance to beat the other 2 teams.

Heinz Field has become a great advantage for the Steelers.  Out of their first 5 games, only 2 have been at home.  In their first 8 games, 5 will be on the road.  That is tough, and the Steelers need to develop that killer mentality to win on the road.  At home though, the Steelers are a different team.  With the crowd rocking, "Renegade" blaring, and the aura of Heinz Field the Steelers almost turn into a team that can't lose.  Few places have a home field advantage like the Steelers at Heinz Field.  The fact that down the stretch when the games mean the most they will be playing alot at home will be a BIG advantage for the Steelers.  The catch is that they need to win some on the road so they aren't forced to win several games in a row down that same stretch.

Its really easy to be pessimistic about the remainder of the season, but I'm going to wait until the Steelers have played at least half of their games until I hold any strong judgement of this 2012-2013 team.  They are 2-3 right now, but if they win their next 3 games and are 5-3, everyone will be singing a different tune.  Its time that Mike Tomlin starts getting this team focused on the "one game at a time" mentality, and the Bengals are next up in line.  Screw the fact that the Eagles game was a "must win"...this Sunday Night Football game might be the biggest game of the season.  Its not just a rivalry game, it isn't just a divisional game, its a game that can sink the opponent into a deep hole that will be tough to climb out of.  Steelers, its time to wake up and put the throttle down on the BUNGLES!