Football Fans - Avoid the Kneejerk Reaction

As long as #7 is Under Center the Steelers Can Win...

As I was driving to work today, I couldn't help but tune into some sports talk radio.  I often enjoy the banter between hosts, and sometimes their thoughts are rather thought provoking.  However, today I was infuriated listening to several of my "usual" shows.  One talk show host was interviewing a Hall of Fame WR and was asking his view of several teams.  It was at that point that the host said something that made my blood boil.  When talking about the AFC North he said "No one is running away and hiding in this division right now..."  I literally said out loud to myself and no one else (I drive alone on my commute) "Run away and hide?  Are you serious?  There have been 2 games in the NFL season and you are talking about a team running away and hiding with a division crown already?"  It made me angry enough that I turned the channel.  This is what I can't stand about alot of sports media these days.  Whether its ESPN, NFL Network, Fox Sports 1...you name it...they all want to make these bold predictions after just 2 weeks of football.  I, for one, try to hold judgment till much later in the season...after all there are 16 games in a season last I checked, not 2.

Take a look at the Houston Texans last year.  Halfway through the season the media was calling them Super Bowl Champions.  Plain and simple, no one thought they could beat them.  A few injuries and some misfortune later and the Texans are not even talked about by year's end.  Look at the Baltimore Ravens.  As much as I hate to say it, NO ONE said they had a legitimate shot at winning a Superbowl title last year, and now Steelers fans have to put up with Baltimore fans talking about how they are the most recent champs now.  Its this very "knee jerk" reaction that can drive me crazy.  The Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves in that same boat currently.  They laid an absolute egg in Week 1.  Que the Pittsburgh sports talk radio, beat writers, bloggers, fans on Twitter, fans on Facebook all talking about doomsday and how this team isn't going to live up to any type of expectations that were placed on them this season.  Hello?!  Can't anyone else see that this team can still turn things around?  This team has a solid defense and a SuperBowl champion QB...when you have those two things you are going to be in more games than you aren't.

Maybe I am alone in my thinking regarding the Steelers, but at the same time I'll be one happy fan if the Steelers are able to right the ship and string together a couple wins in the next few weeks.  Even a team that is 0-2 is not dead.  No one is "running off and hiding" with a division title after just 2 weeks of football.  As we say in the golf world when you are playing poorly on the front nine "There is ALOT of paper left..." (referring to the scorecard)...and the same can be said about the NFL season...there is ALOT of paper left boys!