Do the Ravens, Bengals, and Browns still view the Steelers as the top of the Division?

With the start of a brand new season just a few short days away I thought I would pose the question. Are the Steelers still considered the top of the division?

After watching the latest episode of Hard Knocks I started wondering about it because they had a scene in which the Bengals DT Domata Peko is taking his kids to school and one of them asks if they(the BEngals) were going to beat the Steelers this year. To which he replied yes, then he was asked if they get to go to the Superbowl after they beat the Steelers which again got a yes. So in seems that beating the Steelers comes before the goal of getting to the Superbowl at least for the Peko family.

Now I know the rivalry is alive and well in the AFC north but do they still think in order to prove they are legit they have to knock the Steelers off?

Forgive me for a moment I'm going to go a lil bit Ric Flair for a moment......
[video=youtube;yXhRFnUn72E]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXhRFnUn72E[/video]

I think we are still the man! WHOOOOOOOO

 

I honestly think the Steelers need to get back to what they have always done best and punish their opponents. Forget fines forget suspensions and go out there and destroy what lies in fron of them. Goodell and his new rules have removed the intimidation factor out of football. Why are our turnovers down because that qb is no longer afraid of our lbers and that wr knows he's not going to get stuck. I say it's time to go all rage against the machine and tell Goodell **** you I won't do what you tell me

 

Well, the Browns don't have a kicker on their 53... so objectively we are better than them by default, if nothing else.

 

As long as they and their fans are concerned w/ us, yes.

 

Well it does keep them from having to settle for 3 pointers ... that's what thinking outside the box will get ya in Cleveland. LOL

Hey, maybe we should one up them and go without a punter?

Then at least our special teams wouldn't ever give up any punt returns for TD's and we'd never have any punts blocked !!

 

Blue sky thinking... it's the way forward.

Of course, it would mean Greg Warren would have to find another skill than passing the ball between his legs every so often, to justify his roster spot...

 

I'm with you,but you're not going to beat anybody if your top players are all suspended. We're not going to beat the system , better off to find a way to be good within it.

 

to answer the orig Q... do the ravens bengals and browns still view the steelers as the top of the division... HELL NO... ravens won the SB... still gotta beat them or they are stilll the champs.. bengals had 2 more wins last year then the steelers... so how or why shoud we be viewed as the top team in the division.. for those reasons the answer to your Q is simply.. NO THEY DO NOT and rightfully so

HINES

 

I actually disagree on this.

While Goodell's rules have favoured the offense, and taken out a lot of the rough edges which we as Steelers fans tend to like, there are still intimidating teams. And you're not telling me that we onld had turnovers because QBs were afraid of us - how does that work for teams which do have high turnovers?

SteelerGlenn is right. We aren't the Oakland Raiders - when the rules changed in '76, the Steelers adapted and if anything got better. We need to do the same.

 

If they do, they shouldnt. As I see it, the ravens are the champs, and the Bengals beat us to go to the playoffs. As much as it hurts to say, we should be thinking the Ravens and Bengals are the top of the division (more so the ravens since they are SB champs). I would think this would give us motivation to top these guys and right a wrong that has been written. We can't live in the past and sit on our high horses and think we are still the team to beat in the North.

 

Then explain to me why our turnovers just stopped out of nowhere right around the times of all the rule changes. Yes qbs were afraid of Lloyd, Greene, Gildon, Peezy, ans Harrison. The intimidation factor is gone. If players are worried about fines and suspensions from hitting they aren't going to hit as hard. You intimidate by being mean and nasty and there is not one team in the nfl that is mean and nasty anymore. Qbs used to get rid of the ball quickly sometimes without even really looking where they were throwing the ball because they didn't want their heads taken off and Wrs would often go alligator arms on catches especially across the middle because they knew our lbers anD safeties were going to blow them up. At one point and time nobody went across the middle on us. I'm sorry but the NFL has become pop warner

 

Not after our unimpressive .500 season last year and our lackluster preseason. I'm sure they are chomping at the bit to play us this year. I think they fear and respect certain players on our team, Ben, Heath, Troy, Clark and MAYBE one or two others. But I really don't believe they have a healthy respect for our TEAM at this point. I think their coaches believe they can out-coach our coaches and their players believe they can out-play our players.

I hope we are able to recreate the kind of respect we once had around the league, but if we continue to come out flat and unprepared like we did last year and in the preseason it's not going to happen. I think the Bengals and Ravens believe they are superior to us and the Browns feel like they can more easily compete with us this season. To me, Ben is the ONLY PLAYER THAT GIVES US A FIGHTING CHANCE THIS SEASON. If he goes down we have NO CHANCE!

 

I think they want to kick us some while we are down. we have been the top dog in the division for so long they have even tried to become us through the draft and team building. the ravens have stated as much in the past. they want to take as much advantage as possible because they know soon we will be back. hopefully sooner than they think.

 

I think it has more to do with our pass rush. Partly that's due to the amount of holding not called - and I can well see that being part of a shift in the NFL's philosophy. But it's also due to injuries to our top guys. Not to mention simple bad play at points. At other times, it was Lebeau holding off from the blitzing to counter the fact that teams had "sussed" his system at one point.

I'm not saying rule changes don't play a part, but our lack of turnovers has far more to do with us as a team than that. Otherwise, as I say, nobody would be getting turnovers.

 

well said .... well said...

HINES

 

Top of the division, NO! A possible threat to their goals, YES! Until our O-line stays healthy and learns how to fricken' block, then I would say NO very easily!

 

I feel the need to clarify somethings here. There seems to be a lot of talk about where the teams actually are and the records. Yes of course this is an team coming off an 8-8 season and the Ravens were the champs and the Bengals had a better record. However what I was getting at is how the players perceive things. Do they still feel that in order to be considered elite they have to first beat the Steelers? We all know as fans that some of us take these other teams lightly by saying things like oh it's only the bungels or the Stains or the Ratbirds are a bunch of thugs but it doesn't change the fact that these three teams measure success by how they do against the Steelers and are they beating them regularly.

 

Not at all, I believe the Bengals and Ravens
think they have better TALENT. So unless the Steelers
play inspired football on a consistent basis, the Bengals
and Ravens think their TALENT is better than ours.

 

That's true, in the past Harbaugh and Marvin Lewis built their teams to compete with the steelers, they now feel they have done that, and now they expect their teams to win, the fear factor isn't there any more for the rats and bungles, and if we under estimate the browns they can beat us as well...

 

Tonight's game should show the champs are really chumps and the Steelers will be back on top of the division

i expect a blowout