Steelers need the #1 Seed

No more playing down to lesser opponents and giving up games like the Steelers have in the Tomlin era.

There's a reason the Patriots play so hard for it and pretty much rely on it. Usually know by the last week so they are getting 2-3 weeks off while others are beating themselves up to get in and win a playoff game. Gives you 2-3 weeks to gameplan.

I'm pretty sure the Patriots cheat at home anyways so we need it to beat them. They got no real home field advantage unless you count 60k clam chowder breaths. Yet, their home vs away record is crazy. They never lose at home.

Steelers need the #1 seed.

 

I'm always excited when we get the #6 seed. I like the 20 game seasons.

 

The Patriots don't lose to teams they should beat. Will they get beat this season sure, but it will be against really good teams.

The Steelers have this problem sometimes beating crappy teams.

Steelers need to shoot for the bye week Seeds one or two. Then you got the chance that a hot team, might beat the Pats in the divisional round.
Much like the Steelers Superbowl trip in 2010, when the Jets, (yes the Jets, only 1000 to 1 odds this season) beat the Pats, and we got to host the 2010 AFC Championship game.

Need to shoot for 12-4 at least (sound get us #2 seed), 13-3 (and beat the Pats in the reg season) would get you the #1 seed. I doubt Pats have a 16-0, 15-1, or even 14-2 season, just don't see that happening.


We just forgot one thing win the Super Bowl.

 

I think the Pats will win 14 or 15 games.If we want the #1 seed we need to make them 14-2 and we must be 14-2 with beating them to have the tie breaker .

 

We'll find out if there is any truth to the Madden curse this year.

I don't think the Steelers need the #1, but I think the #2 is huge. The importance of that week off if really important. Yes, teams with wild card games go to and win the SB (we did) but I'll take chances with that bye week. 13-3 or even 12-4 should be enough. But as was said, that means the Steelers need to beat those teams they're supposed to, and I would like to see them do it convincingly instead of squeaking by.

 

Posted this previously. In the last 15yrs, the steelers got the #1 seed twice, in '01 and '04. Both times, they got the AFCG at home, and both times they lost, to the Patriots each time. So this preferred path is no guarantee.

I can't imagine what this board will be like if the Steelers win the right to host the AFC title game, and lose to NE again.

 

My goodness.... will threads spiral out of control. Mods will be busy thay night for sure.

 

Having the #1 seed isn't a guarantee of getting to the SB, New England has no problem winning in Pittsburgh .

 

I like my chances with Big Ben now a helluva lot more than with Kordell Stewart and a rookie Ben. Just sayin'.

 

Not with Brady getting his throwing shoulder dislocated this Thursday.

 

We ain't beating the pats lol not vs bill and Brady. Just got to hope Brady gets injured or pats lose to another team

 

Question is:
Is there any team in the AFC that you think could beat the Patriots at NE in the playoffs?

If so, we need that team to be #3 seed.

 

I would worry more about how many folks they are going to have to pick out of the Allegeheny lol

 

I love the guy, but Tomlin-led teams seem to consistently sleep on lesser teams and play down to the competition. But, something has to give.

This Steelers team, if healthy, is REALLY GOOD. Young and talented defense, incredible offensive weapons, a healthy Roethlisberger and great leadership throughout the team.

We shouldn't go less than 13-3... we'll probably go 11-5.

If the Patriots/BB had our weapons, they'd be a juggernaut for years lol

 

Exactly...how many times have n.e held up that trophy in pittsburgh?! Our goal and main objective is to beat the patsies. If we can beat them then we can beat anyone.

 

The chances of the Steelers earning the #1 seed are astronomically slim to none. Patriots division opponents are worse than last year and the Steelers division opponents will be better in '17. The Ravens, Browns and Bengals will not lay down and die for the Steelers like the Jets, Bills and Dolphins do for the Patriots. Steelers winning peak will be at 12 games. I don't think they will win any more than 12... and 12 wins is an absolutely, insanely optimistic prediction and it's nowhere near enough wins to supplant the Patriots for the #1 seed. The Steelers win total is likely to be anywhere from 9 wins to 11 wins. Those of us who are honest with ourselves know the Steelers will CRAP the bed against some sub-par teams. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if the Browns won on Sunday. Seriously.

The Patriots already have 6 games won and the season hasn't even started yet.

 

The Raiders could beat the Patriots because Carr and offense could actually hang with Brady on the scoreboard. The Raiders are the only AFC team I can think of that could compete with the Patriots. In the NFC... Packers, Seahawks and Falcons. Maybe the Giants. The Cowboys if Dak Prescott doesn't have a sophomore slump.

 

Bridges, Pittsburgh has lots of bridges.

 

I don't think that's necessarily true. Different teams match up differently. There's a reason only one team has gone undefeated.

These discussions always seem to forget the levels of parity in the NFL. I get that the Pats are the favourites, but a singular focus on one team is precisely the opposite of taking each game at a time - which I'd rather the team did.

 

But yet Kordell Stewart and the '01 Steelers competed much better against the Patriots than Ben and the '16 Steelers did. Steelers were done and beaten 5 minutes into the 3rd quarter last January. It took a good Patriots team 4 quarters to beat the Kordell Stewart-led Steelers in the January '02 AFC Championship game. The Patriots won that game because of special teams blunders by the Steelers (Troy Edwards). And to top it off... the '01 Patriots were a better all-around team than the '16 Patriots. The only difference being Tom Brady had a sh!tload more playoff experience for the '16 matchup.

Regardless, I don't think the Steelers would have matched up well against the Rams in that Super Bowl, had they beaten the Pats. Patriots D matched up better with the "greatest show on turf" than the Steelers D did and they proved it.

 

The Patriots faced them in the same season. Playing against them earlier helped BB see first hand what TGSOT could do and devise a better game plan to stop them.

Not to mention he always had a history of shutting down prolific offenses. When he was The Giants D-Coordinator he would always prove to be a thorn in Joe Gibbs side, who was an offensive genius.

 

I'm just going off of the theory that the Ravens did with us. Build a team that can beat us and they could compete with any of the other teams

 

Steelers should have been building a defense to beat the Patriots after the '08 season Super Bowl victory. In '05... the Broncos take the Patriots out in the playoffs. Steelers win the Super Bowl. In '08 Brady goes on IR... Steelers win the Super Bowl. In '10, Jets take out the Patriots in the divisional round. Steelers get to the Super Bowl. See a pattern here? Steelers have never made it to the Super Bowl through the Patriots since Brady has been QB. This should have been addressed AT LEAST after the '10 season, when Rodgers pretty much beat the Steelers in XLV the way Brady has all of these years. The Steelers continuous neglect of CBs who can play man coverage is a catastrophe and will prevent Roethlisberger from getting a 3rd ring.