I do know two things:
- They don't suck as bad as the Browns.
- They got the double-pentration treatment (losses in free agency coupled with no real quality additions) in the off-season.
They also drafted Marshawn Lynch, who I kinda wanted the Steelers to take.
But, they played the Broncos tough last week. Denver had over 400 yards, granted, but Buffalo kept them out of the end zone and played great defense in the red zone (one of those "bend, don't break" situations). I'm thinking that, if we manage 400 yards against these guys, we'll have another Cleveland situation on our hands.
The first two games of the 2007 season remind me a lot of the first two games of the 2005 season. We had a couple of creampuffs early on, then the schedule got considerably tougher. We won our first two in 2005 (Tennesee and Houston) and needed those wins by the time the end of the season rolled around, so this is a "must win" situation on Sunday.
I put "must win" in quotes, because, obviously, the season is not lost if we lose tomorrow. I'm sure Kaiser Goodell would still make the Steelers play the remaining 14 games on the schedule. My point is that we need to beat the creampuffs on the schedule to make it through the season at 11-5 and win the division. If that happens, I look like a genius to my readers. All three of you. Your opinion matters a great deal to me. Especially you. No, in the back. There's plenty of seats. Why don't you move down?
At any rate, most of the key defections were on defense (I know that Willis McGahee was traded, but Lynch ain't a bad replacement). In the off-season, I took a quick look at them and thought, "Huh. The offense looks pretty good, but who's going to play defense for this team?" The offense sucked balls last week and managed only one touchdown (with another from special teams) while the defense gave up 400 yards, only saving a blowout by playing some stout red zone defense.
This means that, if the offense isn't on track, we should be golden.
Now... this is the home opener for the Steelers, so the fans will be fired up. The Bills are a young team, since the guys that departed were veterans and they were replaced by recent draft picks. So, the only thing that's dangerous is about them is their offense, they're young, and we're at home. See where I'm going with this? Score on them early, let the crowd take over, and sit on the lead in the second half. And pray to God no one gets hurt.
JP Losman is as up-and-down as a manic depressive in a strip club. We've got to make sure that he hits that, "I've had 10 beers on Zoloft and I'm out of money," stage early. If he starts making lines of coke on his pelvis in the first quarter and is waving a fist full of $100 bills, we're in deep trouble.
Lee Evans (sounds kinda like hot girl's name, doesn't it?) is in the same boat. Last year, he had a game where he caught 3 touchdown passes of 70+ yards. Last game, he caught 2 passes for 5 yards. Then again, he was being covered by Champ Bailey last week. So there's that.
Since they lost their left tackle (Mike Gandy, not Wayne Gandy) to Steelers West (BTW - Never properly credited Weidman for coming up with that name, so here's his credit; Weidman came up with the name "Steelers West" for the Arizona Cardinals and it's a damn good name, so I stole it), I'm thinking they won't be able to run the ball on us. The defensive line's too good and the linebackers seem to be flying to the football in run support, so I'm thinking Lynch is in for a Jamal-Lewis-last-week kind of game.
There is, however, one x-factor: Remember when Brett Favre's Dad died and he obliterated the Raiders for 821 yards and 12 touchdowns in the first half of a Monday Night Football game? I have a sinking suspicion that the Bills are going to rally around Kevin Everett (the guy that had his spine broken last week) in the same way.
Do I think it'll be enough? No. This is still a pretty shitty team. They're not that much better than the Browns.
Steelers 24, Bills 13
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