Well, I was mostly right. I had the spread within one point and I predicted it would be a blowout. I figured that Cleveland didn't have anything left and the Steelers would show up. So, good times. Blowout win. I jetted to the casino with five minutes left in the third quarter because I knew it was over.
But... did we learn anything? I mean, about the playoffs? I was talking to my buddy Dan about this earlier today and there's no denying that the Steelers faced what was basically a soft schedule this season, despite what the strength of schedule formula says.
They beat Atlanta and the hated Ravens on the road, but those were basically their only quality wins. They lost to the Saints, Jets, and Patriots -- and also lost to the hated Ravens at home -- and lost to most of the tough opponents they played. They crushed Oakland and Tampa, but those were basically two good-bad teams that they should have beaten. The fact that they've lost once to every team in the AFC bracket that they've faced this season is not a good sign. And, if my early -- and I mean early, because I still have a lot of thinking to do before I submit my picks -- prediction is right, New Orleans will represent the NFC in the Super Bowl this year, which also doesn't bode well.
If there's anything that we learned on Sunday, it's that the Steelers will almost certainly win if Ben Roethlisberger goes 15 for 22 with 280 yards and two touchdowns, the defense records four sacks and three turnovers, and Rashard Mendenhall has a game-high 36 yards on the ground.
We don't need to run the ball for 200 yards, we don't need to win the time of possession battle (we did, but definitely not in the first half), and we don't need to squeeze the air out of the ball to win the game. This is a different team. We need to win the turnover battle -- the most important aspect of that is to force turnovers -- we need to run the ball effectively and convert in the red zone, and we need to throw the ball well without getting sacked too much.
We already knew that the Steelers can be a dominant team. The only question is whether or not they will be a dominant team in the three games they have left to (potentially) play.
They have a great deal of potential on offense and they have a very solid defense. The linebackers and the offensive line need to step up -- and the week off they have to get healthier will help -- but it's going to be a question of match-ups and timing. I just hope everything lines up, like it did in 2005 and 2008.
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