Pittsburgh Steelers Tickets - 2010 Season Outlook

Okay, so the Steelers' franchise quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger

, is suspended for the first six games of the regular season. While many assume that the Steelers won't be able to compete with a player of that importance out for such a chunk of the season, the Steelers also have plenty of other things going for them.

Playing in the suddenly difficult AFC North, the Steelers still have plenty of talent, including a young stud running back Rashard Mendenhall and one of the best safeties in the league in Troy Palomalu. Though the quarterback position will be shaky for the first month and a half of the season, if they can put together a few wins and get Big Ben back in the lineup, the Steelers should still have a chance to make a run at the division.

As always, the Steelers start with the offensive line and power football, which they will be forced to do whether they start Dennis Dixon or Byron Leftwich at quarterback the first six games of the season. With Mendenhall, the Steelers have the advantage of a young and talented back who is just entering his prime. Mendenhall rushed for more than 1,100 yards last season after a slow start and posted a very good per carry average of 4.6. With his upright, smash mouth style, he looks to be a very good fit in the Steelers offense for quite a few years and will certainly sell many Pittsburgh Steelers tickets.

Led by Casey Hampton, the Steelers also aren't exactly a porous defense, either. The Steelers ranked third overall in rush defense last year, shutting down such running teams like Minnesota and Cincinnati in the process. Though Palomalu was injured for much of last season, the Steelers still were fairly decent against the pass as well, helping them get to a 9-7 record despite several other key injuries. James Harrison is also still playing at a very high level and is still widely considered one of the very best outside linebackers in the entire NFL, which isn't something likely to change this season either.

Of course, the biggest problem the Steelers may have this season is the improvement of the division. The Baltimore Ravens, after reaching the playoffs and getting into the second round, improved their offense mightily by adding Anquan Boldin. Led by the trio of Joe Flacco, Ray Rice and Boldin, the Ravens are probably the favorites to win the division over 2009 winner Cincinnati.

The Bengals also looked to have improved their meager passing attack from last year by adding Terrell Owens, rookie tight end Jermaine Gresham and underrated wideout Antonio Bryant. With so many weapons this season, quarterback Carson Palmer no longer has any excuses and many analysts are expecting him to have a comeback season. Considering that they still have Cedric Benson, who finally broke out last year, the Bengals are a very dangerous team.

But the Steelers are still one of the league's most physical teams and figure to continue that style of play until Big Ben gets back from suspension. The Steelers will probably go with Leftwich at quarterback due to his experience at the position, but he will only have to get a couple wins to keep them in the hunt. In those first six games, the Steelers have a somewhat advantageous schedule as they get to play both Tampa Bay and Cleveland, two teams expected to struggle with competing this year. If Big Ben can take the team back over at either 2-4 or 3-3, they will have a real shot to get back into the postseason.

by: Pat Smith

POST COMMENT

Instructions To Convert Outlook Contacts Using The Search Functionality In Outlook 2007 Basic Keyboard Shortcuts In Outlook Thailand Petrochemical & Chemical Industry Outlook Basics Of Outlook Contacts File Conversion Utilite For Deleting Duplicate Files From Ms Outlook How To Deal With Oversized Pst In Outlook 2002? What to do when McAfee Hawkex add-in causes MS Outlook to crash abruptly Office Desk - Add Life To Your Office Outlook How To Resolve The Start Up Issue In Ms Outlook Express Simple Steps To Migrate From Outlook Express To Notes Trouble shooting PST Outlook Files How To Save Notes In Outlook?