Copperhouse NFL Preview

AFC East NE 12-4 BUF 10-6 MIA 8-8 NYJ 5-11 AFC North PIT 12-4 CIN 10-6(Wild Card) BAL 9-7 CLE 4-12 AFC South IND 11-5 TEN 10-6 HOU 8-8 JAC 7-9 AFC East SD 11-5 DEN 10-6(Wild Card) KC 10-6 OAK 3-13	NFC East DAL 10-6 WSH 6-10 PHI 5-11 NYG 4-12 NFC North GB 9-7 CHI 9-7(Wild Card) MIN 8-8 DET 6-10 NFC South NO 11-5 CAR 8-8 ATL 5-11 TB 4-12 NFC East SEA 10-6 ARZ 9-7(Wild Card) STL 9-7 SF 4-12
AFC Champion SD Super Bowl Champ SD	NFC Champion NO

Here's my crazy ideas on how the NFL season will play out. I had a good idea in my head of where I thought teams records would be, but when I went in and starting looking at schedules, and going through week by week, I realized a lot of my stuff had no feasible way of happening. Some teams that I thought might make a run(Miami, Minnesota, Jacksonville) ended up having tougher schedules and I couldn't give them the wins I originally thought they might get. Some other teams ended up getting more wins than I would've thought because of easy games(Arizona, KC, Buffalo).

Pittsburgh has a bitter sweet schedule. The easy part of their schedule is pretty easy, but the tough part of it is one of the toughest in the league. They've got several games that should come pretty easy, including their first 4 games against Cleveland, Buffalo, San Francisco, and Arizona. Anything less than 4-0 going into the Seattle game will be a disappointment. Then they have a couple tough stretches that will likely make or break their season, starting with week 5-9 when they face Seattle, Denver & Cincinnati on the road, and Baltimore. They end the season on another tough stretch against Cincinnati, New England on the road, Jacksonville, and St Louis & Baltimore on the road. They're in a tough division, but I really think they're the best team in that division. Cincy could be tough, but I think Pittsburgh's secondary will be much better this year(it better be, they sucked last year) and the Steelers always play their division rivals tough. Barring a serious let down, I think they win the AFC North. They'll have to fight with the other division leaders(NE, Indy, SD) though to get a first round bye. It's going to take a much improved defense for them to go deep though, and their offense is going to need to stay healthy. They should have a good season, and if their new offense and the use of more 4-3 defense under Tomlin are successful, they could make a run in the playoffs.

Week 1: @ Cleveland - I don't care how rusty the starters looked in preseason, they'll win this game handily (Steelers win confidence on a scale of 1-10: 9)
Week 2: Buffalo - Buffalo could be a surprise this year, but Pitt should take this one pretty easily (7.8)
Week 3: San Fran - Win (8)
Week 4: @ Arizona - This one should be fun(note: I may be in phoenix for this game), Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm left the Steelers for Arizona after Mike Tomlin got Cowher's head coaching gig. They should help Arizona get their turnaround started, but Pittsburgh still wins this game. (7)
Week 5: Seattle - A rematch of the Super Bowl XL two years ago, this should be a tough game. Expect the Seahawks to blame the refs for every holding call, dropped pass, and Hasselback interception. If it was in Seattle I'd probably give this game to the SeaTurkey's, but in Heinz Field, Pittsburgh wins this one. (5.5)
Week 6: Bye
Week 7: @ Denver - This is going to be a tough road game, with both teams coming out of their bye's. Denver will likely be looking to recover from losses to San Diego and Indy before their bye. In Mile High, I think the Bronco's have the advantage here. (4)
Week 8: @ Cincinnati - Another road game against a tough team. Cincy isn't too far from Steeltown though, and there will be a lot of Black & Gold in the stands. We'll have to see who will step up to trash talk with Chad Johnson now that Joey Porter is gone, but Pittsburgh should win here. (6.5)
Week 9: Baltimore - Steelers come back home, but the game doesn't get any easier. I think the Ravens defense takes a step back this year, but they've improved their offense with the addition of McGahee. A divisional rival at home in November though? Pittsburgh better win this one, but it won't be easy. (6)
Week 10: Cleveland - Pittsburgh at home will destroy the Browns. (10)
Week 11: @ NY Jets - The Jets are another team that could end up being pretty solid this year, but by this late in the season, Chad Pennington should have thrown out his shoulder. Put this one in the win column. (7.5)
Week 12: Miami - Expect Heinz Field to be roaring for the homecoming of Joey Porter. You know Porter is going to be talking trash, and unlike a lot of NFL smack talkers, he usually backs it up with his performance. On the other hand, there's a reasonable chance that Joey gets in another pre-game fight and gets tossed. I'm still up in the air as to how Miami will do this year, but I'm giving the Steelers the cold weather advantage. (7)
Week 13: Cincinnati - Cincy at home in December. This is Pittsburgh's second to last home game of the regular season, and looking at their next four games, they better win this one. Cincy is never a walkover, but I'm confident in this one. (7.2)
Week 14: @ New England - This one always worries me. With Mike Tomlin being a new coach, we'll see if Belichick has figured out how to play him yet. This could be a tough one. (4.3)
Week 15: Jacksonville - I gotta go with Pittsburgh at home in December against a warm weather team. (7.5)
Week 16: @ St Louis - If St Louis is still healthy at this point in the season they'll be dangerous, but their big players are all getting older and will be wearing down. If our secondary can limit Bulger to a single throwing TD we'll take this one by 21. If not, it will go down to the wire. (6)
Week 17: @ Baltimore - Shitty, shitty game to end the regular season on, this could end being for the division title. Nobody wants to lose to a division rival heading into the playoffs, but this could be a struggle. (5)

Best Case Scenario: 14-2
Worst Case Scenario: 8-8