Yes, you will be shocked and amazed that it took three full-grown adults (and I say the word “adult” in the most sarcastic way possible) to put this together.  To be fair, there are REASONS!

Mainly

one of us not named Balls or Sill put one past the goalie, got his wife preggers, and added to the misery of everyone by creating a new Yinzer!  Huzzah!!

You cannot get rid of us!

As for me, I am very ambivalent about the team this year.  We should have the #1 offense this year.  The defense should be greatly improved.  We are one of the top five teams favored to go to/win the Super Bowl.   So, why am I so uninterested this year?

Basically, this year is the same as last year.  The same possibilities for success existed last year and didn’t pan out.  Injuries, stupid suspensions for drugs, and more injuries in the playoffs doomed the season.    This is exactly the same shit that could derail the team again this year.

The margin for error is super small and the window of opportunity is closing fast.  If we do not win it all this year or the next, we will not have a realistic chance at winning the Superb Owl for another ten years.  If we’re lucky.

So then, why such doom and gloom, you may ask.  Well, I’ve been to this party before.  It doesn’t end with me going home with the hot blonde and exploring each other fully and doing things I’ve only read about.

In this situation, it’s all or nothing and the odds against all, no matter what Vegas says, are pretty steep.  When the success of the season is predicated on whether you win the championship or not (as is the realistic expectation for Steeler fans given this roster and the schedule), it sets you up for disappointment.

So, I will go into the season happy that I have a good team to root for and hoping to enjoy some good play and a lot of wins.  The trick, as I have learned with women, is to not have any expectations, enjoy the ride, and be happy with what you get.  Maybe, if things go right and bounce your way, there will be a finger or tentacle in the ass.

Take it away, WCS!

WCS:

Well, yes, apparently in the time where I’ve been not sleeping and cleaning up copious amounts of baby poo, the Stillers season has almost arrived. I honestly didn’t realize it was the last week of August until this past weekend.

Anyway, I echo a lot of what Balls said. This could be a season with sees THE BEN winning his third Super Bowl, and bringing suffering and pain to non-Stillers fans everywhere. If Choco Taco gets hurt, and Landry Jones has to play any significant time, BOSS TODD might just drive his Camaro off the Fort Pitt Bridge before Halloween. Jones is about as good at quarterbacking as my daughter is at quantum physics.

To me, it really is that simple: THE BEN stays healthy, this team goes 11-5, wins the AFC North, and probably gets a first-round bye in the playoffs. THE BEN gets OWIES in BODYSPOT, and they’re fucked.

The Yinzers will demand Tomlin fired because Yinzers, and hockey season will start again.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I hear my kid puking on something valuable.

Sill:

The defense is much more challenging than the offense. This is a WEIRD place for Stillers fans to be, and it’s still pretty tough for us to get our heads around.

–NT: An increasingly rare thing in a vertical passing league, the starting NT position has come down to giant but marginally effective veteran Dan McCullers and rookie Jason Hargrave. That Hargrave has the inside track to starting says all you need to know about McCullers and the position in general.

–DE: The requirements for DE success in the 3-4 are very different than they are in the more common 4-3, and Cameron Heyward and Stephon Tuitt seem custom-made to bring pressure from the edge while still being able to maintain gap responsibility.

–ILB: Ryan Shazier and Lawrence Timmons–The young and the old. Oddly enough, the jury is still as far out on Timmons as it is on Shazier. All the talent in the world here, but not nearly enough production so far. And things only get worse from here.

–OLB: sfghjkhfgjjjfhkgjssfagjkhkkkhjkghjkaadfhjkgdakjgssjklhfhkjsdhh. And that’s the best case scenario. Some combination of James Harrison, Arthur Moats, Jarvis Jones, and Bud Dupree is going to fill these most important of positions on the 3-4 defense and between injury and incompetence there is no demonstrable clear way forward at either position. Failure to achieve anything resembling success here will be the most likely undoing of the season.

–Secondary: I got nothing. They’re all terrible.

–Coaching: Same as it ever was.