Good evening, Redskins faithful

Hope you guys kick ass in the NFC this year to overthrown some of the elite teams.



As you can see from my av, I’m a Steelers fan, and damn proud of it. Let me preface my question to all of you by saying that John Riggins is one of my all time favorite running backs, ever! I watched him in awe during his prime.



Ok, w/o knowing much of what's been going on with your off season, what is the consensus of the members here of how you’ll fair this year?



Also, what's you're honest opinion of the Steelers and their chances this year?



I’m looking for friendly feedback, not smack talk btw.

Welcome Scrapdog,

I think the Steelers will be at the top of the AFC this year. I don't see any reason for them not to be. They have been one of the most consistantly good teams in the past several years. Love your coach!

Do you think Staley will stay healthy enough this year?

Yeah, I still miss watching John Riggins run over top of defenses!

Welcome to the Warpath. As always, fans of other teams are welcome - as long as the $#!+-talk is at a low level.

As for your Steelers, I wouldn't wait around for another 15-1 season. Everyone has a year's worth of tape on Roethlisberger, which will make him less effective. Hopefully, Duce will get healthy for you guys, because Bettis can be much more effective if he's not asked to be a 20+ carry guy at this stage in his (HOF) career.

Your defense should be fine. I'm done second-guessing the Steelers front office - the players they let go year after year are running on empty. I wish we had the same talent (in fact, I'm surprised there aren't more ex-Steelers on the Skins).

I think you'll win the division, but in the 11-5 range.

Of course, I hope you curl up and die on Friday. Other than that, have a great year!

Welcome Scrapdog,

I think the Steelers will be at the top of the AFC this year. I don't see any reason for them not to be. They have been one of the most consistantly good teams in the past several years. Love your coach!

Do you think Staley will stay healthy enough this year?

Yeah, I still miss watching John Riggins run over top of defenses!

Thanks for the welcome.

Duce is slated to be ready and is supposedly in game shape and will probably see some action in the final pre-season game.

Well, in terms of his health, ha!, always a question mark. But when healthy, the man is he a force!!

Welcome to the Warpath. As always, fans of other teams are welcome - as long as the $#!+-talk is at a low level.

As for your Steelers, I wouldn't wait around for another 15-1 season. Everyone has a year's worth of tape on Roethlisberger, which will make him less effective. Hopefully, Duce will get healthy for you guys, because Bettis can be much more effective if he's not asked to be a 20+ carry guy at this stage in his (HOF) career.

Your defense should be fine. I'm done second-guessing the Steelers front office - the players they let go year after year are running on empty. I wish we had the same talent (in fact, I'm surprised there aren't more ex-Steelers on the Skins).

I think you'll win the division, but in the 11-5 range.

Of course, I hope you curl up and die on Friday. Other than that, have a great year!

You mentioned Duce and Bettis, but Parker has been the talk of camp this year....my God, visit some Steeler sites and you'll see. Right now, many are dubbing him as our feature back.

As for a prediction of a season, I hold steady to mine to at least 12 wins. ALL we can do is sit back and watch and hope for our/your team. WTF, remember the Falcons' year 5 or so years ago??

I think that Big Ben is due for a sophomore slump. Just as was mentioned before, don't hold out for a 15-1 season again, but the Steelers will definitely be atop their division. I don't have anything really to base my criticism of Ben on, I just never really saw him make any super impressive throws. The Steelers were a golden example of how the run sets up the pass.

As far as the Skins are concerned, I'm cautiously optimistic for a 10-6 season. I'd be happy with a 9-7 season. SOOO many questions at QB. If you want to know all about those, just read some Ramsey vs. Brunell vs. Campbell threads. A lot of the talk is crazy but the bottom line is at he's probably on a short leash and a true QB controversy could develop if he doesn't play well within the first 3-4 games.

And welcome... :)

Speaking of the Falcons, I'd love to see them crash and burn this year. They'll realize that Vick needs to learn how to actually be accurate.

Welcome scrapdog (btw classy introduction). I think your defense is going to be the best in the league (again). I probably don't have as much faith in Big Ben as most others here on this board (he's good but not spectacular), but the offense should be solid. I don't think the loss of Burress will affect the team considerably since he's overhyped and didn't contribute all that much last season. I was a bit surprised that the Steelers didn't draft a running back since Duce is injured and Bettis is aging, but Miller was a good addition and a steal in the late first round. In any event, they should be AFC Title contenders (again).

Just curious, who replaced Vincent on the O-line?

I think the steelers will obviously take a step down in terms of # of wins, still a solid team, but I dont see a superbowl...

I just happen to think Big Ben is going to come back down to earth. I know your strengths are still running and defense, but I just have a feeling the steelers played way over their heads last year.

I'll be rooting for you though. My girlfriend grow up out in PA, 20 minutes from Pittsburgh, and is a big steelers fan.

Good luck!!!

Welcome to the board scrap!

I have a couple of questions for you. Who has emerged as the no. 2 receiver, replacing Plaxico?

Also, I think Cowher is an excellent coach. One of pro sports' better coaches. Yet his teams have fallen short on many occassions. Granted, there were times like last year when I'm sure no one outside of Pittsburgh thought they would even get as far as they did.

So anyway, what I'm wondering is, as great a coach and as revered as he is, is there ever any talk of "is this as far as Cowher can get us?" And if so, what are the odds my main man Russ Grimm would take over?