Originally posted by Rob_Gee:
Makes up for my heart ache from last year.
Do you mean being 6-10?
The big challenge is now going to be maintaining this level of play. And then finally 'sealing the deal'.
A couple of great articles:
The New Top Dog "Strange as it sounds for a squad coming off consecutive wins over the NFL's last two unbeaten teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers just finished the easy part. Now things will get really tricky.
Humbling the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles in back-to-back weeks was a historic accomplishment, worthy of all the hype and acclaim the feat will bring. But with the twin deeds done and the giants slain, there's finally no one left standing in front the Steelers to block our view. All eyes are now on Pittsburgh, which in a flash just went from challenger to presumptive favorite as the 2004 NFL schedule reaches midseason.
Now we get to find out how the Steelers fare with a giant bull's-eye painted on their backs. Now it's Pittsburgh's turn to wear the target and let the rest of the league take its best shot. No matter what the calendar says, hunting season officially opened Sunday in this part of western Pennsylvania."
Steelers rank up there with great teams of the last 20 years "PITTSBURGH -- As I sat in the back row of the Heinz Field press box on Sunday afternoon, watching the contest (and I use that word loosely) between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia I wondered: Since I've been covering football, how many teams have I seen that looked as unbeatable at one point during a season as the Steelers look right now?
I started on the NFL beat in 1984, so I have a two-decade window. I jotted down in the margin of my white legal pad as I kept play-by-play of Steelers 27, Eagles 3:
1. The '85 Bears.
2. The '89 49ers.
3. The '90 Bills. (They lost to the Giants in the Super Bowl, but that Buffalo team beat its first two playoff foes by about a million to 3. I thought there was no way on God's green earth the Giants would win that game after Buffalo stomped Oakland 51-3 in the AFC Championship Game.)
4. The Cowboys at two or three points from '92 to '95.
5. Maybe -- and I underscore maybe -- the 2000 Ravens, because playing against that defense late in the season made the game a hopeless cause unless the Baltimore offense turned it over a bunch."