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I agree. The team with the best stats should be declared Superbowl Champ.
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You'd think at least somebody would say, as I have been all week, that despite all the chest-thumping for the Steelers that "this is the week", that there's no indication that this or any other week is the one that the Steelers will play a full game, that the Saints righted the ship last week after the Ravens loss with a resilient domination of Tampa Bay, and that with a 6-2 team coming in that is steadily improving and usually doesn't beat itself, this game is pretty much a toss-up, and if I had to pick I'm taking the team on the rise with something to prove, as opposed to the hung-over team that is still looking for itself after eight weeks of listless, mediocre play.
I have no problem with anyone taking the Steelers, with or without the points, this week. I think the reflexive, across-the-board choice speaks much more about the laziness of the observers and their unconscious defense of their previous positions no matter how incorrect in the face of new evidence. Very little about this Steelerism is about their opponent, it's all about what they think they're supposed to say about the Steelers. They'd say the same thing even if they were playing the Pats or Colts this week.
I know this is being discussed in a bunch of![]()
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threads, but I'm not going to cross-post and I can't decide which thread to post in, so here's a new thread.
Check this out and tell me why it's so objectionable that people in the media DARE to pick Pitt over NO.
Offensive plays: Pitt 522, NO 518
Yards/play: Pitt 5.6, NO 5.6
Yards/game: Pitt: 364, NO 361
First downs/gm: Pitt 20.5, NO 18.9
3rd down %: Pitt 42.2, NO 42.6
Penalties: Pitt 35/316, NO 47/342
TOP: Pitt 31:14, NO 30:54
Points/game: Pitt 22.1, NO 24.8
Wow. It's almost identical. It's far closer than I would have figured even when you separate rushing vs. passing.
Defensive plays: Pitt 486, NO 485
Yards/play: Pitt 4.7, NO 4.9
Yards/game: Pitt: 284, NO 296
First downs/gm: Pitt 16.1, NO 17.0
3rd down %: Pitt 36.6, NO 38.3
Penalties: Pitt 48/399, NO 50/384
TOP: Pitt 28:46, NO 29.06
Points/game: Pitt 22.0, NO 19.9
Again almost identical.
Pittsburgh and the Saints are statistically pretty much the same team.
Pitt & NO have played one common opponent so far: Atlanta. The Saints beat Atlanta on "homecoming" night and Pitt lost to Atlanta 41-38 in a game almost everyone on the SSF thought Pitt "should have" won. That's the lone common opponent. But aside from Atlanta....
Pittsburgh's 4 toughest opponents have been Cincy, Denver, at JAX, and at San Diego (all losses)
NO's 4 toughest opponents have been Baltimore, Philly, at Carolina and who? One of the Tampa games, I guess?
So it seems pretty clear to me that the most significant difference by far separating NO and Pitt record-wise is simply schedule strength. Statistically, the two teams are all-but-identical. Pittsburgh is 2-6 and the Saints are 6-2 based pretty much only on who they've had to play.
The following has been said in those other threads, but I'll repeat the points in light of the stats above....
What's the line, like 5? 5.5? And I'm well aware of the fact that the line is irrelevant, but doesn't the line usually give them home team 3? And isn't anything less than 3 pretty much a pick 'em? So take away the 3 just by virtue of Pitt being at home and it's a pick 'em.
And as for the heads on tee vee, let's see, Pittsburgh is still the defending Super Bowl champs, who are at home and are desperate to salvage their season. Vs. a team that was 3-13 last year, are on the road and could be argued to have shown some complacency 2 weeks ago against an AFC team. If I weren't a Saints fan, I'd probably pick Pitt too.
No respeck!
How do you figure?
I think you're really off base here.
By comparison, should the Saints lose, I don't think it would sully the Saints reputation.
I think you're really off base here.
Maybe the Steelers aren't as good as people think. But most folks agree a big part of their problems are the play of Roethlisberger (sp?), a QB that was playing great last year. He's a wild card--it's not like he's an Aaron Brooks, who has a long predictable history of question marks behind him. Everyone, including myself, thinks Ben will revert to his old form either sometime this season, or next season. It's a question of when. That will make them a formidable team immediately. Will this week be the week things come back together for him?
Roethlisberger actually has historically made poor decisions. Last season for example, the Super Bowl season, he threw interceptions at the rate of 1 every 25 attempts. In comparison Brees last season threw them at the rate of 1 every 35 attempts. A significant difference.
The reason Roethlisberger never acquired this reputation before is they simply didn't throw the ball a lot. He had only 250 attempts last season to Brees' 500 attempts. But in the Super Bowl if you remember he played pretty poorly.
This season they are relying on him more then ever before. He's throwing 30+ times a game for the first time in his career....and it shows. (he has almost as many attempts this season as he had all of last season). He seems to be playing worse then before, but I think a lot of that is attributable to the fact that he doesn't have the field position support (from his defense) or run game support he had in the past.
Honestly, Roethlisberger just makes poor decisions and he always has. It's just never mattered until now.
They cant make beating the Saints their holy grail just because the saints are 6-2.