OFTOT's Season Preview Weeks 9-17...

Yesterday was fun. I had fun, didn't you? Lots of comments, lots of love [and cheerleader herpes] in the air. Must be football season.

Anyways, as promised, you'll find Part II of OFTOT's 2008-2009 Season Preview pasted neatly below for your amusement. Feel free to discuss any and all headlines/photoshops in the comments.

Lights, Camera, Action, Roll 'em...

OFTOT's 2008-2009 Season Preview

Week 9 vs. Washington (Away)

Rumor has it Daniel Snyder likes Wide Receivers.

Week 10 vs. Indianapolis (Home)

I'm still pissed off about Troy's interception-fumble-recovery.

Week 11 vs. San Diego (Home)

I can't wait to watch Silverback hurdle LT again. Ah, the memories.

Week 12 vs. Cincinnati (Home)

Where are Sam Wyche and Boomer Esiason when you need them?

Week 13 vs. New England (Away)

Cue Tobiathan. Where you at, brotha'?

Week 14 vs. Dallas (Home)

So wait, you play in Dallas but you train in SoCal? Sounds pretty she-she.

Week 15 vs. Baltimore (Away)

Kyle Boller? Are you even trying anymore?

Week 16 vs. Tennessee (Away)

Had to part ways with Neil O'Donnell once too. See, we aren't so different.

Week 17 vs. Cleveland (Home)

I think everything that needed to be said about the Browns was said during Monday Night's preseason game.

That my friends, is all she wrote. I sincerely hope you enjoyed the two part Season Preview extravaganza as much as I did. And I promise to give you back those brain cells at some point this season. Probably not today though. Or tomorrow...Or...uh, I'll just uh, call you later...

Thoughts?

SYKORA!!

Sykora defecates on your two game lead.

"I'm gonna score."

Game 6 Wednesday, Let's Go Pens!

Playoffs? Don't Talk About Playoffs!

"This year, expectations are high again—especially with the Bengals imploding, the Ravens rebuilding, and the Browns generally regarded as overrated. In other words, the stage is set for the Steelers to fail."

Uh oh, Steeler fans. Don't look now, but Mike Florio of Profootballtalk.com doesn't think the Steelers will make it back to the post-season in 2008. Not only that, but he made them the first of six teams he thinks won't be back.

Of course, he may not have meant to present his list in any particular order. But for the sake of the impending "analysis" homerism, we'll assume he really thinks the Steelers are the team least likely to be playing in January, 2009.

Let's examine his reasoning then, shall we? In addition to the top notch speculation you see above, Florio also had this to say about the Steelers playoff chances ~

If they do, it will happen because of an offensive line that got much worse after the departure of left guard Alan Faneca. Although the team used its first two draft picks on high-profile skill-position players (Rashard Mendenhall and Limas Sweed), these rookies won’t make much of an impact with no one to block for them. The defensive line received no real upgrade despite the team’s desire to do so, and the linebackers and defensive backs are getting older but not necessarily better.

In all, six of 11 starters on defense will be 30 or older by the end of September. That’s not a good sign for a team that will need strong performances from the traditional strength of the franchise to prop up an offense that might not score points in bunches.

So first off, good for him that he criticized the Steelers Offensive Line. That pretty much has not been done at all over the last year. Like, really. Never.

And I'll have to agree with him on the Defensive Line. That was one of the key positions where we needed depth and it went completely ignored in last month's draft.

And yes, you COULD say our Defense is cumulatively rather geriatric.

However, where I must respectfully disagree is on the team's Offensive potential. Florio opines that the Offense "might not score points in bunches" next year. Well, I just have kind of a hard time believing an Offense that averaged roughly 25 points in 2007, and that added two premier talents in Mendenhall and Sweed "might not score points in bunches" in 2008. Yes, that distinct possibility exists. And no, I don't think we should get ahead of ourselves. But in my admittedly misguided mind, this Offense can only be MORE productive. Then again, last season we didn't exactly face the awfulness of playing 75% of the previous year's playoff teams. Nor were we sans-Faneca. So I'm what I would call "cautiously enthusiastic."

All in all, I have to say Florio makes some good points. But what do you guys think? Do you agree? Do you think the Defense can still dominate given it's collective age? Do you think the Offense will blossom further in '08? Do you think Mendenhall and Sweed will have a bigger impact than Florio suggests? And perhaps most importantly - Isn't it a tad early to be talking about next year's playoffs?

Before you answer that, elsewhere on the interweb - this Cleveland writer thinks the Browns have a shot at the AFC North simply because of the Steelers heinous schedule. All I know is, if I were a Cleveland writer, I would be careful about talking Division titles in May. Especially since the last time the Browns won the division, the first George Bush was President and Milli Vanilli had a hit single.

Ok, NOW let the commenting begin...

REFERENCE MATERIAL:
Six NFL Teams Unlikely to Make Playoff Returns in '08 [Sporting News]