Hey guys, just joined up here, partially so I could discount the crap going on in the poll thread, but it was locked, so oh well. People are much more civil in this thread, thankfully
My take on it is that last year we would've had a great regular season record if Big Ben hadn't got hurt. He came back, went on a winning streak, made the playoffs, beat the top 3 teams on the road in the playoffs, and then beat the #1 seed from the NFC in the SuperBowl, and it wasn't even a close game. None of them would've been close at all if the Colts game hadn't been taken over by the refs. (Sorry don't mean to bring them up but it should've been a 10 or 17 point victory) In the offseason we got even better I think. Ben, assuming he makes a full recovery which indications are he will, will be much better and more experienced, as will Fast Willie, Heath Miller and Max Starks (all 1st year starters last year). Von Oelhoffen is easily replaced. Randle El only caught 35 passes last year, and threw 3 passes, so he's not too hard to replace either (though I wish we didn't have to). Hope might be the biggest loss, cause of his chemistry with Polamalu, but Clark, Smith or Carter should be more than adequate. Throw in McFadden as a starting corner, that's a big upgrade over Townsend. I don't think that Bettis is much of a loss at all personally. He was way over the hill anyway, and if Duce can stay healthy he's better anyway, and Ben can pass to Heath on some of those plays now anyway. Our new WRs have more speed, so if they play well that'll make the O explosive. Last, and most important, the whole coaching staff comes back intact. I've been a huge fan of LeBeau's since the 90s in his first stint with the Steelers, and I think that Whisenhunt is one of, if not THE best OC in the NFL. Cowher is of course a top HC. (sorry it got so long...that's the brief overview of why the Steelers have a very good chance to repeat)