Not that it matters much, but the Pittsburgh Steelers appear to be gaining the confidence of the major media as it relates to how they will do in 2013.
Over the course of most of the offseason, the Steelers have been picked by many of the talking heads to finish third in the AFC North behind both the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals, but the consensus of the writers on NFL.com in their latest preview of the division is that the Steelers will come out on top in the division.
Three of the four ATL writers picked the Steelers to win the division. We also had immortal special guest Dave Dameshek, who picked the Bengals to win the division just like Dan Hanzus. (Dameshek had the Ravens at 9-7, his hometown Steelers at 8-8, and the Browns at 6-10.) No one picked the Ravens to repeat as division champions, much less world champions.
So why are the Ravens all of a sudden no longer getting the love from the mainstream? It appears as though a few are starting to think the defending Super Bowl champions are now going through a period of transition. Wait, I thought the Steelers were the team going through a transition from old to young. This is all getting real confusing.
Perhaps the mainstream media is really dropping the Ravens because they feel the loss of tight ends Dennis Pitta and Ed Dickson for an unknown amount of time will really hurt the production on offense. Aren\’t the Steelers facing a similar situation with Heath Miller and Matt Spaeth?
I suspect the Steelers will now all of a sudden be the sexy pick to win the division moving forward, but I kind of liked it better when most had them finishing third. How about you?
