Whenever Adam Schein writes or says something about the Pittsburgh Steelers, his words always seem to create a stir. Tuesday wasn’t any different as the SiriusXM NFL Radio show host and part time NFL.com writer’s prediction for the AFC North is sure to infuriate Steelers fans.
According to Schein, who always seems to throw objectivity out the window when it comes to the Steelers, the Baltimore Ravens will win the AFC North crown in 2014.
Schein’s prediction for the Ravens is as follows:
Baltimore is a playoff team. Despite having just missed the postseason for the first time in his six years at the helm, John Harbaugh is an excellent coach. In fact, I see Harbaugh winning his third division championship. Flacco isn’t feeling the heat like last year — when he signed a nine-figure contract, fresh off a Super Bowl triumph — and should enjoy a solid campaign. I believe in this organization; it’s fantastic, top to bottom. This defense should not only be better than last year’s unit, but better than the group from two years ago that raised the Lombardi Trophy.
Joe Flacco isn’t feeling the heat after throwing 22 interceptions in the first year of his new $120.6 million contract? Ok, whatever you say, Schein. My mistake, Schein also throws objectivity out the window when it comes to the Ravens, too.
Schein has the Cincinnati Bengals finishing second in the division in 2014 and predicts a nine or ten win season for them. While that’s a reasonable throw of the dart, his aim is off when it comes to the Cleveland Browns, who he has finishing ahead of the Steelers. He makes sure, however, to give himself an escape route depending on what ultimately happens with Browns troubled wide receiver Josh Gordon.
As you can clearly tell by now, Schein has the Steelers bringing up the rear in the AFC North in 2014. He lazily points to a potential fallout between quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and offensive coordinator Todd Haley in his worst case scenario for the Steelers in 2014. Really? So we’re still talking about that and that’s the best worst case scenario Schein could come up with?
I probably shouldn’t, but I will now close out this post by including Schein’s written prediction for the 2014 Steelers.
This is subject to the Gordon ruling, but I can see Pittsburgh bottoming out this year. I just don’t think they are that good. The great Roethlisberger/Tomlin duo will mask areas of deficiency half the time, allowing Pittsburgh to win seven or eight games.
