Pittsburgh Steeler Fans Need to Root For AFC Rivals This Weekend
By Danny Cox
The Pittsburgh Steelers have one of the first bye weeks of the season with Week 4 being the time for them to rest and heal up from numerous injuries. But that doesn't mean the fans waving the Terrible Towels can take the week off from their support. There are a number of games that Steelers fans need to pay attention to, and some conference rivals to root for.
When the Steelers return to the field next week, they'll be coming back with a 1-2 record after falling to the Oakland Raiders in Week 3. It was a totally unexpected loss for the Steeler nation, and one that dropped them under five hundred.
It isn't strange for the Steelers to be sitting behind the Baltimore Ravens, but being behind the Cincinnati Bengals is another story. Baltimore is atop the AFC North with a 3-1 record, and they already downed Cleveland on Thursday so that is out of the way. The Browns are 0-4 and done for Week 4, which keeps concern for them gone too.
Cincinnati, on the other hand, will be heading to sunny Florida for a game where Steelers fans will be firmly behind the Jacksonville Jaguars.
With the strange things that have happened so far this season, no one can really say that the Jags don't stand a chance, but a Bengals' victory is more likely. If Cincinnati does win though, the Steelers will return from their bye week in a two game hole to both the Ravens and Bengals.
That is not easy to climb out from either. Making that even more difficult to bounce back from is that Pittsburgh just can't stay healthy, but hopefully the bye will help that some.
As for the AFC race overall, going into Sunday's game, the Steelers have a 1-2 record, which has them tied with eight other teams. Yes, you read that correctly. There are nine of 16 teams in the AFC with 1-2 records.
Throw in 0-4 Cleveland and 10 of 16 AFC teams have losing records through four weeks of the NFL season. Kind of odd when detailed like that isn't it?
It is in the best interest of the Pittsburgh Steelers that the fans actually root for any of the teams with much better records to take down the teams with losing records. In turn, that will make it easier for the Steelers to play catch-up and stay in the playoff race.
Teams and results that Steelers fans should hope for in Week 4:
- New England over Buffalo
- San Diego over Kansas City
- Houston over Tennessee
- Jacksonville over Cincinnati
- Arizona over Miami
Oakland and Denver also have matching 1-2 records, but they are playing one another and something has to give. In this case, chances are that Steeler fans would rather root for Denver. Just a hunch.
Pittsburgh has to hope that this extra week off has given them time to heal up on some major injuries such as that to Troy Polamalu and James Harrison. Missing key components of their defense has really hindered them from producing the fear that they normally do.
Injuries have to heal, and there's nothing that can be done to speed up that process. Rooting for and hoping for other teams to give the Steelers a little help in the standings is all that Pittsburgh fans can do.
Wave those "Terrible Towels" all you can on Sunday, Steelers fans. Only this week, do it for teams that are wearing different colors.
For more Local Football Bloggers and the latest Steelers news, see CBS Sports Pittsburgh.
Danny Cox knows a little something about the NFL, whether it means letting you know what penalty will come from the flag just thrown on the field or quickly spouting off who the Chicago Bears drafted in the first round of the 1987 draft (Jim Harbaugh). He plans on bringing you the best news, previews, recaps, and anything else that may come along with the exciting world of the National Football League. His work can be found on Examiner.com.
