Call me crazy, but I think the Steelers will win in Baltimore on Saturday.
Call me even crazier, but I think the Broncos beat the Bills on Sunday.
Call me even crazier still, but I think that opens up an opportunity for the Steelers to play in or win the Super Bowl.
Let me explain.
First off, the Ravens are good, but not unbeatable. John Harbaugh tends to outthink himself in this matchup.
Lamar Jackson is still shaky in the playoffs, and the Steelers know how to play him better than anyone.
Zay Flowers being out is a massive advantage for the Steelers. He is probably 3rd on the list of players I would want to remove from Baltimore’s lineup, behind Lamar and Derrick Henry.
Derrick Henry is the Ravens only hope. But with Flowers out, the Steelers can get a little heavier, and run blitz a lot more. That could keep Henry in check.
With all of that taken into consideration, I have no idea how the Steelers are a 9.5 underdog in this game.
The Steelers will need to win the turnover battle. I think luck is bound to have the bounces go their way finally, and they recover a fumble or two. If they protect the ball on offense and win the turnover battle, the game is decidedly in the Steelers favor.
Russell Wilson does not need to be the hero, but a couple of touchdown passes against this weak secondary, would go a long way towards a victory.
I see the Steelers winning this one in a tight game where nobody scores more than 27.
So where does that take us next?
Well, the Broncos, for some reason to me, have a feel of a team that is going to go into Buffalo and upset the Bills.
Let's be honest, until we see otherwise, the Bills have the feel of a team that will continue to disappoint their fans in the playoffs.
So imagine this scenario, the Broncos beat the Bills, and the Steelers win a coin flip game in Baltimore.
That would have the Steelers facing…either the Chargers or the Texans in the Divisional round.
Do either of those teams scare you? They don’t scare me.
I would rather play the Texans than the Chargers, but I will take either of them over the Bills.
I know I said the Bills are going to choke, but they have the Steelers number, and I feel like there is a 1 in 10 chance of the Steelers winning a Division round game in Buffalo.
Outside of the Bills though, I’m not really that concerned.
If they win the coin flip in Baltimore, then beat the beatable Chargers or Texans, the Steelers would suddenly find themselves either playing the underwhelming (by their standards) Chiefs or hosting the Broncos in, gasp, the AFC Championship Game.
At that point all bets are off. I know the Chiefs embarrassed the Steelers on Christmas Day, but really the Steelers embarrassed themselves more than anything that day. Remember someone, cough cough Minkah, was freelancing and leaving Travis Kelce WIDE OPEN. I don’t see that happening again.
Seriously though, at that point the Steelers would be on a two game winning streak, probably feeling pretty good about themselves, and they could ride that momentum straight through Arrowhead or Acrisure stadium and suddenly find themselves in, yes, the Super Bowl.
In the Super Bowl, we will either finally get the all Pennsylvania matchup against the Eagles, or a showdown vs the Detroit Lions.
The Steelers could continue their regular season revenge tour against the Eagles and come out firing and controlling the clock. The defense proves it's a championship defense and the Steelers win their 7th Lombardi Trophy.
Or they play the Detroit Lions, and they would have to outscore them just like they did the Bengals in Cincinnati this year. It's possible, and you can count on Dan Campbell’s “always go for it” mentality to finally cost him in the biggest of moment, the Steelers stop them on a crucial 4th down and take the “Stairway to Seven.”
Either way, Russell Wilson cements his legacy and starts walking to Canton.
It may seem like a lot of this hinges on the Broncos beating the Bills, and a few other things, but even if it's the Bills in the second round, crazier things have happened.
Remember in 2005 when Jake “the Snake” Plummer and the Broncos beat Tom Brady and the back to back defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots?
Sometimes things just fall into place, and wouldn’t it be nice to see that one more time in Pittsburgh?
