Pittsburgh Steelers: Chances on Who They Encounter in Playoffs and just how They Complement

Oakland RaidersThis really is door No. 2 for that Steelers. The Raiders match up perfectly with Pittsburgh. Offensively, the Raiders perform a large amount of running, something the Steelers haven't always defended now this season and are a good passing team having a quarterback (Carson Palmer) that knows Pittsburgh well.Defensively, the Raiders boast a good secondary with speedy corners, but Ben Roethlisberger and company should be able to handle that. This game will finish up being very hard whether it happens, but the Steelers really are a more complete team than the Raiders and can probably dominate the clock enough to win.Listed here are our other two hopefuls.Denver BroncosWhether Tim Tebow is setting offense back 70 years, he's winning football games. That's everything really matters. He's also got the Broncos believing by themselves. That may be dangerous. Denver has a talented defense too that gets after quarterbacks and shuts runners.A lot more than Tebow, that's winning Denver games. This has been a nightmare matchup for everyone lately, however i think if any defensvie coach can figure Tebow out, it would be Dick LeBeau, especially given the team's pass rush.Tennessee TitansThe Steelers thrashed the Titans in Week 5, but Tennessee made a great progress way since. Chris Johnson is starting to obtain on track finally, and also the Titans have discovered methods to win despite a dropoff in production using their receiver-less passing attack. Still, you'd have to think the Steelers could repeat a minimum of a part of their Week 5 performance to unseat the Titans.The common thread I've found in the wild-card matches is that the Steelers as a 12-4 Wild Card are better than any mixture of teams that may grab the fourth seed or even the third seed. I don't visit a problem with them getting through this round.Now we have to toss in some more variables. In my original predictions, the Cincinnati Bengals were the sixth seed. The brand new York Jets are one other viable wild-card option (excluding the Broncos, Raiders, Titans and Texans, who could feasibly have a wild-card berth when they lose out on their division).Assuming the Jets or Bengals face off against among the likely third seeds (Oakland or Houston), either could proceed to the following round and face the very best seed. That will mean the Steelers would face the second seed.When the sixth seed team loses, the Steelers would face the 3rd seed. That will mean among the teams we've mentioned previously. That's more appealing than either likely matchup for a second seed: New England or Baltimore.Let's consider each of those teams individually.Offense vs. PittsburghThe Steelers did a great job in Week 8 of keeping the Patriots off the field. Once they were on the field, the Steelers took away Tom Brady's favorite targets (Rob Gronkowski, Wes Welker and Aaron Hernandez) and made him throw to Chad Ochocino or Deion Branch.The outcomes were that Brady, while he still completed plenty of passes, didn't obtain the ball in to the hands of his playmakers.The Steelers' defense still matches well with New England because of an above-average secondary that's featuring the improved William Gay and Keenan Lewis alongside Ike Taylor, Ryan Clark and Troy Polamalu. The pass rush seems a likely plus against a Patriots line that is lacking some punch nowadays.Defense vs. PittsburghThe Steelers already proved the things they can perform against New England's defense but will need to revamp their approach again because Bill Belichick doesn't let unexpected things happen exactly the same way twice.

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