posted August 9, 2007 at 20:25 in NFL Articles

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. After capturing Super Bowl XL in Detroit two seasons ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers failed to make the playoffs last year during a frustrating season for them and for their football betting investors. This was one of the three teams that lost to the Raiders last year. Yeesh.

The NFL odds are seriously stacked against the Steelers because of their major personnel losses this season. They lost Bill Cowher, their head coach, and replaced him with unproven Mike Tomlin. In doing so, offensive coordinator Ken Wisenhunt bolted for the head job in Arizona and took offensive line coach Russ Grimm with him.

Pittsburgh Steelers Odds And Lines

+3000 to win Super Bowl XLII

+250 to win AFC North

+450 NFL Odds to win Wildcard Playoff spot

Then they released Joey Porter, the passionate leader of their defense who went south to Miami. So what is to hope for in Steel Town, with the Bengals becoming stronger and the Ravens improving so much?

Not much. Well, not much until we all see what Mike Tomlin can do. He has the weapons. Roethlisberger continues to improve as a passer, and has Fast Willie Parker in the backfield to take pressure off him. Parker can change games in a split second with his breakaway speed, but has a nasty habit of losing yards in an attempt to bust the big one instead of running north-south.

The receiving corps is potent as well. Hines Ward is one of the best all-around talents at wide receiver and Heath Miller is establishing himself as a threat at tight end. The Steelers will need big production out of Santonio Holmes this year to be successful.

The draft also boosted the Steelers tremendously as they grabbed Lawrence Timmons at line-backer from FSU. Timmons is a hard hitting truck that was coveted by the Steelers. He will have to be effective almost immediately.

There is no breathing room in the AFC North. You must get off to a good start to have a chance, and the Steelers have too many big questions to answer. The biggest question being, of course, “How good is Mike Tomlin?”

Only time will tell, but at +3000 the Steelers might be one of those flyer teams worth a little NFL betting for divisional champ.

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