What others think when it comes to the Steelers successfully defending their Super Bowl XL championship
“Parity? It’s overrated. In 2006, the Steelers stand out among the few teams that have discovered the necessary elements to remain elite in the salary-cap era. And they’ll prove their mettle again — with the first ring for the other hand.”
“Pittsburgh looks every bit as loaded as the 2004 team that went 15-1 before losing in the AFC title game to the Patriots, and the ‘05 squad, which became the first No. 6 seed to win it all.”
– Sports Illustrated
Addendum: Despite the seeming rave review, SI still doesn’t pick the Steelers to repeat. Instead, it predicts they will lose to eventual Super Bowl champion Miami in the first round of the playoffs.
“When analyzing the Steelers by position, there are not many areas of concern, but now the Steelers are the hunted and face a brutal schedule. Repeating will not be easy.”
– espn.com
“Now in his third season, [Ben] Roethlisberger is poised to have his welcome-to-the-elite-level season. That’s why the Steelers are not only the choice to win the division, but also to push for consecutive Super Bowl rings.”
– cbssportsline.com
“The AFC is too talented for the Steelers to stay on top, even with Roethlisberger.”
– Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune
CHICAGO BEARS ODDS SLASHED FOR SUPER BOWL
Chicago are fast emerging as a genuine championship contender after maintaining their unbeaten start to the season with a 37-6 thrashing of Seattle Seahawks.
It was the Bears who were the headline selection of this website before week 1 when they were recommended at a massive 25/1.
Those odds have now disappeared with 7/1 the going rate. Seattle are still thought to be in the mix at 15/2, although Shaun Alexander can’t return quick enough from his broken foot.
The Bears defence were in dominating form to shutdown the Seahawks’ attack, limiting running back Maurice Morris to just 35 yards, sacking quarterback Matt Hasselbeck five times and grabbing two interceptions, one leading to a Daniel Manning touchdown in the second quarter. And all this after Hasselbeck had thrown five TD passes last Sunday against New York Giants.
The Bears led 13-3 midway through the second term courtesy of a Mushin Muhammad touchdown and two field goals from Robbie Gould before Manning’s 10-yard interception return gave the home team a dominant 19-3 lead. Thomas Jones rushed for two short touchdowns to further sink the Seahawks as the Bears emerged as the front runners in the NFC. Seattle haven’t been totally dismissed in the betting with one firm making them third most likely to win Super Bowl.
Infact the three readaBet.com ante-post Super Bowl selections are 1-2-3 in the betting. With Buffalo, Arizona (a), bye, San Francisco and Miami next up for the Bears, it is not impossible they could overtake the Colts in the betting by the midpoint of the season. The Colts have a tricky period coming up with Washington, Denver and New England, the latter two games road trips.
Baltimore are worth keeping a close eye on as they kept their winning-start going after a come-from-behind victory. Steve McNair threw a 10-yard touchdown pass for Todd Heap in the last minute of the game to give the Ravens a late 16-13 win over the San Diego Chargers. Baltimore are as short as 10/1 for Super Bowl.
