The expectations are very high for your returning champion Pittsburgh Steelers this year. Their losses in the off-season were minimal and have more than competent replacements waiting to fill their spots. The loss of Larry Foote is huge, the perennial run-stopper knew that his playing time would be impacted with the speedy Lawrence Timmons ready to take the field, so he returned to his home town to help the hapless Lions dig their way out of the basement. Timmons will be a little green at the position, but his quickness combined with the weight he added in the off-season will lead to an eventual devastating force at middle linebacker. Nate Washington decided to test the free agent market and take his field-stretching ability elsewhere. That, however, was the extent of his abilities, the hands were not up to NFL standards. His position will easily be filled by the former Longhorn Limas Sweed. Sweed gives Ben the big receiver he has missed since the departure of Plaxico Burress. The only major loss is cornerback Bryant Mcfadden, a replacement for him may be a little harder to find.
The additions are even brighter. The return of such players as Daniel Sepulveda and Rashard Mendenhall from injury this season will be a blessing. The punting of Mitch Berger last season made our top-rated defense work extra hard last season with poor field positioning. And handing the ball to untrusted Gary Russell made a lot of Steeler fans worry themselves into a coma. This and a slew of strong draftees make this team look even stronger than last year. Don't get your hopes up too much. The hopes of better defending champs have been crushed before. The 1976 Steelers supposedly had the best year of any steel curtain defense, recording numerous shutouts. This should have been another repeat season but an early injury to Terry Bradshaw set the tone for a disappointing season. The 92-93 Penguins followed their back to back cups with a stellar regular season only to be upset by the Islanders and David Volek in game 7 overtime. The 1972 Pirates were another. So remain hopeful, repeat champs do happen, but more than a great team is needed, the stars must also align.
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