What do think the Steeler's chance's are to repeat as Superbowl Champions in 2006?

I think it is going to depend on what they do to replace the losses of Randle El and Bettis. Those guys were key in this championship run and will be missed.

I agree with Mike. I had alot of Steelers on my roster and ill be honest I was stunned they made it to the Super Bowl. They are like the Jags in that you look at the team and you just gotta go "how are they winning against these teams"?

Steeler football is a frame of mind. Cowher got them to drink the kool-aid. That's a tough thing to do for a head coach that's been at one place for a while. Most of the vets have heard the Rah, Rah stuff and it's tough to motivate them with-out some new material.

no.

HTH

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yes they will and over the next 100 or so posts I'll explain why...

I dont think they will be able to repeat because I wasn't convinced that they were the best team in football last year, and they've lost key guys since then. That being said, they are one of the top 4 teams in the AFC, and theres no telling who will come out on top.

Also Roethlisberger is a big question mark for me after this year's playoffs. He had an absolutely terrible Super Bowl performance, and I know Cowher is run oriented with a lead but he basically shut Ben out of the game completely vs. the Colts. Unless he can show me that he can perform well in the playoffs (beating the jets the year before was sheer luck) the law of averages says that the rest of the team can't keep that level of play up to compensate.

It's funny, I found this site last year as the Steelers clinched a wild card. I had honestly written them off. Yeah, as a true Steeler fan I harbored secret hopes that some how they might win a playoff game but that even looked iffy and I wasn't buyin' in to that win one for the Bus crap either. Big Ben wasn't my ideal at QB but damn, the boy kept winning. I thought back to the year before, when they went 15-1 only to stumble their way into the AFC Championship and knew that they still had a dominating defense and maybe, just maybe, if they didn't make too many mistakes on offense, they could make some noise. Kinda like I did on the boards as they went onto win the Superbowl. Most of you that followed those playoff threads and Superbowl thread read through my false bravado but in the end ended up rooting for them, except of course for Mike, who hates them. Well now that they are the reining Superbowl Champs and have the proverbial target on their backs and are suffering the requecient hangover, their chances are probably somewhat diminished.

That aside, I think they can repeat and foremost, believe they will.
The first reason is a little something called Steeler Football. It's not just a catch word, it's a state of mind. No other team in the history of the league has been so defined in their approach to the game as to have their style of play so defined.

Can they? They're certainly capable. Will they? I rather doubt it. A repeat in this day and age in remarkable.

OK, there's another reason that they can repeat. Lower expectations. Years past the target would be much bigger on their backs. Teams would get up for them. Especially teams they had beat the year before and teams in their division. The turn over of players around the league mitigates that.

i say NO

There's one more reason the Steelers will repeat, I hate kids.

Dude, you gotta bring something to the table here other than "NO"

ok, all the other teams have been rebuilding, not many changes from the steelers to improve

Thats better, I'm gonna make an NFL guru out of your hockey loving self in no time.

It's not lower expectations, I expect the Steelers to play as well, if not better than, they did last year. However, the Steelers aren't going to sneak up on anybody or get lucky twice.

I have to say that the Steelers still have most of those pieces in place. With the exception of The Bus and Randle El. Maybe last year they werent "supposed" to win, but some grace of god let them win. Maybe last year was "supposed" to be a building block year, just like the prior years and maybe this year they are "supposed" to win it. I am one who actually believes in "destiny" for a team. The Steelers wanted to win for the Bus, and they did. But, I really dont think they will have that want this year. There was a lot of games where they were just outplayed, and still won, hence "destiny". Just look at the SuperBowl.

Now, I am a Cowboy fan. But, last year I was really happy to see Bettis leave the game with a ring.

I was really rooting for Bettis to go out on top. Would have much rather seen him do it in the runnin back rotation for Dallas, but we can't have everything we want.

Dont sell Pittsburgh short this year though. You gotta think about the X factor. That X factor will be Big Ben having another year of experience under his belt. I dont think we have begun to see how good this guy is gonna be in the NFL yet. I think it just gets better for this guy, and his success will keep this team at a superbowl caliber level for the next 10 years with a supporting cast around him.

Cowhwer can now put the team in Roethlisbergers's hands.

Yes, Roethlisburger will have another year of experience and some huge confidence. However, Bettis was the leader and soul of that team, how good can they be without that? I guess we'll find out.

It is time for the torch to be passed. This will be Big Ben's team in 2006. It will be on his shoulders to maintain this team at a SuperBowl caliber. I think he will do fine. Not saying the team is going to win a Superbowl this year, but they will be in contention and do a good job competing even if they dont get there.

I honestly hope they make it and I hope Dallas is there to meet them and beat them. 1995 wasn nowhere near enough revenge on this team. Would love to meet them and beat them in 2006 and 2007.