Steelers could finish first, second, third or fourth in AFC North, per PFW editors

Today Pro Football Weekly's editors announced their predictions for the 2008 season. Two editors predict the Steelers will finish first, four believe Pittsburgh will come in second behind Cleveland, three see a third-place finish and one believes the Steelers will close out the year in last place, citing the "NFL’s toughest schedule, [a] declining O-line, [and] soft backfield," all contributing to Mike Tomlin's "sophomore slump."

Personally, I find the predictions of publisher/editor Hub Arkush most likely to come true: He predicts a second-place finish for the Steelers, characterizing Pittsburgh as a "club headed in wrong direction," which is probably true, unless one is willing to overlook the shortcomings of the offensive line, a lack of depth on defense and major questions surrounding the team's return game. He envisions the Browns winning the division, with Brady Quinn taking over at quarterback sooner rather than later, which also seems a good bet, as Derek Anderson doesn't appear to be a long-term solution at the QB position.

Click here to view all of PFW's predictions. Your comments are welcome, as always.

Pro Football Weekly's Nawrocki rates Steelers a "loser" in 2008 draft

Pro Football Weekly draft guru Nolan Nawrocki has graded the draft for all 32 teams based on "how well each team was able to recognize value, work the draft and come away with players who will upgrade [the] team, now or in the future." He gives the Steelers a C-minus; only the Tennessee Titans (D) received a lower grade, with the Houston Texans receiving the only other C-minus. Click here to view Nawrocki's grades/summaries for each of the 32 clubs.

Steelers drop in PFW Power Ranking

This week the Steelers dropped from #5 to #6 in Pro Football Weekly's Power Ranking. Meanwhile, Ben Roethlisberger is holding steady at #5 on PFW's MVP Meter. Predictably, Willie Parker has fallen off the list. And, as has been the case all season, no Pittsburgh rookie is among the top 30 on the publication's Rookie Meter.

AFC North, position-by-position preview

Pro Football Weekly (PFW) has just published an up-to-date AFC North preview, arguably the best and most accurate preview available. As one might expect, PFW considers the Steelers' offensive line as the team's greatest weakness, giving it a "C" grade. Click here to preview all four teams; the Steelers' analysis is at the bottom of the page.

Steelers' "D" To Be More Aggressive in '07?

According to the latest installment of Pro Football Weekly's "The Way We Hear It" defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau may be planning to unveil a more aggressive scheme in 2007. Click here to read (all the AFC North) blurbs.

PFW Says Browns Most Likely To Go From Worst To First

Believe it or not, in the new edition of Pro Football Weekly, publisher Hub Arkush tabs the Cleveland Browns and Tampa Bay Bucs as the two teams most likely to go from worst to first in their respective divisions. I can see Tampa Bay winning a division title (and Arizona too), but the unless Brady Quinn plays like Ben Roethlisberger did as a rookie, I can't envision anything but a third- or fourth-place finish for the Browns.

Even more galling, Arkush writes "Mike Tomlin is going to have to find out Pittsburgh isn’t preschool before he’s ready to win." Click here to read the article.