Who should Steelers fans root for during Championship Weekend?
Last weekend was heartbreaking. Last year, I was obviously upset at the Steelers loss to New England in the AFC Championship game, but all I could think of was, “we’ll get them next year”.
The Steelers would get Le’Veon Bell, Cam Heyward, and Martavis Bryant back while taking the AFC by storm. And for the most part, Pittsburgh did just that. The Steelers had their first 13-win season since 2004 (where they went 15-1). Sure, many games were close, but this year was different because the Steelers were pulling out those close victories, rather than dropping them.
That, coupled with motivational aspects like Dan Rooney passing away and the injury to Ryan Shazier, it all seemed like this would be their year. This was the year that everything would fall into place, and we would have a happy ending.
All of that came to a screeching halt last Sunday, and now Championship weekend is going to be a rough one to watch. So as Steelers fans, who should we root for?
I have some thoughts on that…
A Patriots Win
When would we ever root for the Patriots?
I’m not saying anyone should root for the Patriots, because I’m not, but there would be one good thing that comes from a Patriots victory this weekend.
It would shut the Jaguars up.
All of this talk, such as the Jaguars ripping the Steelers for “looking ahead” (just listen to Ramon Foster and Bud Dupree) to the Patriots and trash talking Pittsburgh for “doing so.”
Now, they’re talking about how the Jaguars are now going to win the Super Bowl, and it’s a guarantee.
A bakery in Jacksonville sent Big Ben seven “turnovers” (the food) as a thank you for the seven turnovers on the football field he gave them this year.
The Jaguars have done nothing but run their mouth this year.
As of now, to give them credit, they did their job. They are still in the race, but you don’t see any other team making comments like that.
This would still mean the Patriots getting into the Super Bowl, again, but it would shut the players and fans up. Jacksonville is still in the race, but they have not been good enough in a long time to trash talk like that.
A Jaguars Win
The simplest answer as to why you may want to cheer on the Jaguars is that New England and “Belicheat” get out of the playoffs and their chances of winning another Super Bowl get shattered.
This would stop them from tying the Steelers six Super Bowl wins.
As much as I hate the Jaguars trash talk, I would take that over a New England victory… any day!
Either Philly or Minnesota
Personally, I think the NFC winning the Super Bowl would be the ideal situation. This would cut into the Patriots winning, and it would stop the Jaguars from making claims that they are going to win the Super Bowl. (Talk about “looking ahead!”)
Philadelphia is a strong team, and they have been all year, but losing Carson Wentz starts to hurt right about now. The competition is stiffer, and the Eagles aren’t playing against the 6th seed. Their chances of winning the Super Bowl should not be taken away, but it is definitely is diminished when the starting quarterback gets injured, no matter how capable the backup is. (He’s still a backup for a reason.)
In my opinion, the stronger team from the NFC is the Vikings. They have the best defense in the league (yes Jacksonville, there is a team who has a better defense than you), and their offense is solid. They have a good quarterback with plenty to spare, and their receiving corps is close to the level of Pittsburgh. I think their offensive line is decent and gets the job done.
Out of everything with the Vikings, their run game is the most inconsistent, but still has the potential for a breakout game.
Conclusion
It’s much easier to pull for one of these two teams that have never won the big one than root for either AFC team that beat the Steelers this season.
It goes without saying that Steelers fans would have liked their team to keep going, but if you’re like me, you’ll still watch the end of the season… mostly to make sure certain teams DON’T win!
Personally, those teams are the New England Patriots and Jacksonville Jaguars. Take that as you will, but there is still plenty of football to watch and we can still root against the Patriots getting that sixth Super Bowl ring!
