Everything Rests On This...

...Oh wait, no it doesn't! Hype hype hype. I won't deny that this is a big game for the Steelers, it was a big game on our schedule from Week 1 because the Patriots are always a tough team for us to play not matter how either of our seasons are going, just like the Jags are (who we're facing next week). But if we lose, I'm pretty confident we'll still win our division and get to the Playoffs. And isn't that the whole point? When we last won the Super Bowl we had an embarrassing loss to the Colts during regular season and then proceeded to dominate them (despite the close/crazy ending of the game) in the Playoffs. So a loss today does not crown the Patriots as the Super Bowl winners of the 2007 season at all, like the media and the bandwagoners would surely do if the Patriots win. And I definitely would not go so far as to say that if the Patriots win today that they will for sure go undefeated this season. After all, wasn't it the 1-6 Miami Dolphins who beat the at the time unbeaten Chicago Bears in Week 9 last year? You never know who's going to pop up and bite you in the butt in this league and I wouldn't be surprised if the lowly Jets or the other New York team... or even those sneaky Dolphins come up and surprise us all. Sure, it's a long shot, but isn't the sixth seed of the Playoffs winning the Super Bowl a long shot too?

That being said, I want to kick the crap out of the New England Patriots. But if we lose, my life isn't over and neither is the Steelers' season. I'd rather lose to an undefeated Patriots to than to the lowly N.Y. Jets after all...

On the other side of the league it's actually true that everything rests on the game today for the Minnesota Vikings, but that's just because every game for the Vikes is now essential for us to make the Playoffs. There's a possibility that if we lose one game that we could still make it, but we'd need a lot of help from other teams in order to do so. But if we win out, we're in. Our destiny's in our own hands and everybody's calling us to make the Playoffs with the sixth seed. So what do the Vikings usually do when our destiny's in our own hands? Fumble it. Let's hope this is a different Vikings team this year and that we pull it out in the end and make the Playoffs for the first time since 2004. I'm tentatively excited about the Vikings right now...