Greatness is often built upon a foundation of previous failure.

Pain

No other worldly experience wields such dictatorial power. If something hurts you bad enough, you will do everything in your power to avoid that source of agony for the duration of you’re remaining of years. Sadly not unlike the proverbial death and taxes, pain is unavoidable, so we are forced to man up John McClain style and walk barefoot on glass during certain epochs of our lives.

This is such a time.

To defeat pain one must be able to identify its causes, and then be willing to strangle it like a person taking their talent of telekinesis to the next level. Let us then, recognize the cause of our near post traumatic stress inducing malady.

What do the years 1994, 1997, 2001, and 2004 mean to you?

If you said a set of numbers if divided by two both increase by the increment of 3 years. Get off my f%*^$* page now.

If you are having flashbacks fueled by pain and anger, I really don’t haft to inform you those are the four Steeler seasons in the modern Black n Gold era ruined by AFC Championship Game losses at home.

No matter the suppression tactics you try to employ, you still remember wanting to kick Alfred Pupunu in the coconuts with steel toe Timbs, and witnessing Tim McKyer being dragged off the field like a injured soldier on a Iwo Jima beach, still singed from the incineration Tony Martin gave him.

You Remember:

Not knowing who you wanted to cause bodily harm first. Kordell Stewert for utterly melting down in the most import game he commandeered during his life or Bill Romanowski for the “What a dummy I am celebration” directed at number 10 after a crucial interception. (I so wish Jack Lambert was there that day)

It’s hard forget the penalty that earned Troy Edwards most hated Steeler draft pick status next to Tim Worley or Drew Bledsoe coming of the bench and chipping in on the Patriots 1st beer run. Let us not forget about the drop heard though out the Steeler Nation, that sealed Cheedar Bob’s fate in Pittsburgh and cemented our fear of home.

I told you we must face the cause of our pain I didn’t say it was going to be easy.

People can front and say that the main reason they wanted to play Tennessee was to avenge the disrespect of the Terrible Towel, or because they have been drinking the ESPN kool-aid about how hard it is to beat the same team 3 times in the same year (ummmm 1994 and 2002 Seasons vs the Browns anyone?) but for many, the central reason a large segment of Steeler fans wanted a Titian victory was to avoid playing another AFCCG at home.

I was one of them, until I woke up and realized that thought process was b.s.

Please allow me to reverse a great oratory speech and state "The Ravens are not who you think they are".

If one honestly looks back at last weeks Ravens vs Titians tilt, said person can only come away with the thought that Tennessee should be in process of explaining why they desecrated our Shroud of Truin this week.

Many have placed Jeff “Bill Cowher broke my leg” Fisher’s squad defeat on the injury to Chris Johnson or the mysterious no call on a painfully obvious delay of game on the Ravens part. How about realizing Alge Crumpler has taken over Jackie Smith’s title as the “Sickest Man in America”, with his inexplicable fumble, amongst Tennessee’s other Pacman like squandered of opportunities.

The better team lost and you should be thankful for that.

Blind hate, which is what most of us see when shown a card blotted with black n purple is known to impede rational thought, so lets take deep breath and really assess this Ravens team.
First lets peer at the offence, or as some would call it, the oxymoron.

Enough with Flacco fluffing, its sickeningly disrespectful to football fans intelligence. I understand when a franchise endures five years of Kyle Boller, any sign of respectable QB play from another signal caller is to be treated like contact with a intelligent life form from another galaxy, but it has gone way to far.

Go take a gander at young funny sounding name stats if you want your daily dose of unimpressed. The talking point of him “not being a rookie anymore” is as egregious as it is false. I mean you would think he went undefeated his rookie year or something.

Please try not to laugh as we move on the running backs. Yes as a group they have decent stats, but lest we forget our run defense is impregnable and might just eat your heart. McGahee will not be padding his stats with a b.s late game run this week.

The receiving core = Derrick Mason. Ooohhh I’m Scared.

To be fair everybody knows since the dawn of the Ravens respectability their strength has been on the defensive side of the ball, but who says you must fear strength?

Especially injured strength.

The injury to Terell Suggs will definitely inhibit Baltimore’s effectiveness, and while Samari Rolle hasn’t been the same since the doctors told him he couldn’t play video games anymore, his inability to play could be key. Juxtapose a finally healthy Steelers O against B-More’s hobbled D and the choice is easy.

Did I mention the 60,000 plus screaming Steeler Maniacs who worked hard to get their tickets, said their prayers to the football Gods, and will be drinking their liquid vitamins all day?

Baltimore, stick to what you good at, drama’s revolving around drugs and murder, and leave the Super Bowls stuff to those more experienced.

We Got this.

2-4 will feel sooo much better then it looks, especially when its earned at home.