Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh Steelers

The NFL released the 2011 regular season schedule, giving the football faithful some hope. The real question here is how much of the season will be played, if any?

If there is a regular season next year this is the Pittsburgh Steelers schedule:

Week 1     Sunday, Sept. 11th   @ Baltimore       1 pm
Week 2     Sunday, Sept. 18th   Seattle              1 pm
Week 3     Sunday, Sept. 25th   @ Indianapolis   8:20 pm
Week 4     Sunday, Oct. 2nd      @ Houston         1 pm
Week 5     Sunday Oct. 9th        Tennessee         1 pm
Week 6     Sunday Oct. 16th      Jacksonville        1 pm
Week 7     Sunday Oct. 23rd     @ Arizona           4:05 pm
Week 8     Sunday, Oct. 30th     New England       4:15 pm
Week 9     Sunday, Nov. 6tth     Baltimore           8:20 pm
Week 10   Sunday Nov. 13th     @ Cincinnati        1 pm
Week 11   -----     Bye Week    -----
Week 12   Sunday, Nov. 27th     @ Kansas City     8:20 pm
Week 13   Sunday, Dec. 4th       Cincinnati           1 pm
Week 14   Thursday, Dec. 8th     Cleveland          8:20 pm
Week 15   Monday, Dec. 19th     @ San Francisco  8:30 pm
Week 16   Saturday, Dec. 24th    St. Louis            1 pm
Week 17   Sunday Jan.1st          @ Cleveland       1 pm

The 2011 schedule is an easy one for Pittsburgh on the surface. They are only on the road for back-to-back games during weeks 3 and 4. Playing the weak NFC West, whose winner a season ago finished with a 7-9 record, will always help.

Here is a week-by-week breakdown of the season.

Week 1: Opening the season with a division rival is bad enough, but playing the Ravens opening day is always a bad idea. It is a physical game every time they play and getting banged up after week 1 can be tough.

Week 2: The Seahawks made the playoffs last year as the NFC West Champions with a 7-9 record. Having Marshawn Lynch for a full season will boost the league's second-worst running team.

Week 3: The Colts were loaded with injuries last season. Therefore don’t let their 10-6 record fool you. They will return to their previous form this year to contend for the best record in the AFC.

Week 4: The Texans lost every game in December last year on their way to a 6-10 record. Their only quality win was in the season opener against the Colts.

Week 5: Last season the Steelers bottled up Chris Johnson only allowing him 34 rushing yards. Pittsburgh won the game 19-11 without Ben Roethlisberger.

Week 6: After the Jags lost the final three games of the season, keeping themselves out of the playoffs,e I would expect some motivation for a fresh start.

Week 7: A lot has changed in Arizona since Super Bowl XLIII. The team tried four quarterbacks last season and none were very effective, as the Cards finished with the worst offense in the league.

Week 8: Playing the Patriots is never an easy task. The only upside is at least it's at Heinz Field. Beating Tom Brady is tough enough, beating Brady in Foxborough, Mass., is rare.

Week 9: The bright side to playing the Ravens again in week 9 is that it is still before the bye week. Playing them early in the season will be enough time to recover for a potential playoff game.

Week 10: The Bengals have a lot going on this offseason. The biggest issue is Carson Palmer wanting out. He is prepared to retire if they don’t give him the trade he wants.

Week 11: Having the bye week this late is usually a good thing, but you never know when your injuries will happen. Last years week 5 bye was too early. Week 11 should be good timing to make a long post-season run.

Week 12: The Chiefs won the AFC West with a 2-4 division record a season ago. They are still finding all their pieces for their passing game to aid their league-best 164 rushing yards per game.

Week 13: Playing any team twice with only one game in between will be tough. It will also give the Bengals quarterback less time to watch film on the Steelers defense.

Week 14: Waiting until week 14 to play the Browns won’t be easy. Colt McCoy is still putting things together and Peyton Hillis is a good fit in Cleveland.

Week 15: New coach Jim Harbaugh will turn this team into winners. I don’t think he can make it happen in 15 weeks, but it will greatly depend on their plans with quarterback Alex Smith.

Week 16: Sam Bradford missed the playoffs in his rookie season with a loss in the final game. Steven Jackson is not the same guy from three years ago.

Week 17: Hopefully at this point in the season this game won’t mean anything to Pittsburgh. The Steelers won last season's finale against the Browns 41-9.