It’s a question asked around the NFL no matter the time of year: Who’s the team to beat?
The Rams are certainly positioning themselves as that team in the NFC with the aggressive moves they have made in free agency and in the trade market, but a lot hinges on Jared Goff building on what he did last season in his second year in the league.
In the AFC, however, as things currently stand, the Steelers might be a better team — at least on paper — than the Patriots. Those are big words to throw out there, to be sure.
But who’s playing left tackle for the Patriots? It will likely be a kid they get in the draft.
And how are they replacing the production of Dion Lewis in the backfield?
What about that front seven? It was so bad last year by season’s end the Patriots played James Harrison nearly every snap in the Super Bowl when their defense was unable to muster any kind of resistance to Philadelphia’s offense.
I know, I know, 'The Steelers never beat the Patriots.' Except when they do, such as in 2012 at Heinz Field and again last season.
Technically, they didn’t win last year’s meeting. But they won it everywhere except the place it mattered the most — on the scoreboard — thanks to a rule the NFL felt was so bad it completely blew it up and started over in the offseason.
The Steelers who lined up on that field that day are all back for 2018. And, oh by the way, Mike Mitchell has been replaced by Morgan Burnett. So I feel pretty comfortable saying that, right now, the Steelers are a better team than New England. I just do.
If someone wants to argue Jacksonville is better than the Steelers, to me, that’s a bigger issue. Jacksonville beat the Steelers twice at Heinz Field last season and appears to be a bad matchup for Pittsburgh with its big, physical offensive and defensive fronts. But, as we saw in last year’s AFC Championship, perhaps New England is a bad matchup for Jacksonville.
The point is, a lot will be written in the next three or four months about which team helped itself in the offseason the most. And the teams that make the most moves are always a sexy, trendy pick. There will be a lot of talk about how unstoppable the Rams now appear to be. But football is a game played on a field, not on paper. And it’s a game driven by matchups.
Every team also will have an influx of new players at the end of this month that can change things considerably. And injuries also will play a part in what happens. That’s kind of what makes the NFL so much fun. There aren’t any Yankees, Dodgers or Cubs — with all due respect to New England — who win it every year by simply outspending the competition. And moves that look great on paper, sometimes don’t work at all because it winds up being a bad mix of players or because of poor quarterback play.
Winning the offseason in the NFL isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's not the most important thing.
So people will continue to ho-hum the Steelers' signings of the likes of Justin Hunter and Nat Berhe, two guys signed this week, but those are every bit as important in building depth as the Rams trading for Brandin Cooks.
• Quarterback is, hands down, the most important position in all of sports. There used to be an argument for goaltenders.
But, to me, that went out the window last week when the Chicago Blackhawks threw emergency goalie Scott Foster into a game recently and he helped them to a win.
Foster is a 36-year-old accountant who played at Western Michigan. The Blackhawks found themselves with a goalie shortage and signed him as their emergency backup.
Then, they were forced to play Foster, who still plays in a rec league. And he wound up stopping seven shots in a 6-2 win.
That would be like the Steelers signing some dude off the street who plays in an adult flag football league — and then playing him. It would never happen.
It’s a great story. But it also shows me that goalie isn’t quite as important as quarterback. Stopping the puck is a lot easier than reading an NFL defense and threading the ball into a tight window with 300-pound men trying to rip your head off.
That's not to say playing goalie isn't difficult or important. It's just not as difficult or important as quarterback.
• The Pirates aren’t going to win the World Series this season, but a 6-1 start is a 6-1 start. It took them 12 games last season to make it to six wins.
An easy schedule has helped. But the Pirates also are hitting the ball well. That has helped cover up a pitching staff that has yet to have a starter go more than six innings in a game. That can’t continue, especially with this bullpen.
• We will find out later on today who the Penguins will play in the opening round of Stanley Cup playoffs. Of the trio of Philadelphia, Columbus or New Jersey — the potential three foes if my abacus is reading the NHL playoff pairings correctly — the Penguins would probably least like to face New Jersey, with the Flyers and Blue Jackets coming after that in that order.
Pittsburgh will probably not be challenged in the first round, but even a second-round matchup against Washington could be difficult. I know, I know, 'The Penguins always beat Washington.' But that will continue to happen until they don’t. And this Caps team is a little different.
Nothing was expected of Washington this season. The Caps are basically playing with house money.
• Pitt firing Suzie McConnell-Serio this week made me think back to my days as a college student at Pitt-Johnstown. I stayed on campus the summer before my final year and went over to the Sports Center one day to shoot some hoops.
McConnell-Serio -- who was just McConnell, I believe, at that time -- was there for a girls basketball camp with UPJ coach Jodi Gault. My roommate, who was working at the desk at the Sports Center at the time, and I went down to the court to shoot some hoops when it was all over.
Gault and McConnell, both of whom played professionally, came out to shoot a little, as well. Now, my roommate wasn't much of a player, but I could play a little.
I'm not ashamed to say they beat us that day -- but it was close, as I recall.