Steelers are 'in the jungle baby'

The Steelers (2-3) travel to Cincinnati (3-3) this week for another scheduled embarrassment on national television when the take on the Bungles in the Jungle Sunday night.

Pittsburgh is yet to win a game on the road this year after coughing up fourth quarter leads in all three games.  Should Sunday's game be any different?  Well, the Bungles are coming off a disappointing week of their own after surrendering a fourth quarter lead to the hapless Brownie Elves, who put up 21 points in the final frame.

That said, the magic cussball says that the Bungles still have the edge over the Steelers because a 3-3 record in Cincinnati is called "hopeful" if not "playoff contention" while a similar mark in Pittsburgh is only thought of as "disappointing."  Moreover, I've already picked the Steelers to win every road game they've played this and I've been wrong every time.  I just can't pick them to win anymore on the road until they prove they can do it first.  Shaking the magic cussball one more time, for the record, it says Cincinnati scores two touchdowns on its last two possessions to claim a 28-24 win on Sunday night.

Mathematically speaking . . . 

Although, the cussball says the Steelers will lose again, mathematically there is still hope.  Consider the following points:

(1) While the Houston Texans and Baltimore Haters are each sporting 5-1 records, seven other teams in the AFC are 3-3, and everyone else is worse.  So, at 2-3 (and if by some miracle they manage to win on Sunday to improve to 3-3) the Steelers are still in the thick of things.

(2) The injury bug has finally bitten another team besides the Steelers, taking out Ray Lewis for the remainder of the season in Baltimore.  Interesting . . . 

However, the Steelers still need to change their many bad behaviors, such as being the most penalized team in the NFL, not getting off the field on third downs, getting injured, and not running the ball consistently or effectively.  IF they can improve on some, or all of those things, mathematically they still have a chance to make the season meaningful.

Make your trip to Cincinnati meaningful . . .

If by chance you're visiting Cincinnati this weekend to watch the Steelers game, I'd like to urge you visit a great Steelers bar, and one of my favorite haunts in the Queen City -- Martino's on 2618 Vine Street.