Pickin' Pigskin with Bob and Steve and Kristin: Week 14, Part 1 and Standings

Pittsburgh over CLEVELAND (10)

Bob: Cleveland +10

In the last three weeks, Pittsburgh has lost both at Kansas City and versus Oakland, 24-27. Cleveland, after playing Pittsburgh on Thursday, will play at Kansas City and versus Oakland. How is that for some kind of weird symmetry? As for my pick, I feel very nervous picking an awful Cleveland team to beat a Steelers team that badly needs a win, but I think the Steelers just don't have the magic without Troy Polamalu. Beyond that, the Browns have been able to keep the Bengals and Chargers within 10 in the last two weeks, so they have a decent chance of covering. Finally, I feel as though Mike Tomlin's decision to blow up his starters during a short week might backfire.

Speaking of which, is making a public announcement that some starters will lose their job right after a loss really a good strategy? I feel as though it would be more motivating to say some starters may lose their jobs, based on next week's performance. That way you get both your starters and backups motivated to really show what they can do in practice and the game. Instead, by announcing that some people are just going to lost their job without warning, you've just demoralized your starters and perhaps may be elevating second-stringers who aren't ready for the spotlight yet.

Has Mike Tomlin really done anything to show us he's a good coach, by the way? He won a Super Bowl and has a 28-16 regular season record, but he also has had extremely talented teams and retained many of Bill Cowher's assistants. The first time he has faced adversity is this season (mostly in the form of losing one defensive player), and so far his team has shown up with a 6-6 record. I'm not saying he's a bad coach, but can we stop acting like he's great until he does a little bit more? Does anybody remember “genius” John Gruden? In contrast, Bill Belichick ended up going 11-5 last year with his backup quarterback (the second time a team under him has overperformed with a backup quarterback), and this year has lost to a dangerous Dolphins team, the at-that-time on fire Broncos and Jets, and two undefeated teams (Saints and Colts), yet people are asking whether Belichick has lost his touch. Bizarre.

Steve: Pittsburgh -10

I agree that the whining about Belichick has been much ado about nothing; the only "bad" loss in that span is to the Dolphins, who are now back in the playoff hunt because of the win, and did so without their top two offensive players coming into the year. However, all of the other Patriots' losses are defensible.

I still think Tomlin is a very good coach, but yeah, the sheen has come off his star. People are quick to claim he inherited everything from Cowher, but Cowher won like one Super Bowl, got crushed in another and otherwise got eliminated early in the playoffs every year by better coaches with less talented teams, like Bill Parcells.

The Steelers really do miss Troy, even more so than the Colts' annual loss of Bob Sanders to injury. That being said, I think the Browns have been playing some other teams a little too close lately, and for some reason, that the Steelers will dominate in this game. Also, I need Mendenhall to kick ass in this game, with at least 20 fantasy points. Therefore, I can't pick against the Steelers here.

Kristin: Browns

As far as I can tell, the only thing the orthopedics floor of the hospital where I am currently sitting and the Thursday night game have in common are that both are cooooooold. Otherwise, I am sitting near some nurses that are all chatting excitedly about a fellow nurse that just delivered up on the maternity floor and named her seven-pound baby girl Bianca (which I personally feel dooms your daughter to a snobby life full of shiny pink lip gloss, small dogs and shallow relationships).

They have time to talk because while we are still receiving post op patients, they are coming one at a time instead of all at once. My job is to enter their post-op pain medication, antibiotics and home medications for blood pressure, diabetes, etc. for their stay overnight in the hospital. My main challenges are to not become bored entering essentially the same medications on each patient and to read the handwriting of tired / lazy doctors and surgeons.

I guess that is another similarity between my work and the game - Both might sound cool and exciting, but when you get down to it, not so much.

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It was yet another craptastic week for me, as I slid further down the standings, cementing my status as the Detroit Lions of picking football games this year. Woohoo!

Bob: 8-8 (96-93 overall, first place)
Kristin: 6-10 (95-94 overall, second place)
Steve: 5-11 (90-99 overall, third palce)

On the bright side, my fantasy football team qualified for the fourth team out of six for my league's playoffs. This is the first time in three years that we've qualified for the playoffs, so that's swell for us. Good times, good times. I think as long as we win this week, we have a chance at recouping some of our entry fee, and we have a decent match-up, since our opponent has the suddenly-in-the-doghouse Randy Moss.

The Lions fan picture is from here. Note: Kristin did get her pick and take in by 7 p.m., but I didn't get a chance to update it until now.