As we review the Pittsburgh Steelers AFC North Betting Odds for 2008 we can tell that they are a great team and should make it to the NFL playoffs.  The Steelers have won 18 division titles.  This year the Steelers have the toughest schedule and other teams in their AFC North division are improving. 

Pittsburgh made the NFL playoffs last season also going 10-6 like Cleveland did but they won both games against Cleveland last season.  The loss of their Pro Bowl guard Alan Feneca will hurt them.  Faneca had a decade of dominance on the Steelers O-line and now he has signed with NY Jets as a free agent.  The signing is bittersweet in so many ways for Steelers fans, as they watch one of their favorite and best linemen in the past two decades bolt due to the all mighty dollar.  He was one of the great ones the Steelers let go and this will hurt them.  The AFC North Betting Odds at Sportsbook.com currently have the Pittsburgh Steelers 14/1 to win the 2009 Superbowl.

Last season the Steelers won there 18th division title since the 1970 NFL merger.  This year is going to be tough as everyone in the division is improving.  The best thing Pittsburgh did in the off season is sign quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to a $102 million contract.  The contract, which includes more than $36 million in guarantees and is easily the largest in team history, places Roethlisberger among the game's highest-paid players.  Why not reward him?  As long as he continues his current level of production and gets better as he should with experience, nobody else is going to replace him as #1 QB.  He is the face of their franchise.  So as long as he doesn't do anything stupid like the motorcycle thing again, it’s a good move.  "This is about being a Pittsburgh Steelers for as long as I can be.  I love Pittsburgh," Roethlisberger said.  He added that he "wanted to be like the Dan Marinos, like the John Elways, guys who played with one team their whole career."

This year Pittsburgh has the toughest schedule; fourteen of their sixteen games are against teams that had winning records last season.  They seem to be losing ground on the up and coming Cleveland team, and they will need to win this division and grind it out to make the playoffs this year.  If the Steelers make it though, they could be all spent for the playoffs.  The AFC North Betting Odds at Sportsbook.com currently have the Pittsburgh Steelers 10/11 to win the AFC North Division.

Myron Cope, the great Pittsburgh Steelers, died at the age of 79 in February 2008.  Myron will be missed and remembered forever for his place in Steelers history, charity contributions, and his destruction of the English language.  What a fantastic career Mr. Cope had - I am sure he will be missed by many.  The team will honor him in the home opener September 7th against Houston. 

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