Man, am I gonna hear it from the Pittsburgh Steeler fans!!! Hey, it's not that I don't think Mike Tomlin won't be a good coach. It's just that Bill Cowher was almost as good as Chuck Noll and that's pretty tough to try and follow up on. Never mind the fact that QB Ben Roethlisberger has never looked quite the same since his motorcycle accident last year. Not that he won't be in the top 15 QB's in the league this year, just not to the level he played at his rookie season. Charlie Batch is a good backup with lots of experience but just how good 3rd stringer Bryan Randall can be remains to be seen.  RB Willie Parker will once again carry the load of this offense no matter who they have backing him up. He can catch the ball and is a threat to score from anywhere on the field and could end up being one of the top 10 players in the NFL this year. Najeh Davenport and ex-Jet Kevan Barlow are good backups as well and will spell Parker when needed. FB Dan Krieder may be under-rated and is a good FB to have in front of Parker. There are alot of teams out there that would love to have Verron Haynes as their 4th RB. While still very talented at the RB position, WR Hines Ward will again lead a receiving corps that needs to step up and supply him and Roethlisberger with some help. 2nd year WR Santonio Holmes is coming off an injury plagued 2006 and should supply some help as long as he can stay healthy. Cedrick Wilson is okay as a 3rd receiver but they could really use help from either 2nd year WR Willie Reid or rookie Dallas Baker to put a little more spark into this offense. This group needs to improve as they aren't likely to get a lot of help from the TE position either. Heath Miller is probably in the top 15 TE's in the league, but that only means that he is still the 4th option behind Parker,Ward,and Holmes and after the top 5 the TE position isn't really all that deep anyway. Rookie Matt Spaeth will challenge Jerame Tuman for the 2nd TE, but don't expect much from this duo. While the offensive line is still better than most teams in the NFL, you don't lose a C the quality of Jeff Hartings and not lose something. Chukky Okobi should be ok as a starter, unless 2nd year G/C Marvin Phillip can steal the job, but he's no Hartings. T Marvel Smith should continue to get better and be one of the top T's in the league again and T's Max Starks,Trai Essex, and Willie Colon have all shown improvement and have the talent to be NFL starting lineman. G Alan Faneca is one of the top 3 G's in the NFL while Kendall Simmons is a good starter who could get some competition from ex-Buc Sean Mahan, who could also challenge for the starting C job. G Chris Kemoeatu provides depth along the line. Willie Parker should have another outstanding season for this offense. I'm just not convinced that overall they are going to be that brilliant. The teams that they can squash with the running game, they'll squash with the running game. The teams that they can't they will probably have a tough time with which is going to put a lot of pressure once again on this defense.  DE Aaron Smith is one of those defensive ends who will be a Pro Bowl type player one week and then not so good the next week. Rookie DE Lamar Woodley will surely help out and Brett Keisel seems to get better with experience.  Veteran DL Travis Kirschke is a reliable backup. Casey Hampton is one of the top DT's in the NFL, but can they get consistent production out of either veterans Chris Hoke and Nick Eason or rookie Ryan McBean when they are in the game? I'm not convinced and if anything should happen to Hampton anywhere along the way expect teams to test this team up the middle. Of course you still have to block these LB's too, and that's no easy task. Vet LB James Farrior is just simply a madman on defense and fellow LB's Clark Haggans and Larry Foote are among the NFL's best as well. Throw in rookie Lawrence Timmons, who will replace the departed Joey Porter, and this team should once again be able to put pressure on opposing QB's. Backups James Harrison and Clint Kriewaldt are good to have off the bench and Rian Wallace and Arnold Harrison supply some depth.  While they remain strong at LB,I am still not convinced that their CB's still won't give up some big plays and some scores. CB's Deshea Townsend and Bryant McFadden may be under-rated, but Ike Taylor needs to play better, especially having to go up against the NFC West this year. They also must find a reliable dime back between rookie William Gay and Ricardo Colclough or possibly Anthony Madison. While depth could be a problem here, they remain strong at safety with a healthy Troy Polamalu leading the way. Ryan Clark or Anthony Smith can both be reliable starters and backup S veteran Tyrone Carter  is no slouch himself.  While they may put some pressure on opposing QB's, I still believe they will miss Cowher's leadership and give up some big plays both on the ground and through the air. They also play some potent offenses this year which will contribute to them finishing around the top 20 this season.  The special teams aren't really all that special with K Jeff Reed and rookie P Dan Sepulveda very average as well, for now at least. So how are they going to do with new head coach Mike Tomlin at the helm? Expect alot of close games and sometimes, with a new regime, the results are not so good. 5-11 is how I'm feeling, but maybe 8-8 if they can pull out some close ones, but alot will be determined in those last 5 when they have to face the Bengals at home, then travel to New England, then face the Jaguars at home, and then end the season at St.Louis and Baltimore. Good luck Steeler fans...and I told ya I didn't think you were gonna like this! Till next time NFL junkies, when I start the AFC West with the Denver Broncos. How good do you think they really are?