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And it's ridiculous that they might have to go 15-1 just to get the first round bye.

The Steelers would clinch a first round bye with just one more win or Colts/Chargers loss. Actually, they may have clinched it with today's win depending on tie-breakers. I'd hate to be the Patriots, though. They could go 15-1 and NOT have home field advantage in the AFC Championship game!

The Steelers will get a first-round bye because the Chargers play Indy at Indy next Sunday. The game will definitely not end in a tie because San Diego is going to pull a stunning upset and shock the Dolts at home. I'm down here in SD for the winter and the talk amongst informed drunks in the bars is that Coach Wade Phillips has been working on new blitzes and coverage packages that have NEVER been used by San Diego in the past. These will be blitzes and coverages that Peyton Manning has never seen from the Chargers and he will not be expecting them or know how to react (at least at first.) We're hoping he gets shook up real good in the first quarter.

We're also hoping Tomlinson's groin pull finally heals up and he can shift into fourth gear again. He ripped off a 35-yard run last week so we're hoping he's picking up some speed here. After we take Cleveland today and Indy next week, we have to beat KC at home to hopefully get homefield advantage against the Dolts. Qualcomm Stadium will not be Peyton's Place in January. But I will admit to all Steeler/Patriot fans that it will be awfully tough for the Chargers to go east and win the AFC Championship game. We pulled that off in '94 but only because Barry Foster was not running hard and fell down on the first hit all day long. Next year we have to get home field advantage all the way through the playoffs and then take down the Pats and wipe that sinister grin off of Belechek's face.