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We are in September and everything we thought we knew was pulverized into a thousand pieces and scattered in the autumn wind.
The Steelers are the class of the AFC.
The Buccaneers are a ghost ship turning empty.
These off-season presumptions are as ugly as we get closer to the week 3 edition of Monday night football.
Fans of unpredictable turmoil have a thousand reasons to love what we have seen so far from the regular season. Especially if you live in Tampa, where the home team is undefeated, unbound and very fun to watch.
Feelings of well-being do not extend to Pittsburgh, where the fans of the Steelers reflect in a dark way to an outfit falling with the Browns generally dismissed before yielding 42 points to the electrical heads.
Back in a corner and looking for signs of life, Pittsburgh is responsible for taking the road and playing the role of spoiler at the beginning of the season.
With the tilt to a few hours, here is what we will monitor:
1. It all starts with one of the most fascinating stories of this young campaign. Thirty-five-year-old Ryan Fitzpatrick brought voodoo out of the competition, becoming the first player in league history to score more than 400 passing yards and more than four touchdowns in games consecutive. . His nine touchdowns are tied for second in the Super Bowl era during the first two games of a campaign – and he would be tied if he had not had Patrick Mahomes (10) as a beginner. -superhero in Kansas City.
If there is still debate as to whether FitzMagic will be put on the board once Jameis Winston returns from suspension, there is hardly any argument on the juicy form of Bearded One in Todd Monken's attack. Focusing on explosive games in the air, Fitzpatrick delivered a total of over 30 points in the space of two weeks (2).
My colleague Kevin Patra has written about 21 news in the last 18 months about Winston and the deep threat that DeSean Jackson "ends up on the same page," but the two have never complied – not Fitzpatrick. The veteran fell into the lead with his favorite wide-range player, helping Jackson to an eighth 275-yard rank (he was ranked at the top of the league by the third week) with two scores over 50 yards.
History tells us that Fitzpatrick will lose his place, but his end-of-career quarrels echo Randall Cunningham's dazzling brilliance with the Vikings in 1998. Fitzy did not fear. It's up in Pittsburgh to return the script.
2. In the midst of rumors that "The Vein Bell", the lost in the wild, rests on the trading block, the Steelers are hoping for a new James Conner outing. "Stand-in" is unfair, the second-year player looking like a full starter.
Conner shone in the first game, burning the Browns for 135 yards and two points on the floor with another 57 yards in the air. With lines of this nature, who needs Bell? Conner saw only 13 hits against the Chiefs, but that loss to Kansas City saw Pittsburgh try to go up with a heavy pass from Ben Roethlisberger's 60 attempts and 452 yards.
Pittsburgh would like Conner to be involved throughout the match, a hope that the team's allowed defense will remove a Tampa offense with a record high of 37 points per two-week incline.
3. Beyond the off-field haggling with Bell, the Steelers have endured the internal drama in the form of Antonio Brown. Ultra-talented reporters do not understand it. The media can not see his intense desire to compete and win despite a failed practice and Brown's fireball tweet to an ex-P.R. Staff member – "Exchange me, let's find out" – who suggested that the receiver would not be the same without Big Ben.
I do not doubt Brown's fire. He brings every game, every week. Yet it's hard to say that a player who skips a team session wants to win more than anyone who came to work. This is an integral part of the Brown experience, and it is worth the ups and downs. Especially when he is associated with JuJu Smith-Schuster, who is currently tied with Brown in catches (18) and ahead of the veteran with 240 yards in the air for 180 for Brown.
It's probably an aberration early in the season, but Big Ben just does not have the same success with Brown at the door. Their shared completion percentage of 37.5 represents a sharp drop from 53.4 in the last two seasons, while their yards per completion have gone from 9.5 to 4.3. Tampa's relatively inviting defense should help.
4. The Pittsburgh defense has not been the same since linebacker Ryan Shazier suffered a serious spinal injury last December. My boy Evan Silva from Rotoworld Compound breaks it down:
#Steelers They have averaged 29 points per game since Ryan Shazier's loss last week. They awarded 17.7 PPG to Shazier's last seven games.
�� Evan Silva (@evansilva)
September 20, 2018
The Steelers were exposed to a Kansas City attack with a large amount of talent in Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, Kareem Hunt and Sammy Watkins. The Bucs offer a handful of armed dangers in Mike Evans, Adam Humphries and Jackson alongside Chris Godwin's star-studded target. Throwing play, monstrous tight end O.J Howard and his Tampa team have everything to make life difficult at one of the toughest defenses of the league.
5. Today's NFL is so different from the one we knew about a decade or two ago. Watching past records is something of a joke, but here's a bit of hope for Tampa fans: Since 2013, four of the five teams that started 2-0 and beat a conference champion in the processes continued to make the playoffs. Two of these teams made the Super Bowl.
That said, we need to see this Bucs defense step up after giving over 30 points per game in the first two outings. All-Pro lineman Gerald McCoy quickly left with linebackers Lavonte David and Kwon Alexander. The team was hoping for first-round tackle Vita Vea to make his debut, but a calf injury will stop him again.
This is a monster game for the Bucs, a team rarely found in prime time – especially with an unbeaten mark. They will not catch the Steelers by surprise, but Pittsburgh will have to repel an attack ready to fly.
Take your package of six dangerously pretentious craft beers and settle down for a grid-shaped getaway.
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