2006 Pittsburgh Steelers Preview

2006 preview of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team from Maddux Sports. Don't forget Maddux's expert advice once the NFL Season rolls around for Winning NFL Picks and be sure to bookmark the free NFL spreads feed covering 16 quality sportsbooks up to the minute odds for your convenience.

The Steelers and Bill Cowher earned themselves a Super Bowl win last season and many of the key ingredients are back.

Ben Roethlisberger (268 ATT, 168 COMP, 2,385 YDS, 17 TDs, 9 INT) was a sound leader in his second season at the helm. His off-season, bareheaded motorcycle accident had many concerned. He should be ready when the season starts. Roethlisberger, who matured and improved vastly in 2005, is solid and able to make the big play.

“Bus” Bettis has retired and the Steelers are hoping that a healthy Duce Staley (38 ATT, 274 YDS, 3.9 AVG, 1 TD) is ready to become the go-to guy. Willie Parker (255 ATT, 1,202 YDS, 4.7 AVG, 4 TDs) proved to be a worthy Staley replacement in 2005.

Wide receiver Hines Ward (69 REC, 975 YDS, 14.1 AVG, 11 TDs) is one of the best in the NFL. Tight end Heath Miller (39 REC, 459 YDS, 11.8 AVG, 6 TDs) offers Roethlisberger another solid target.

The Steelers offensive line is back intact, which is excellent news. Center Jeff Hartings is the best at his position and left tackle Marvel Smith is better than most.

Along with a quality offense, Pittsburgh also has a fantastic defense which was ranked 4th in the league. It includes a frontline that has talent and depth and one of the best linebacking corps in the league. Linebackers Joey Porter, who led the league in sacks with 10.5, and Clark Haggans, who was third with 9 sacks, are a fearsome foundation.

The secondary shows improvement with the signing of free safety Ryan Clark and the drafting of safety Anthony Smith. Strong safety Troy Polamalu is one of the elite and corner Ike Taylor is an imposing player.

2006 Pittsburgh Steelers Predictions

Is this a repeat year for the Steelers? That’s never easy to do, but it certainly could be. Roethlisberger has to listen to former Pittsburgh QB Terry Bradshaw and stay off the bike. The rest may just take care of itself. Pittsburgh has a tough season, but got a break when rival New England was left off the schedule. Everyone will be gunning for the champions. They always do.

We like the Steelers to capture a tough AFC North Division in 2006 and once again make a run in the postseason.

For more info on the Steelers AFC North division rivals check out the Bengals, Ravens, and Browns team previews from the MadduxSports.com experts.

For more info and news on the 2006 Pittsburgh pro football team visit the Steelers team page at NFL.com.