Divisional Look Ahead – Who Do You Want the Steelers to Play?

The NFL Wild Card round starts on Saturday, and the Steelers will be sitting back and watching as they have the bye for the second time in three seasons.

The team will play one of three teams come next Saturday at Heinz Field, as they will host one of these three teams based on this weekends results – the Chiefs, the Ravens, or the Colts.

Here’s a breakdown of the three teams the Steelers could meet. Feel free to comment on who you would want to see the Steelers play.

Kansas City Chiefs – AFC West Champions 10-6
Last Meeting with Steelers: 11/22/09 in Kansas City – Chiefs 27 Steelers 24 OT
Playmakers – QB Matt Cassel, WR Dwayne Bowe, RB Jammal Charles, KR Dexter McCluster, LB Tamba Hali

Strengths – The Chiefs can run the ball with the best of them, as Charles ran for 1467 yards and five scores, while vet Thomas Jones was second on the team with 896 yards and six TD’s. Bowe is a big time wide out, who finally found his stride after a couple bad seasons. His 15 TD’s shows that he is a force to be reckon with. Matt Cassel has had his best season despite a stinker in the season finale in a loss to the Raiders at home.

Weaknesses – It’s a very young team with not a lot of postseason experience. 32 of 53 players have never played in a postseason play, and Cassel hasn’t played in a postseason game since high school. The team is losing OC Charlie Weis to Florida, which is a blow to the club. They can be run on, which was shown by the Raiders last week without Darren McFadden when they went for 209 yards. Other than Bowe, the WR core is nothing to write home about. Many think they will crack under the pressure of their first postseason game since 2006.

Bottom Line – No one felt the Chiefs would be in the postseason in 2010 after a poor 2009, and their winning of the West is a credit to the coaching staff as well as to a young team that could be a force for years to come. In 2010 though they are not ready for the big lights of the playoffs, and probably will crack in the wild card game to the Ravens.

Baltimore Ravens – AFC Wild Card 12-4
Last Meeting with Steelers: 12/05/10 in Baltimore – Steelers 16 Ravens 13
Playmakers – S Ed Reed, RB Ray Rice, LB Terrell Suggs, QB Joe Flacco, LB Ray Lewis

Strengths – The Ravens are an experienced bunch that has is very seasoned for the postseason. They still have a defense that on any given day can pitch a shutout, and their offense has been better with Flacco throwing 22 touchdown passes and five interceptions since Week 3. They also are trying to run more, as Rice is averaging 25.3 carries the past three weeks, taking some pressure off Flacco. Veteran WR Derrick Mason has six touchdowns in the nine games since the bye, and seems to get better with age.

Weaknesses – Reed’s injury is a major story entering the wild card game, as just like when Troy Polamalu doesn’t play for the Steelers, Reed is a huge difference maker for the Ravens. The defense gave up 28 and 24 points in back to back weeks, and it seems like they are days when teams can throw on them quite a bit, which is what any teams game plan should be against the Ravens. The Steelers have their number, beating them in December in Baltimore, in December last year, and three times in 2008. They have topped the Ravens in their only two playoff meetings, both in Pittsburgh.

Indianapolis Colts – AFC South Champions 10-6
Last Meeting with Steelers: 11/09/08 in Pittsburgh – Colts 24 Steelers 20
Playmakers – QB Peyton Manning, WR Reggie Wayne, DE Robert Mathis, DE Dwight Freeney

Strengths – Like the Ravens, the Colts have been here before, and last season were a couple plays away from being the Super Bowl Champs. They have a QB in Peyton Manning who will have a bust in Canton, and despite throwing 17 picks this year has thrown for 33 TD’s and exactly 4700 yards with a crew of WR’s and TE’s that have been banged up. The team is on a four-game winning streak, and got hot and won just enough games when they needed to the most, in the month of December. “I think our guys are very intense and focused. When it comes to this time of year, you’re playing the best of the best and you’d better be ready to go. Our guys usually step up another notch or two,” coach Jim Caldwell said. This team will go as far as Manning takes them.

Weaknesses – With no run game to speak of, the Colts are the most one-dimensional team in the AFC post season, and if you can pressure Manning, they can be beat. The team had 17 players on injured reserve and used 72 different players during the regular season, most of which have had to play a big part in the teams winning, which can be both a blessing and a curse. The Colts are not close to being the same team on the road in the postseason than at home, and having to play in Pittsburgh with some hopefully bad weather would give the Steelers a big advantage.