Stillers Game by Game Prediction:
@ Cleve Win in tight game. Record: 1-0.
@ Balt. The Raven defense gave us fits last year. I don't expect it to change in '99. A road game on grass spells doom. Balt. will win this one. Record 1-1.
Seattle: The Seahawks have a very solid team this year. Playing our home opener will help, but this'll be nip and tuck in a Stiller win. 2-1.
Jax: Our bitter rival will be frothing at the chance to finally beat us in Pgh. They'll finally succeed. 2-2
@ Buff: The Bills will be a stern test. Bills win a tough one. 2-3
@ Cinci: With bitterness over the Buff. loss, we rebound and beat the hapless Bungals. 3-3.
Atlanta: Cowhead can't get his team ready for openers to save his life, but put The Chin on national TV, and he finally wakes up and gets his men motivated. Win. 4-3.
@ San Fran: expect a let down, esp. on the road and on grass. 4-4.
Cleve: By this point, we ought to be able to mop up on Cleve., especially since the game is at home. 5-4.
@ Tenn: The Bitans will be a pretty rugged opponent. Loss. 5-5.
Cinci: We'll whip up on the hapless Bungals. Er, at least, we should. Win. 6-5.
@ Jax: The Stillers fight valiantly, but lose a close game in the 4th quarter. 6-6.
Balt: This is a bit of a revenge game, since Balt. beat us in week 2. Win. 7-6.
@ KC: The Chefs used to be tough, and Arrowhead used to be a nasty place to play. For whatever reason, the Stillers play well there (even in the loss to KC in '97, in which Chan Gayboy basically gave the game away in a charade that seemed as though he were paid off by bookies for his blatant imbecility). Win. 8-6.
Carolina: The toothless Panthers should be given a good whipping in front of the 3 Rivers crowd. 9-6.
Tenn: The Bitans, fighting for a playoff spot, squeak by a stunned Stiller team. 9-7.
I'll state for the record that I see a 9-7 season. I don't necessarily think it will unfold the way I described above, but I feel sane in predicting a 9-7 record. I simply see too many unanswered questions, and too many "ifs", to predict anything better. Going into camp, I was going to predict a 10-6 record, but the excessive slop I saw in preseason, coupled by a complete dearth of any leadership, hunger, and commitment, caused me to shift down a notch in the win column. I doubt 9-7 will win a wild card berth, so I'm naturally hoping that the 10-6 season does, in fact, pan out.
The Still Mill