American Football Conference Championship – NFL 2010 Serious Contenders

Unlike the NFC where pretenders are plentiful and contenders are few, the AFC Championship race will need all 17 weeks of the 2010 NFL season before it is all sorted out. The usual suspects like the Colts and Steelers are still the class of the conference but they have a lot of company these days.

Here are the early season contenders for the American Football Conference Championship. At this point we feel the Steelers and Colts, because of their respective defense and offense, are the most serious contenders.

AFC Leaders – Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

The Pittsburgh Steelers opened the 2010 NFL season without starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (suspension for being a jerk) but that hasn’t stopped them from getting out of the gate at 2-0. The Steelers and their vaunted defense have a quality home win over the Falcons (15-9) and a road win against the Titans (19-11) through the first two weeks.

As is always the case in Blitzburgh, it’s defense first for the Steelers and they have shut down two very good offenses. First they bottled up  Michael Turner and the explosive Atlanta Falcons by giving up just 58 total rushing yards. Next up were the Tennessee Titans, on the road, and all world running back Chris Johnson.

In what was just another day at the office, the Steelers snapped CJ2k’s run of 12 consecutive 100 yard rushing games dating back to 2009. My boy Barry still has his record 14 consecutive 100 yard rushing games intact and that record will never be broken. Thanks Pittsburgh!

AFC TItle Prediction: Once Big Ben is back the Steelers will only get better and have their sights firmly planted on winning the AFC Championship.

Indianapolis Colts Stumble In Week One – Rebound Huge In Week Two

Defense was not the name of the game in Week One when the Colts visited the Texans in what turned out to be a good old fashion Texas shootout. Both teams struggled on defense and the Texans ran wild in a 34-24 upset win over the reigning AFC Champs.

The Colts got back on track in Week Two as they welcomed the New York Giants to Lucas Oil Stadium and then smacked them around to the tune of 38-14. Week One must have been a wake up call because Peyton Manning and Co. really lit it up Sunday Night Football.

An even more ominous sign for the rest of the AFC was the fact that the Colts defense showed up and punished the Giants offense. It was a serious beat down that the Giants may not recover from it. Over the past decade or so, no team has been better at rebounding after a loss than the Indianapolis Colts.

AFC TItle Prediction: The Colts have a tough schedule but are still a top favorite to play in Super Bowl XLV on February 6, 2011 at Cowboys Stadium.

Steelers and Colts – Looking Ahead – NFL 2010 Schedule

The Steelers head to the Gulf Coast Bay area to face the unbeaten (for now) Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the “Big Sombrero” in Week Three. This one won’t be pretty and the party is over in Tampa Bay.

The Steelers final game before they get Big Ben back is an AFC rivalry game as Pittsburgh welcomes the Baltimore Ravens to the “Big Ketchup Bottle” in Week Four. After their Week Five bye, the Steelers will pummel the Cleveland Browns and should be at least 4-1 while leading the AFC North.

We mentioned that the Colts have a tough schedule moving forward but that is especially true of their week 8 through 15 games. Up next they travel to Invesco Field at Mile High to meet the resurgent Broncos. Indianapolis then travels back across the country to face the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Field in Week Five.

The Colts host the surprisingly decent Kansas City Chiefs in Week Five before heading to FedEx Field to face reeling Redskins in Week Six. We would not be surprised if the Colts headed into their Week Seven bye rolling along with a 5-1 record.

World’s will collide if these two teams meet in the AFC Championship game in January, 2011. That is an epic battle in the making and one we would love to witness!