Pittsburgh Steelers Tickets

The Pittsburgh Steelers managed to win the Super Bowl last year despite facing the NFL's toughest schedule. Now fans and opponents alike wonder what they will do with one of the easiest schedules in the league in 2009.

The Steelers had a quiet offseason, though they did lose third wideout Nate Washington to free agency. Other than that, there were no major losses for this very solid team.

Even though Washington often had a case of the dropsies, they will miss him. He was fantastic at stretching the field and making the big play, a role they hope second-year wideout Limas Sweed can fill.

Sweed struggled when called upon last year, catching numerous passes that could have been big plays. The good news is that he does seem to have the ability to get open. Now it's just an issue of catching the ball.

The big game of the year could be Sunday, December 27 when the Steelers host the rival Baltimore Ravens in what very well could determine the AFC North champion for a second straight season.

Pittsburgh was actually going to host the season-opening Thursday night game against the Ravens, but their main rival asked the NFL if they could avoid playing the Steelers on the road in primetime because they have done it almost every year of late.

Instead, Pittsburgh will open the season against the Tennessee Titans, which is one of the two teams it will play outside of its assigned divisions. The other team is the Miami Dolphins.

The Steelers will play the NFC North and AFC West this year, which is the main reason why their schedule will be so much easier than it was last season. Both of those divisions are among the worst in the NFL.