Former Browns and Ravens OT Orlando Brown was found dead at his Baltimore area condominium Friday. 

Brown was 40 years old, and the cause of death has not yet been determined. 

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Never underestimate the power of a home team during primetime.

PZB doesn't care who is or is not under center, road primetime games are difficult. Die hard Colts fans have probably already begun to imbibe in preparation for Sunday night's game, and noise knows nothing about a team's record.

We've got some love for Troy, some more hate from Warren Sapp and maybe, just maybe, a prediction for some Big Plays. 

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While scrolling my twitter feed, I saw an interesting stat.  The Colts are 0-2 for the first time since 1998.  It should be no surprise to anyone that that is the year that Peyton Manning took over their offense.  Since 1999, the Colts have been the most dominant regular season team, winning 138 of 193 contests.  That makes them the only team with a win percentage of 70% or better from 1999-2011.  I have always known that Manning was a huge influence on their success, but I had no idea how influential he was until this year.  In their 0-2 start the Colts have looked awful, despite having little turnover after a 10-6 season with a playoff birth.  But, exactly how bad has it been?

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Each and every week is entertaining in the National Football League. That's just the way it goes, even when the slate of games some weeks are less exciting than others. I might qualify last week as one of those 'less interesting' weeks. There were thrilling games, don't get me wrong. And there were more impressive individual performances to marvel at. Nevertheless, compared to what's on tap for Week 3, there's a distinct possibility that this weekend proves to be vastly more interesting, informative and entertaining for fans.

I'll share my Week 3 picks soon enough. They're going up on SB Nation Pittsburgh soon like they do each week. But for now, here's an overview of al the games that I would put into one of two categories -- the first being games with high national interest and/or sub-plots galore worth keeping an eye on; the second being slightly less impactful and intriguing on a national scene, but still worth a mention for this or that reason. Let's take a look.

New England (2-0) at Buffalo (2-0)

• How good are the Patriots? How for real are the Bills? I'm inclined to believe we'll receive unfortunate news Sunday afternoon in the form of New England thumping Buffalo. But who knows? New England's defense really wasn't all that great last week; the Chargers offense was moving the ball at will, but ultimately left points on the table with a few untimely mistakes. 

Houston (2-0) at New Orleans (1-1)

• I am aware that most of Steeler Nation will choose to watch the upstart Bills take on the Patriots in the early-games while we wait for the Steelers to play on Sunday Night Football. But it's this game that we should probably keep a closer eye on. The Texans are Pittsburgh's Week 4 opponent after all. And following games against uninspiring opponents in Weeks 2 and 3, it will be exciting to again face a quality opponent in Week 4. I think Houston is a smidge overvalued at this stage in the game. I believe they are now -800 favorites to win the AFC South. For those of you who don't know that that means, let's just say that they're essentially considered as likely to win the division as a No. 1 is to win its first round game over a No. 16 seed in March Madness. They are the favorites, but don't forget about the Tennessee Titans. Great value to take them before this weekend when the Texans lose and the Titans most likely win. Should be a good game down in the Super Dome. The Saints have to protect Drew Brees well to win.
  

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Like I've done so many times before be it in Pick 'Em Leagues or Fantasy Football, I neglected to complete my picks for Week 1 of the BTSC Pick 'Em League.  My 3 point showing in Week 1 put me squarely behind the 8-ball as I try to make sure that the $75 dollar cash prize goes to yours truly. I did just fine in Week 2 with 9 correct picks, but respectable, above .500 showings like that won't be good enough because of the early hole I dug. Crazier things have happened though. We'll see.

Here's the Week 2 top pickers as well as updated standings through two weeks. And finally, I wrote this mainly to remind you all who are participating to continue getting your picks in each week so that we can see who emerges victorious for the cash prize by season's end.

Week 2 Top Results:

• 13 correct picks: Brandon Ashton
• 11 correct picks: John Farrell, Markiyan K, D Valley, Michele Forney, dudehitt,
  
• 10 correct picks: Larry Acker (WolfpackSteelersFan), Mike Silverstein (Homer J.), juan sandez, Michael Hewitt (Steeler_), Alex Steeb, Keith Knarr, Matt Bash, Erik Luxhoj, Joe Malandra, Alex Duncan, Gail Buffington
  

Very impressive week from Mr, Ashton! 13-3 is about as good as it gets against the spread; I doubt he'll replicate that again this year, but if he even comes close on one or more occasion, he'll be in great shape to win this puppy.

On to the overall standings through two weeks.

Overall Standings:

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This is Part 3 of a series about teams who make it to the Super Bowl after overcoming regular-season struggles.  Part 1 and Part 2 can be found here and here.

This post will look at the Super Bowl teams that sustained the longest losing streaks during the regular season. DVOA analysis will be given for the post-1991 teams. The first team listed is the one with the losing streak.

Super Bowl XIV  

Los Angeles Rams (9-7) vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4)

Final Result: Steelers 31, Rams 19

Super Bowl XXXV  

Baltimore Ravens (12-4) vs. New York Giants (12-4)

Final Result: Ravens 34, Giants 7

Super Bowl XXXVII

Oakland Raiders (11-5) vs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (12-4)

Final Result: Buccaneers 48, Raiders 21

Super Bowl XXXVIII

Carolina Panthers (11-5) vs. New England Patriots (14-2)

Final Result: Patriots 32, Panthers 29

Super Bowl XL  

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In yet another week of multiple fines, Steelers RG Doug Legursky was issued a $10,000 fine for a clip during Pittsburgh's 24-0 win over Seattle in Week 2. 

Mark Kaboly of the Tribune-Review Tweeted the news Thursday afternoon.

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Seattle's Raheem Brock was fined $15,000 for his low hit on Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger in Week 2, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Thursday morning. 

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Editor's Note: Been very pleased with this weekly series from Simon, but I must briefly interject here. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the five players mentioned below -- all are worth keeping an eye on, and all five will play an important role in whether or not the Steelers win their first road game of the year to improve to 2-1. But that said, with this particular Colts team, the Steelers have one thing and one thing only that they need to get right in order to have a great shot at winning: that's the play of the offensive line on the fast track, domed environment of Lucas Oil Stadium. If the Steelers o-line can communicate and keep Ben Roethlisberger from taking huge hits and potentially turning the ball over as a result, Sunday night's game should be no problem. It's hard to say which offensive lineman is most important, but it's got to go to either Maurkice Pouncey who's in charge of communication along the line, or one of the two offensive tackles who theoretically will have the hardest time hearing from their respective decisions. We'll get into that before game time on Sunday night more thoroughly. Carry on.

-Michael B. -

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It's back to business for your 2011 Pittsburgh Steelers. After being embarrassed by the Ravens in their first regular season game, the team bounced back with an impressive performance against the Seahawks that resulted in a 24:0 shutout. Yes, the offense could have scored even more points, but the gist remains: This year's Steelers aren't quite as bad or over the hill as some in the media made them out to be.

By dominating Seattle on Sunday, the team avoided what it has often been criticized for - playing down to their competition by letting an inferior team hang around until the end. From the opening kickoff, the players left little doubt about who would leave Heinz Field with their first victory of the season. Now, the Steelers will travel to Indianapolis in hopes of repeating this dominance against a similarly weak opponent on Sunday night.

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Historically, I’ve never been much of a bar person. I haven’t necessarily disliked bars, the activity just rarely rose to the point of being compelling or habit forming. But when you don’t live in Steelers Country, and you don’t have Sunday Ticket then a sports bar is a very good thing if you’re serious about keeping up with the team on a weekly basis.

For several years the bars weren’t an option. I had to work on Sundays, and while I had access to a television and could keep up if a Steelers game was being broadcast locally, too often I was out of the loop, having to content myself with a forced diet of Redskins and Ravens games. Things changed when I had my Sundays free again, and I decided to treat myself to the Steelers for my birthday. My intro to Sunday bar culture came at Glory Days in Herndon, Va. I sat alone at a table watching the Steelers, a woman sat at the table next to mine watching the Bears on an adjacent TV. She surprised me by arranging for a cake with candles in honor of my birthday. A friendship and a habit were born that day.

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