Steelers News: Alan Faneca named a Pro Football Hall of Fame Finalist, again

Pittsburgh Steelers guard Alan Faneca is a Pro Football Hall of Fame Finalist for the Class of 2018, this his third straight year as a finalist.

Faneca was the Steelers top draft pick in 1998 and played 10 seasons in Pittsburgh, and 13 overall in the NFL, playing for both the Jets and Cardinals after leaving Pittsburgh. He was a member of the Super Bowl XL Championship team, and was selected to nine Pro Bowls. Faneca was a six-time All-Pro selection and was named to the Steelers All-Time Team in 2007 and the NFL 2000’s All-Decade Team.

Will he finally break through? It might be difficult when you look at the other finalists:

Steve Atwater
Tony Boselli
Isaac Bruce
Brian Dawkins
Alan Faneca
Steve Hutchinson
Joe Jacoby
Edgerrin James
Ty Law
Ray Lewis
John Lynch
Kevin Mawae
Randy Moss
Terrell Owens
Brian Urlacher
Everson Walls

Feel free to debate Faneca’s status in the comment section, but here are some other links from outside the walls of BTSC you might enjoy...

• With regular season over, Steelers prepare for Super Bowl push

The longest part of the journey is over for the Steelers. Now comes the most difficult part.

After wrapping up their most successful regular season since 2004 on Sunday with a 28-24 win over the Cleveland Browns, the Steelers (13-3) have their sights set on one destination.

"It's Minnesota," said guard Ramon Foster, referring to the site of Super Bowl LII.

The big game is in February, but it will be the work that takes place in January that determines if the Steelers return to the Super Bowl for a ninth time with a chance to claim a seventh Lombardi Trophy.

• Tim Benz: Steelers' Mike Tomlin just cares about who, not where

Once the smoke cleared, it ended up like so many of us thought it would.

Wait. That wasn't smoke. That was everyone's breath on the sideline during an 11-degree day.

But as anticipated, the Browns eventually became the Browns, even against the Steelers backups. So the Steelers won 28-24 on Sunday.

Simultaneously, the Jets were very much the Jets against many New England starters. So the Patriots won 26-6.

As a result, just as many of us presumed in August, the Steelers emerged from the regular season as the second-best AFC team after the Patriots.

Yes, despite a 13-3 record, the Steelers enter the postseason as runner-up to New England's 13-3 by virtue of that ungodly NFL-rules-rip-off of a loss two weeks ago ...

Oh, sorry. Was that out loud?

... By virtue of that unfortunate defeat at the hands of the Patriots.