FanHouse Lorenzo Neal

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

It was improbable. The Baltimore Ravens made another playoff run in 2008 based on a defense that used the art of suffocation (oh, and Ed Reed) and an offense that improved dramatically over the previous years. John Harbaugh was impressive as coach, putting a rookie quarterback out to toss the ball around and sticking with him through thick (17-29, 248 yards, 2 TDs in Week 9) and thin (11-28, 115 yards, 2 INTs in Week 15).

Now the team has to figure out what to do about a superstar in Ray Lewis, and how they should handle other important positional players (hello Mr. Stover) in order to return to (and move past) the AFC Championship game without their defensive coordinator.

Every week during the season we focused on an aspect of line play with Between The Lines. So for the Super Bowl, we're focusing on all aspects of the battle of the line of scrimmage. Today, we look at the Steelers' defense.

There have been many times this postseason when Larry Fitzgerald, Kurt Warner and the Cardinals offense have looked unstoppable. On Sunday, we'll find out how true that is. There many matchups to watch, but it's safe to say that if the Cardinals can block the Steelers' pass rush, they likely will pull off the upset. If they can't, Pittsburgh will be bringing its sixth Super Bowl trophy back to the Steel City.

Warner has averaged 286 yards passing per game this season, but now he'll be facing a defense that has allowed more than 300 yards of total offense only twice in 18 games. Warner and an offense with three 1,000-yard receivers will be one of the Steelers' D's toughest tests, but this is not a defense that is untested.

The Pro Bowl selection is a time every year when we can all reflect on just how far the Cincinnati Bengals have come as an organization. I can remember many years during the Lost Decade when the Bengals sent zero players to the Pro Bowl, but now they seem to send at least a couple every year.

This year the Bengals will have Chad Johnson and Willie Anderson starting. Carson Palmer was also selected for the team, but he'll be a backup.

Cincinnati also has four alternates who will play if someone at their position is injured. Those players are fullback Jeremi Johnson, guard Eric Steinbach, tailback Rudi Johnson, and receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh.

This is the fourth Pro Bowl in a row for Chad Johnson and Willie Anderson, and it's the second in a row for Carson Palmer.

I think that Jeremi Johnson will probably be an annual Pro Bowler once Lorenzo Neal retires, and that should be happening any year now.

I'm a big believer that the Pro Bowl is the silliest All Star game out of all the major sports, but it's still nice to see so many Bengals getting recognized.