1. Can the Steelers stay on top?

If any team knows how to avoid the valleys that most teams trip and roll into, it is the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Yes, the same Steelers who won four Super Bowls in six seasons in the 1970s, and the same Steelers who have won two of the last four Super Bowls.

Over time, Pittsburgh has been the most consistent team in the NFL. Since the turn of the century, the Steelers have been contenders virtually every year despite significant organizational change, making the playoffs six of nine times. Players and even coaches come and go, but the Steelers never, ever quiver.

Coach Mike Tomlin just finished his second season with the team, but he quickly came to understand what is different in Pittsburgh. “Our tradition is inspiring on a day-to-day basis,” Tomlin says. “It’s created a standard we all aspire to. That’s one of the reasons we are who we are. We have tangible examples in our history of how to go about it.”

Tradition explains why the Steelers have a chance again in 2009. That tradition is best attributed to the leadership of the Rooney family — from the late Art, known as “The Chief,” to current chairman Dan, to current president Art II.

Of course, leadership on the field — from players such as quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and safety Troy Polamalu — also bodes well for Pittsburgh’s chances this year.

The plan is for the Steelers of 2009 to look a lot like the Steelers of 2008. But to be all they can, the Steelers must improve their running game, which ranked 23rd in the NFL a year ago. Toward that end, they are hoping for a big contribution from running back Rashard Mendenhall, the team’s first-round pick in 2008 who sat out most of the season with a shoulder injury. The Steelers also might want to think about throwing more to Super Bowl MVP and budding star Santonio Holmes.

Tomlin says in preparing to attempt to repeat as Super Bowl champions, he will not study others who have tried and succeeded, or tried and failed. Instead, he will rely on the Steelers’ proven tradition to guide him. And he will stress this philosophy to his team: “It’s always about the journey and not the destination,” Tomlin says. “Once you have been there, it makes it increasingly difficult to appreciate the journey.”

Tomlin is determined to make sure the Steelers don’t forget what they did that got them to the NFL’s mountaintop.

2. The return of Tom Brady

If the Patriots could win 11 games with Tom Brady on the fashion photo-shoot circuit last season, they could be quite formidable in 2009 with Brady pitching footballs instead of fancy watches and trendy colognes.

The Patriots are counting on Brady to come back, and come back strong, so much so they traded his backup, Matt Cassel, to the Chiefs. Brady, who blew out his knee in Week 1 last season, might not be all he was in his record-setting season of 2007. But he should at least be better than Cassel was a year ago — and that was pretty good.

It takes most players a full year to come back completely from the kind of injury Brady had, but at least he doesn’t rely on his legs much. That will make it easier for him to bounce back than it would for almost any other type of player.

The Patriots have helped Brady by reinforcing his offense with newcomers such as running back Fred Taylor, wide receiver Joey Galloway and tight end Chris Baker. But the additions could be offset by the loss of Josh McDaniels, the playcaller and game-planner credited with Cassel’s ascension.

If the Patriots have proven one thing, it’s that the system is bigger than any individual — bigger than McDaniels, and bigger even than Brady. But it’s also safe to assume that Brady is bigger than any other player in the system — if not any player in the league.

What Brady will give the Patriots that they were missing a year ago is the benefit of experience — knowing when to take risks and having the guts to do it, which then paves the way for the Patriots’ wide-open game plans. For all of that, Randy Moss should be very grateful.

With Brady back where he belongs, many expect the Patriots will be back where they belong this season — namely, playing in the Super Bowl.

3. Cutler gets his trade, Chicago gets its QB

On the day the Bears traded for quarterback Jay Cutler last April, former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was indicted. And hardly anyone noticed.

There was a feel-good buzz in Chicago about Cutler that had not been felt since the team’s 1985 Super Bowl championship season. General manager Jerry Angelo called it a “tsunami type of energy.”

For that energy to continue, Cutler — who was obtained along with a fifth-round draft pick in exchange for a pair of first-round picks, a third-rounder and Kyle Orton — will have to get the Bears another championship. Living up to the expectations won’t be easy for Cutler. It wouldn’t have been easy for Otto Graham or Joe Montana, either.

And so far in his brief career, Cutler has not been Graham or Montana. He failed to take the Broncos to the playoffs in three seasons, where his record as a starter was 17–20 and his passer rating was 87.1. And he didn’t exactly create warm, fuzzy feelings in Denver when his reaction to learning that new coach Josh McDaniels had expressed interest in obtaining Matt Cassel from New England was to demand a trade.

But there is no disputing that Cutler is one of the most gifted quarterbacks in the NFL. “He’s one of the top 10 quarterbacks in the league,” says CBS analyst Rich Gannon. “Is he a top five guy? Probably not. Would I hitch my horse to him and say, ‘Let’s go ride’? Hell, yeah.”

Cutler couldn’t do it by himself in Denver, and he won’t be able to in Chicago. In order for him to be the best he can be, Cutler will need better receiver play than the Bears gave Orton, better pass protection than they gave Orton and even a better running game than they gave Orton.

He had all of the above in Denver. Brandon Marshall had almost twice as many yards as the Bears’ leading receiver. The Broncos allowed 17 fewer sacks than the Bears did. And the Broncos averaged 4.8 yards per carry compared with 3.9 for the Bears.

Some of these discrepancies should be rectified through Cutler’s play and improved personnel around him. And having a defense and special teams unit that are significantly better than the ones he played with in Denver will help.

But really, what the Bears and everyone in Chicago are counting on is that Cutler continues to mature as a player and as a person — and takes his game to another level. Given that he is only 26, that is not an unreasonable expectation.

This feature appears in the 2009 Athlon Sports Pro Football magazine. Click here to purchase your copy.