FOX Sports recently ranked all 32 NFL franchises, rating the Pittsburgh Steelers as the third best organization in the league. The site evaluated each franchise from one to 10, based on "six vital categories — owner, quarterback, head coach, front office, coaching staff and intangibles, which include facilities, fan support and public relations."
↵Well, okay. Having a good owner, quarterback, head coach, general manager, and coaching staff definitely helps, but I really despise the word "intangibles," at least when it's used in the sports world. And for the purposes of the proposed metrics above, NFL facilities are tangible, and fan support and public relations are just means to an end: profits. (Okay, okay - rhetorical minutia rant over.)
The Steelers ranked below only the Green Bay Packers and the New Orleans Saints, in that order. Here's the skinny:
Owner: 10
↵Quarterback: 8.5
↵Coach: 8.5
↵Front office: 9
↵Coaching staff: 9
↵Intangibles: 10
↵Tough to gripe about much of that, although I'd argue that Pittsburgh's front office probably deserves a 9.5 and that an 8.5 for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger seems a little conservative, as well. (For comparison, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, and Peyton Manning received 10's, while Drew Brees and Phillp Rivers received a 9.5 and a 9, respectively. Then again, none of those guys have been accused of multiple rapes or crashed their motorcycles, either; the article doesn't specify whether or not its ratings account for a quaterback's off-the-field baggage.)
↵FOX Sports ranked Pittsburgh's AFC North rivals thusly: Baltimore at No. 9, Cleveland at No. 21, and Cincinnati at No. 28.