Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Arizona Cardinals

6 p.m. today, Tampa, Fla., WKYC Ch. 3, WKNR AM/850

GROSSI: Not to be a killjoy, but there is no Seattle, St. Louis and San Francisco in the AFC North. The Browns have to catch up to rivals Pittsburgh and Baltimore in organizational strength before they can compete consistently with the conference elite on the field.

GROSSI: Well, they are the only the second 9-7 team to make it here. They lost games by the scores of 48-20, 35-14 and 47-7 in the last month of the regular season. If they get blown out, they will be considered one of the worst, yes.

GROSSI: I don't have a problem with that. That's the risk of four-team divisions. The benefit of small divisions is they enhance the importance of division games and heighten division rivalries. The worst thing would be to seed teams based on overall records.

SHAW: Didn't we grasp at that same straw when Tampa Bay finally made it to the Super Bowl? How many years ago was that? The Cardinals made it after owner Bill Bidwill turned over operation of the team to his son, Michael. Going to the Super Bowl consistently (New England, Pittsburgh) in the salary cap era takes a complete organization from top to bottom.

SHAW: I don't think so. They clinched their division with a month to go and got caught up in the understandable carnival atmosphere that engulfed their fan base. I'd certainly pick them over the Rex Grossman-led Bears.

SHAW: Once you come to terms with a wild-card team going to the Super Bowl - and winning it - it shouldn't be too difficult to embrace the idea of a 9-7 division winner going on the kind of run Arizona is on. I'm with Grossi. I'm not into seeding teams.