Every year, I try and throw together some "bold" predictions before the season starts. These are usually random, sometimes funny and - if I'm lucky - even a little bit accurate. Here are 20 from 2011, 89 from 2010 and 21 from 2009.

Below are 21 for the 2012 season. Enjoy.

1. Jonathan Dwyer starts at least 2 games in 2012.

2. Rashard Mendenhall ends up with twice as many rushing yards both Dwyer and Isaac Redman.

3. Chris Rainey is on IR by Week 8

4. Antonio Brown ends up with more yards and TDs than Mike Wallace, to nobody's surprise.

5. Ben Roethlisberger only starts 13 games due to injury.

6. James Harrison only starts 8.

7. Todd Haley is ridiculed on Twitter before the 10:00 mark of the first quarter in Denver.

8. Casey Hampton rarely sees the field by season's end and Steve McLendon becomes firmly entrenched as the starter.

9. Big Ben tosses 22 TDs and 11 interceptions.

10. Cleveland finishes 4-12. Weeden is awful, gets hurt.

11. Chris Carter is a starting LB by season's end.

12. The offensive line unit plays all 16 games together and provides solid protection for Roethlisberger.

13. Just kidding.

14. Cincinnati finishes 8-8. AJ Green is a total beast.

15. Lawrence Timmons leads the team in tackles and helps solidify the inside of the defense.

16. Pittsburgh finishes 10-6. Injuries suck. Wild Card.

17. Aaron Rodgers wins the MVP.

18. Baltimore finishes 12-4. Ray Rice dominates.

19. David DeCastro gets healthy and becomes a starter. Mike Adams doesn't.

20. Super Bowl: Green Bay over New England.

21. The "woooo" makes its triumphant entrance to Heinz Field during the 3rd quarter of the Dec. 30 game against the Browns.

Predictions are a fruitless exercise. You are almost never right and when you are nobody seems to notice. Yet, every year, we do them anyway.

Here's my week-by-week forecast for the 2012 Pittsburgh Steelers. Feel free to pick it apart in the comments.

Week 1
Pittsburgh at Denver - W

Week 2
NY Jets at Pittsburgh - W

Week 3
Pittsburgh at Oakland - L

Week 4
Bye

Week 5
Philadelphia at Pittsburgh - W

Week 6
Pittsburgh at Tennessee - W

Week 7
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati - L

Week 8
Washington at Pittsburgh - W

Week 9
Pittsburgh at NY Giants - L

Week 10
Kansas City at Pittsburgh - W

Week 11
Baltimore at Pitttsburgh - L

Week 12
Pittsburgh at Cleveland - W

Week 13
Pittsburgh at Baltimore - L

Week 14
San Diego at Pittsburgh - W

Week 15
Pittsburgh at Dallas - L

Week 16
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh - W

Week 17
Cleveland at Pittsburgh - W

Final Record: 10-6

Here's a quick look at the status of the handful of former Steelers who departed from Pittsburgh this offseason.

WR Arnaz Battle - The former special teams captain is currently a free agent and wasn't in an NFL training camp this summer.

QB Dennis Dixon - Dixon was signed to the Baltimore Ravens practice squad after trying out for the team in the spring. He is the team's 3rd QB behind Joe Flacco and Tyron Taylor.

CB Bryant McFadden - He didn't attend training camp and is currently a free agent. He's been rumored to be an option for several teams seeking help at CB.

P Daniel Sepulveda - Currently unsigned, he participated in a tryout in Chicago in late August.

OT Jonathan Scott - Scott signed with the Lions in the offseason after being cut by Pittsburgh. He was placed on IR then released by Detroit and recently visited Chicago. He remains a UFA.

RB Mewelde Moore - He's found a nice home in Indianapolis with former Steelers OC Bruce Arians. Moore looks to be the Colts' 3rd down RB and will play a prominent role in their offense.

CB William Gay - Gay signed with Arizona in the offseason. He's slated to start at right cornerback for them this season.

OT Jamon Meredith - Currently with Tampa Bay.

OG Chris Kemoeatu - Kemo is currently unsigned and remains a UFA.

This is basically the formality of ending the preseason. All those guys whose names and numbers you didn't bother learning got cut. The list:

DB Damon Cromartie-Smith - Practice squad fodder; may get signed if a couple DBs get hurt
DB Terrence Frederick - No idea who this guy is
DB Josh Victorian - Had some interception somewhere, probably off of Vince Young
LB Brandon Hicks - ???
LB Marshall McFadden - That guy you kept wanting to call Bryant McFadden
DL Corbin Bryant - Will probably stick around on the practice squad
DL Igbinosun Ikponmwosa - I refuse to spell this twice
DL Jake Stoller - Going to go work at Home Depot
QB Jerrod Johnson - Typcial practice squad QB
RB DuJuan Harris - Running backs are free
WR Tyler Beiler - Haha, his name rhymes!
WR Toney Clemons - Snooze.
WR David Gilreath - Had a few nice preseason games, but it wasn't enough
WR Marquis Maze - You sort of figured either Gilreath or Maze would hang on, but the Steelers are going into the season with a little less depth at WR
WR Derrick Williams - Made a catch or two in some fourth quarters. Pretty sure I could get a 6-yard reception in those conditions.
OL Trai Essex - Guaranteed to be re-signed when someone gets hurt
OL Ryan Lee - May as well not exist
OL John Malecki - Practice squad? Whatev
OL Chris Scott - See: Malecki, John
P Jeremy Kapinos - Sort of surprising, but his back injury must be worse than anyone is admitting.

In other news, Sean Spence was put on IR. Speaking of IR, the NFL is instituting a new rule this year that says one player can be taken off IR during the season. This could potentially be awesome news for David DeCastro, but in all likelihood, he'll benefit in the long run from sitting out his rookie season and watching the professionals.

Not much to do now but wait for opening night in Denver. 

The final score of this game was 38-7 in favor of the Steelers. But the Steelers aren't winners right now. Their projected starting right guard and first round draft pick, David DeCastro, was carted off the field with a knee injury in the first quarter. The Steelers may be forced to go into 2012 without a solid answer at either tackle position or right guard.

In any case, the third preseason game is the dress rehearsal, and while the players got together to play some real football, so is it time to return to recapping Steeler games and getting into final preparations for the regular season. Jump and read on about Saturday night's contest.

-B- The Steelers have waived former Wisconsin star RB John Clay. Clay (like any large RB) drew comparisons to Jerome Bettis when the Steelers signed him as an undrafted rookie free agent. He is free to sign with any team.

-B- I started doing some research for my fantasy football drafts this week and it hit me...the Steelers don't have any elite fantasy players this season. Antonio Brown is probably the best choice, though he has been criminally underrated by most fantasy services that I have seen. I use Scout Pro's fantasy football software and they don't have any Steelers ranked in the top 3 of any position. Ben Roethlisberger has never been an elite fantasy QB, the situation at RB is very murky (though Dwyer might be a deep sleeper) and Mike Wallace's holdout throws a wrench into everything at WR. Other than Brown and maybe Heath Miller, I can't see picking any Steelers this year.

-B- Word is also going around this morning that RB Chris Rainey was knocked out cold during Sunday night's preseason game. He returned to the game shortly after being examined. That is irresponsible of the Steelers medical staff. The NFL as a whole hasn't taken concussions very seriously when compared to say the NHL and this is just another example of that. Ethics aside, Rainey is slated to be a big part of the Steelers offense this year and throwing him back out there is a dumb football move by the Steelers.

The awesome Wiz Khalifa jam that will forever be linked to the 2010 Pittsburgh Steelers was recently featured in a Madden 13 commercial. A rather annoying Steelers fan takes on Ravens LB Ray Lewis in the game and uses the song as a way to taunt him. 

Here's the commercial:

Update: Apparently the annoying guy in the commercial is some famous actor named Paul Rudd. I clearly do not watch many movies. Kudos to @jwilton23 on Twitter for the heads up. He's still annoying though :D

Seemingly everybody is putting their spin on Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe," including the Pittsburgh Steelers. The team's YouTube channel published the black n' gold version earlier today.

Players featured include Ben Roethlisberger, Brett Keisel, Ike Taylor LaMarr Woodley, Shaun Suisham, Ryan Clark, James Harrison and more.

Ike is definitely the star of the show though.

My personal favorite moment is James Harrison taking a break from his ridiculous incline dumbell chest press to do the "call me" pose that 11 year old girls do. It is around the 2:30 mark. Hilarious.