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.

The most dangerous thing about preseason games is taking them too seriously. Even first teams rarely line up with their true starting 11, coaches are toying with everything and veteran players really don't care that much. 

All that said, seeing the Steelers come up with 3 interceptions, including one returned by Ike Taylor 49 yards for a touchdown, was a very welcome sight after the Pittsburgh defense failed to produce turnovers last season.

Daniel Hrapmann kicked 3 field goals for Pittsburgh, including a partially blocked 22 yarder with 20 seconds left to seal a 26-24 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. 

Prized Colts rookie QB Andrew Luck played well overall, but tossed two interceptions, including the one to Taylor. His counterpart Ben Roethlisberger didn't fair any better, throwing an awful interception on the first drive of the game. Roethlisberger only attempted nine passes on the night. 

The highlight of the game came on a 59 yard catch-and-run from Antonio Brown in the 1st quarter. Brown cut back across the field on a short screen pass, dodging several tacklers on his way to the endzone. It was the exact kind of splash play that earned Brown a contract extension this offseason. 

Chris Rainey continues to be a major focus of the offense, in both the running and passing games. I still have my doubts on whether or not Rainey can withstand the pounding that an NFL running back must take...he got banged up again tonight on the first drive and briefly went to the locker room for a concussion test. WR David Gilreath and RB Jason Ford were both impressive in the second half. The Steelers don't have a lot of depth at either of those positions right now so there's at least a half decent chance one or both will make the final roster. 

As an aside, the Colts are a team that has real potential to be a rival for the Steelers beginning this season. They feature a number of ex-Ravens including their head coach, former Steelers including their offensive coordinator and players with Pittsburgh connections. Gateway alum Justin King starts at cornerback for them and they have a reserve linebacker named Greg Lloyd. Something to keep an eye on.