The Steelers and Washington Redskins -- two 7-7 teams -- play Saturday at Three Rivers Stadium with their record being just about the only similarities between them.
The Steelers have overachieved to reach this point in the season. They are a team with ordinary talent. They had no Pro Bowl players returning from a team that won six games last season and made no significant additions to the roster. After they opened with three losses, there was a widely held belief they were headed toward one of the worst seasons in their history. But they stayed the course, didn't panic, played better at times and even made a run at the postseason.
The Redskins are underachievers of grand enormity. They might go down as the most colossal bust in NFL history. They certainly are the most expensive team in NFL history with their salaries and bonuses for this season reported to be in excess of $100 million. Their season was somewhat of a reverse of the Steelers. They opened 6-2 and then collapsed, having lost five of their past six.
It's more than their talent level that separates these teams. Philosophically, the Steelers and Redskins are on different planets.
The Steelers are owned by Daniel M. Rooney, a mild-mannered millionaire who has spent almost all of his life working in the National Football League and making thousands of friends along the way. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Redskins are owned by Daniel M. Snyder, a bullying billionaire who has spent about 17 months in the NFL and made hundreds of enemies during that time. He is a candidate for the Pro Football Hall of Shame.
Rooney inherited the team from his father. Snyder was the majority partner in a purchase of the Redskins that cost $800 million, a record price for a sports franchise.
Despite his background in the sport, which includes playing the game, Rooney allows football people to run his football team. Despite his lack of background in the sport, Snyder allows no one but himself to run his football team.
Rooney hires a new coach about every 15 years. The meddling Snyder has shown the capability of hiring a new coach about every 15 minutes.
Bill Cowher and only Bill Cowher decides who starts for the Steelers. No one is altogether sure who decided who starts for the Redskins, but Snyder has a major role in the decision-making process.
When starting quarterback Brad Johnson recently was benched, he said, "I think that decision's made from up top. ... I think it's obvious."
Rather than laughing at the ridiculous notion that an owner with almost no football experience was setting the lineup, recently hired Coach Terry Robiskie practically fell at the feet of Snyder in agreeing with Johnson.
"A lot of people want to separate us from Mr. Snyder," Robiskie said. "Mr. Snyder owns the football team. I know that. I promise you there's very few things in the building I'm going to say I want to change without calling him to say I want to change it.
"If I wanted to change my desk, I'm going to call him and say I want to change my desk. If I want to change quarterbacks, I'm going to call him and say, 'What do you think of me changing quarterbacks?' It's his football team."
Imagine that! The head coach is in terror of offending the owner. What a way to run a business.
Such meddling by an owner can have a terrible affect on a team and there's reason to believe Snyder's hands-all-over brand of ownership is directly related to the Redskins' poor showing.
Marty Schottenheimer, who has been an NFL head coach at Cleveland and Kansas City, removed himself from consideration for such a job in Washington and said, "If a player has a sense that the head coach is not the one they're ultimately accountable to, if they feel there is an alternative in the owner's box, it becomes very difficult to manage and coach that player."
That's been obvious by the way the Redskins have been playing. When the emotional Robiskie replaced low-key Norv Turner before the Redskins' previous game, everyone expected a major improvement. But the Redskins probably played their worst game of the season in losing to Dallas, who played most of the game with third-string quarterback Anthony Wright.
Changing coaches won't do it for the Redskins, who will have considerable difficulty finding an experienced, high-profile replacement for Robiskie because of Snyder's reputation.
It's convenient that the Redskins are the opposing team playing the final game at Three Rivers Stadium. It would make a Steelers victory all the more memorable and satisfying.
Bob Smizik can be reached at bsmizik@post-gazette.com.
Two teams as different (luckily) as their owners 
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