The Pittsburgh Steelers have had tremendous success under Kevin Colbert as general manager, spanning the transition from Bill Cowher to Mike Tomlin. A bad season for the Steelers has been 9-7 or 8-8, with no fewer than six wins since 1988.

RealGM has been using a statistic called the Trench Counter to rank NFL teams since the 2007 season.

The Trench Counter accounts for average yards per pass, yards per carry, penalty yards, first downs and turnovers to determine how well teams control the game in the most meaningful ways.

The Steelers rank 1st in Trench Counter from the 2007 season through 2011.

Below are their season-by-season rankings, Trench Counter totals and actual record in parentheses.

2007: 4th, +6.2 (10-6)
2008: 2nd, +6.5 (12-4)
2009: 5th, +5.9 (9-7)
2010: 2nd, +7.9 (12-4)
2011: 4th, +5.8 (12-4)