Week 3: Steelers @ Bengals

[CreatineKasey]

James Harrison was taken care of fairly easily all night. Palmer generally got the ball out quick, but there were times where I expected Harrison and Woodley to at least be an arm's length away from Palmer. They weren't. Hopefully they get that shored up as the season goes on.

If there is any time that PIT should struggle, it should be now. Work out the kinks and get their butts in gear!

[tripwire]

Anybody like chocolate sauce on their vanilla ice cream?

2 weeks in a row, Steelers go vanilla on O and D to keep teams in it, and then finally lose deservedly

Missed fg's, dropped td's (nice going "stone" Sweed), no killer instinct in the red zone, and the D bending over for game tying and winning drives. Tomlin better start letting his dogs lose, go for the kill, none of this Cowher-esque turtle crap when you have the lead. NE had the right idea 2 years ago, a little overboard at times, but effective.

Nice win Cincy fans, your team seems to be on the right track. Tough division this year.

[steelcurtain311]

The Steelers should feel completely humiliated. They dominated that game. It should of been a blowout. Everyone wants to blame the defense, ummm, considering the Steelers left 14 points off the board, and Ben threw a pick 6, how is it on the defense? It should of never been that close to begin with in the fourth quarter. They destroyed the Bengals offense all game long, but the Steelers offense kept giving them momentum with their horrid mistakes. That's a MUCH different game if the Steelers have 30+ points going into the fourth quarter, which they should have.

The Sweed drop...my god. How do you drop that pass? I don't understand it. You're wide open, you run a perfect route, you make the catch, nobody touches you, yet you drop the pass. Talk about a frustrating player. He definitely has talent, he gets wide open on big plays, he just can't hold onto the ball when he absolutely should.

Tomlin's play calling was atrocious too. Why do you continually run such boneheaded running plays when you should be putting a team away? You're torching them through the passing game, you could just throw short, safe, passes and then run it with that, and it's game over. Willie had like 10 carries for 70+ yards going into the second quarter, and he finishes with 20 some carries for under 100 yards, all because of the playcalling. I don't want to blame Ben, since he played an okay game all around. He threw the bad pick 6, but he did well more than enough to put up about 30 points.

As for the Bengals, I don't buy it. I don't buy the hype in the slightest. They looked much inferior to the Steelers in that game, it was just the case of a team completely collapsing and beating themselves.

I really do feel bad for the defense. They played too good of a game to get put in that spot at the end.

[mjb2124]

I hate to say I was right, but I was right. That was the game I expected and the outcome I expected. The Steelers are a hurting team right now...they aren't showing much energy or passion IMO. Today was a great example of a team playing to win (Cincy) and a team playing not to lose (Steelers).

With that said, this game could have been very different and that's a positive for Steeler fans. The Ben INT that went for 6 was a miscommunication between Holmes and Ben. That doesn't happen everyday. There were some nice holes for FWP and he exploited them. Pass protection was pretty good most of the game. Mike Wallace has looked very good for the third week in a row. There were also many negatives. Little pressure on Palmer from the D. Another drop by Limas on a GREAT throw by Ben. 4.8YPC average by Cedric Benson (who looked very good) against a Steelers run D that just doesn't give up that type of YPC. A miss be Reed - albeit on a long FG. Suspect playcalling on both sides of the ball.

Anyhow, the Steelers need to turn it around quick. There are 14 more games, but they can't fall too far behind Baltimore - who has looked very good.

[steelcurtain311]

I don't think it was lack of passion thing. The defense played strong all game, until the offense handed them all the momentum in the world. Ben definitely did not want to lose that game.

It's clear this team just needs to find themselves, because they're yet to truly click this season. They've lost games two weeks in a row, that should of been routine wins.

[CreatineKasey]

Quote: Originally Posted by steelcurtain311

I don't think it was lack of passion thing. The defense played strong all game, until the offense handed them all the momentum in the world. Ben definitely did not want to lose that game. It's clear this team just needs to find themselves, because they're yet to truly click this season. They've lost games two weeks in a row, that should of been routine wins.

I want them to get that physical, mean swagger back that the name "Steelers" stands for. The defense looked good to me, but I'd really like some gritty play especially on offense.

For two years now I was hoping Mendenhall would be the next big power RB in Pittsburgh to hammer out 1500 yards in a season and lead us deep into the playoffs. At this point I don't see it.

I really can't finger point at the defense too much because they did really play a solid game.. but the not getting pressure on the freaking bungles from our all world OLB's is depressing.

The 4th quarter playcalling was tough to swallow at times too. Letting Madieu Williams make a play in the backfield just makes me sick to my stomach. They had 8 in the box, we are in singleback... throw the freaking rock! Run playaction on a rollout and let Ben do something.

I still think the Steelers went into halftime thinking the game was over and come out half arsed.

[steelcurtain311]

The announcers were saying Mendenhall sitting was Tomlin "sending a message" to him, like he's been an attitude problem or something, but I'm yet to read or hear anything of the sort from the local media.

I don't understand it either. You draft a guy in the first round, even if he isn't going to work out, you have to at least let him try, don't you?

[DX UnLeaSheD]

Quote: Originally Posted by lilbently

I'm right here!!! WHO DEY WHO DEY WHO DEY!!! Wow what a game awesome win for the Bengals, we should be 3-0 but i'll take 2-1 with a huge win over our rivals! What a 4th quarter by the Bengals and that last drive was amazing. After that TD I was going estatic running around and I even went outside and yelled WHO DEY! Time to party!!!

Nice prediction.
That was bad for the Steelers, they are really hurting now. 1-2. With Baltimore dominating, 3-0, they arn't going to have it easy this year. The Steelers should have never allowed the Bengals to get that first down inside the 5 (it was 4th and 10). That was just bad. The Steelers are going to have to pick it up, and fast if they don't want to be watching from home in the postseason. Just bad, the offense isn't looking good, Willie Parker definatly isn't looking good. There is no way Willie Parker averages more than like 1.5 yards per carry. Just an all around disappointing performance. If they keep this up (which I am not losing my confidence in them) but if they were to keep this up, all I gotta say is: Go Pens.