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[b][size="5"]Bengals should heed, Steelers are looking super[/size][/b]

By Alan Robinson, Associated Press
Updated 8:12 AM Wednesday, November 11, 2009



PITTSBURGH — At the same time the Colts and Patriots are looking ahead to their pivotal AFC game in Indianapolis on Sunday night, Nov. 15, they might be tempted to peek over their shoulders at the Steelers.

With a look of worry, too. The Super Bowl champions are gaining on them.

Winners of five in a row, the Steelers are looking again like a team no one would willingly play in January. Or February.

The Denver Broncos might pass along this message to the Cincinnati Bengals: The Steelers aren't much fun in November, either.

The Steelers (6-2) appear to have long since moved past their last-minute losses to the Bears and Bengals that occurred with star safety Troy Polamalu injured and out. Their defense-driven 28-10 victory in Denver on Monday night put them in position to take over sole possession of the AFC North lead if they beat Cincinnati (6-2) on Sunday.

In their last two games, the Steelers have been dominant defensively and effective offensively in defeating two teams that were unbeaten only a couple of weeks ago, the Vikings (7-1) and the Broncos (6-2).

"We pride ourselves on being a great, dominant road team," said wide receiver Hines Ward.

What effectively is a three-game swing resulting from a single afternoon also makes Sunday's AFC North game vitally important to both the Bengals and Steelers.

If the Steelers win, they would lead the Bengals by one game and own plenty of momentum, plus a soft closing schedule. Should the Bengals win, they would essentially lead by two games because they would own the tiebreaker based on beating the Steelers twice.

Big games between the Bengals and Steelers have been rare since the 1980s, but this is clearly one of them.








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[quote name='oldschooler' date='11 November 2009 - 09:50 AM' timestamp='1257947408' post='825825']
[b][size="5"]Bengals should heed, Steelers are looking super[/size][/b]

By Alan Robinson, Associated Press
Updated 8:12 AM Wednesday, November 11, 2009



PITTSBURGH — At the same time the Colts and Patriots are looking ahead to their pivotal AFC game in Indianapolis on Sunday night, Nov. 15, they might be tempted to peek over their shoulders at the Steelers.

With a look of worry, too. The Super Bowl champions are gaining on them.

Winners of five in a row, the Steelers are looking again like a team no one would willingly play in January. Or February.

The Denver Broncos might pass along this message to the Cincinnati Bengals: The Steelers aren't much fun in November, either.

The Steelers (6-2) appear to have long since moved past their last-minute losses to the Bears and Bengals that occurred with star safety Troy Polamalu injured and out. Their defense-driven 28-10 victory in Denver on Monday night put them in position to take over sole possession of the AFC North lead if they beat Cincinnati (6-2) on Sunday.

In their last two games, the Steelers have been dominant defensively and effective offensively in defeating two teams that were unbeaten only a couple of weeks ago, the Vikings (7-1) and the Broncos (6-2).

"We pride ourselves on being a great, dominant road team," said wide receiver Hines Ward.

What effectively is a three-game swing resulting from a single afternoon also makes Sunday's AFC North game vitally important to both the Bengals and Steelers.

If the Steelers win, they would lead the Bengals by one game and own plenty of momentum, plus a soft closing schedule. Should the Bengals win, they would essentially lead by two games because they would own the tiebreaker based on beating the Steelers twice.

Big games between the Bengals and Steelers have been rare since the 1980s, but this is clearly one of them.








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[/quote]


I don't think the Steelers defense dominated the Vikings. The Steelers defense gave up yards (386) but managed to make some big plays. 21 first downs, 9/18 3rd down efficiency were good stats by the Vikings.


News flash to the national writers - the Bengals are not the Broncos. Please see previous two weeks - Ravens dominate Broncos, Bengals beat Ravens. Oh no another team that beat the Broncos.


My problem is that the Steelers schedule is so easy that even if the Bengals win this Sunday, the Bengals still have a good chance to lose the ACFN.
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[quote name='bearcat7777' date='11 November 2009 - 10:13 AM' timestamp='1257948815' post='825837']
I don't think the Steelers defense dominated the Vikings. The Steelers defense gave up yards (386) but managed to make some big plays. 21 first downs, 9/18 3rd down efficiency were good stats by the Vikings.


News flash to the national writers - the Bengals are not the Broncos. Please see previous two weeks - Ravens dominate Broncos, Bengals beat Ravens. Oh no another team that beat the Broncos.

[b]
My problem is that the Steelers schedule is so easy that even if the Bengals win this Sunday, the Bengals still have a good chance to lose the ACFN.[/b]
[/quote]

yea, the ravens could potentially beat them, they martch up well together, Rice will be the deciding factor in that one. mendenhall and co wont be running all over Balt, but rice could screen pass the steelers into a loss, atleast once i hope. if the steelers have two losses in the AFCN, we can take the division i think. as we wil have one at most. if we win sunday. i think the division is ours, as we have a virtual 2 game lead, with owning the tie breaker theyll need to pass us.

Miami COULD pose problems for them, but they may have nothing to play for by then, and i think the steelers will squash the wildcat pretty easily.

i think a win sunday is the only way we win the AFCN without crossing our fingers against the steelers every week against mild opponents.

the ball wont be bouncing our way in that respect...

winning sunday allows us to lose to the vikings or chargers or someone...
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I know Pittsburgh is on a roll and they've been known to have a tremendous defense, but their defense hasn't done anything ours hasn't this year and we beat them the first time around.

Pittsburgh was handed the game against Denver. Kyle Orton and the offensive line didn't do a damn thing to help the Broncos. If it wasn't for the quick throws to Marshall, it would have been a blow out. Orton couldn't throw, the offensive line couldn't run block. If they were playing Cincinnati last week, they'd been destroyed.

Pittsburgh didn't win that game - Denver gave it to them.

Cincinnati WILL beat Pittsburgh this weekend. Pittsburgh is trash.
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[quote name='TheBeaverHunter' date='11 November 2009 - 10:01 AM' timestamp='1257948105' post='825828']
This Steeler slob knobbing has gotten out of hand.
[/quote]

You beat me to it. He was slurping that right up. And it read like every stealer fan post on the ESPN AFC North blogs. Coincidence?
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After reading all that I hope the Good guys go out and layeth the smack down. No fooling this is a big game. What was I thinking? Nonsense! No putting the chip back on. Supreme victory only.

Let them be hailed on A.F.C Playbook!

Let them be praised on Gameday Final!

Let them move up high in the power rankings!

Let the Stealers be two games back!
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[quote name='Hooky' date='11 November 2009 - 11:58 AM' timestamp='1257955106' post='825886']
You beat me to it. He was slurping that right up. And it read like every stealer fan post on the ESPN AFC North blogs. Coincidence?
[/quote]

Doesn't most of this sound just like Last week? Ravens are on a roll, the D is stepping up, Flacco is unstoppable, Ray Rice is the second coming of Earl Campbell, yada, yada, yada. Could the Bengals lose? Sure. But, We play the Squeeelers in their place better than ANYONE Else. I truly can't wait for Sunday!!
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[quote name='kennethmw' date='11 November 2009 - 12:22 PM' timestamp='1257956545' post='825904']
Doesn't most of this sound just like Last week? Ravens are on a roll, the D is stepping up, Flacco is unstoppable, Ray Rice is the second coming of Earl Campbell, yada, yada, yada. Could the Bengals lose? Sure. But, We play the Squeeelers in their place better than ANYONE Else. I truly can't wait for Sunday!!
[/quote]

True. It was even close there last season with Fitzpatrick playing.
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[quote name='kennethmw' date='11 November 2009 - 09:22 AM' timestamp='1257956545' post='825904']
Doesn't most of this sound just like Last week? Ravens are on a roll, the D is stepping up, Flacco is unstoppable, Ray Rice is the second coming of Earl Campbell, yada, yada, yada. Could the Bengals lose? Sure. But, We play the Squeeelers in their place better than ANYONE Else. I truly can't wait for Sunday!!
[/quote]

Well, lets examine the records in Heinz with Marvin coaching:

Wins in 2003, 2005, 2006.

Record in years when the Bengals finished 8-8 or better: 3-1
Record when it was a 'must win' for Pittsburg: 1-0
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- "Don't turn the ball over" is one of the biggest keys to this game. It's how Pitt has made a living the past few weeks, espeically against Minny.

Ben didn't have a big outing vs Minny. The defense [i]literally won[/i] the game.

2 Minny turnovers returned for 2 touchtowns and 14 points, both in the 4th Qtr. It was a close game but take that shit away and the game could have been 17-13 in favor of the Vikes.

Bens stats: 14/26 (53.8%) - 175 yards - 1 TD - Sacked 4 times.

I didn't see the 2nd half the Steeler/Bronco game, but you can't throw 3 Ints and expect to win against Pitt, especially when the Denver O hasn't displayed much of a deep threat, big play passing offense.

Carson needs to have a SMART game this week. Don't make bad decisons or force throws that are not there. I like that Carson has been able to do well with this lately, but it's very important this week. Can't give them any free chances and take away from the offense.

The line must protect Carson from an on-coming Steeler D. This really is the key to the game.

I think when you gameplan against, especially against the Steeler D, this team, that you have to come out offensively and be willing to throw the ball, because that is how you will have a better chance to win the game.

Now doing that succesfully requires a lot, a line that gives the QB time, WRs catching balls (and holding on to them...looking at you OchoCinco), Smart QB play.

I don't think this team can come out with a "run-first attitude" and expect to win this game, they have to pass to set up the run to beat the Steelers, it's the only way to beat that Defense.

And the Bengals have the kind of offensive prowess to be able to get the job done, Denver did not.

- Have to get to Roeth, have to, to win this game. Not only do they have to get to him, but they have to get his ass on the ground, repeatedly, for 60 minutes.

One would think that you really have to try and keep Roeth contained inside the pocket and collapse on him for the loss, because once he breaks out of that pocket, it's on. But thats the hard part with him, he's a hard guy to bring down. He'll slip outside the pocket after fending off that initial contact and torch the D.

The Bengals HAVE to find a pass-rush this week, if they can get to Ben, they can win. If they have trouble and he is able to buy time, it'll be much harder.


What I like about this game:
- Carson has at least won in Pitt before. He's 2-2 there. He was 0-4 against them at home before this seasons game. So at least he already knows how and what it takes to win there. He's used to the crowd, and I'm sure knowing that he has gone into Heinz field before and been on the winning end has to give him a little bit of confidence.

- I continue to grow quite excited by the Defense. They rank as the top 5th or 6th scoring defense in the NFL at the mid-way point. Not to shabby and what other Bengals D can you really say that about? They are not hot in the "sexy" stat categories, but they are in the one that really matters.

To date, no team has scored more than 30 points on them, the Texans are the closest with 28. Next is the Pack with 24, but Carson threw a pick 6 in that game, and they've been able to hold the Ravens to basically on 2 TDs in 2 games as Carson threw another pick six in the 1st meeting.

Lately the Ravens posted 30 on Denver, 31 on on Minny. They put up 30+ points in 3 others games as well. No matter what, I think to hold a team to 2 offensive TD, in TWO games, when they've give up 30+ in 5 others and 21 in the other is pretty fuckin' good.

They really need to continue the Bear/Raven defensive trend to help get the win this week. They didn't play very well against the Steelers in the 1st go around, especially in the 1st half of the game, they did tighten up and were able to not let the Steeler offense gain control of the game and get the ball back to an offense that finally woke up.

- They say that the 2nd time you play a team, it's always tougher than it was the first time. Thats why Pit beating the Ravens 3 times last years was a rather rare occurance. Both teams change a decent amount inbetween the time they play each other. The whole team struggled through a good bit of the 1st meeting and now the offense has woken up a little and the D has tighened itself down the last 2 weeks.

Maybe this team has a decent shot of coming out and playing well. The offense has been able get drives going early in games instead of coming alive at the last moment, much unlike they were able to do last time. Certainly continuing the 14 points in first 2 Bengal offensive possession would really help the cause.
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[quote name='Quaker' date='11 November 2009 - 12:40 PM' timestamp='1257968453' post='826036']
- "Don't turn the ball over" is one of the biggest keys to this game. It's how Pitt has made a living the past few weeks, espeically against Minny.

Ben didn't have a big outing vs Minny. The defense [i]literally won[/i] the game.

2 Minny turnovers returned for 2 touchtowns and 14 points, both in the 4th Qtr. It was a close game but take that shit away and the game could have been 17-13 in favor of the Vikes.

Bens stats: 14/26 (53.8%) - 175 yards - 1 TD - Sacked 4 times.

I didn't see the 2nd half the Steeler/Bronco game, but you can't throw 3 Ints and expect to win against Pitt, especially when the Denver O hasn't displayed much of a deep threat, big play passing offense.


[/quote]

Ben had a sack-fumble returned for a TD and a drive ended by a INT in the second half.

The team looked very sharp on the go-ahead drive inbetween the two, and after that, well Denver had packed it in.
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[quote name='Oldcat' date='11 November 2009 - 03:51 PM' timestamp='1257969097' post='826040']
Ben had a sack-fumble returned for a TD and a drive ended by a INT in the second half.

The team looked very sharp on the go-ahead drive inbetween the two, and after that, well Denver had packed it in.
[/quote]
I looked at the play-by-play.

Other than 2 really bad defensive drives, they didn't play [i]that[/i] poorly.

Out of 10 offensive drives Pitt did this:
5 Punts
1 Int
1 Defensive TD
3 TDs.
-1 TD was set up by #43 who picked off a Orton pass at the denver 25.
-1 TD a a quick 4 play drive
-1 one was a long game killer at the end.
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Well fuck man, we should just forfeit the game. Why even play when its certain we'll lose? In fact, all the Steelers opponents should just forfeit their games too, and go ahead and award the Lombardi to Pittsburgh a seventh time. At least it would be legit.
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What would have worried me in the past is, after watching the Pit Den game, how well they ran counters and took the cut back lane. DEN over pursued and the Steelers line sealed off the back end so Mendenhall gashed them.

But this year our run D has been so sound and disciplined that I feel they will not have that same success against us.

I dunno if anyone else saw AFC playbook this week on NFL network (BTW if you don't know what I'm talking about you're missing the best football breakdowns on TV) but they highlighted the complexities that Zimmer brought to the D last week to counter BAL's strengths. They broke down how we fooled them into hot reads that were covered and bracketed guys in the slot because (just like Big Jen) Flacco prefers to throw it there under pressure and our CBs can handle the one on one.

I have no doubt we'll come out capable of shutting Pitt down. The bigger question is going to be if we can control the ball put up some points so that our D still has a full tank in crunch time.
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Our offensive line has to block well for Palmer, and well enough for Benson to keep the Steelers defense honest.

The defense needs to play exactly like they did against the Ravens: disciplined, staying in their gaps/responsibilities, and getting just enough pressure on the QB to pressure Ben into making throws he doesn't want to. We can pick that guy off, especially if we have good coverage downfield, which I've come to expect from our defense.

If we do that, we win, end of story.
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Steelers D: 5th overall, #1 run, #14 pass.
Cinci D: 14th overall, #2 run, #25 pass.

Steelers O:5th overall, #15 rush, #5 pass.
Cinci O: 12th overall, #9 rush, #18 pass.

Benson has 837 yards on 198 carries for 4.2 per
Mendenhall has 573 yards on 100 carries for 5.7 per

Ben: 185/262 for 2295, 14tds, 7 Ints. QB Rating: 104.1
Carson: 160/260 for 1832, 14tds, 7 Ints. QB rating: 89.5
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You know, although I seem to be pretty pessimistic going into this weekends game I have to say that it really bothers me that the Bengals, sitting on the top of the division for the past how many weeks already, still don't get taken seriously. I hope our boys have a huge chip on their shoulders this weekend and stay focused. These cocksucking reporters never favor the Bengals.
MULLY
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[quote name='Fulcher_33' date='12 November 2009 - 08:09 AM' timestamp='1258027762' post='826249']
You know, although I seem to be pretty pessimistic going into this weekends game I have to say that it really bothers me that the Bengals, sitting on the top of the division for the past how many weeks already, still don't get taken seriously. I hope our boys have a huge chip on their shoulders this weekend and stay focused. These cocksucking reporters never favor the Bengals.
MULLY
[/quote]

i hear ya... They only have to win 8 more games and people might start taking them seriously.... How many weeks in a row do we have to see the headline "Are the Bengals for real" and then the article says if they can win this week we will know....
Worse than all of that though is I have quite a few shithead Stealer fan friends....I know why associate with them...can't help it...been friends a long time..... All I hear from them is that Head and Shoulders boy was out and they will kill us this time.... He is a great player...but we are a really good team...and I want to win this game so freaking bad..... Can't wait till Sunday...... FUCK THE STEALERS......


[size="7"]WHO-DEY[/size]
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[quote name='Snowdog' date='12 November 2009 - 06:56 AM' timestamp='1258023382' post='826247']
Steelers D: 5th overall, #1 run, #14 pass.
Cinci D: 14th overall, #2 run, #25 pass.

Steelers O:5th overall, #15 rush, #5 pass.
Cinci O: 12th overall, #9 rush, #18 pass.

Benson has 837 yards on 198 carries for 4.2 per
Mendenhall has 573 yards on 100 carries for 5.7 per

Ben: 185/262 for 2295, 14tds, 7 Ints. QB Rating: 104.1
Carson: 160/260 for 1832, 14tds, 7 Ints. QB rating: 89.5
[/quote]
September 27th 2009 - Bengals 23 Steelers 20
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