Week 14 @ Bengals

[ATL96Steeler]

1st meeting of the year with the Orange & Black clad team from CIN.

Both teams coming off poor performances last week, only the Bengals were still able to post a W, and now have a 2 gm lead (8-3-1) in the loss column against the DIV. If they win 2 more games...that will force the Steelers (really everyone else in the DIV) to win out in order to win the AFCN. One note here...the Steelers do control their own destiny.

We've said enough about the Steelers this season...one word describes this team...inconsistent.

The Bengals have not been much more consistent themselves in terms of performances on the field, but like Sun...they have come away with the W when they could've lost.

Whose hurting?

Keisel tore his tricep in the game last week and was put on IR, ending his season...he made a real contribution this season. Tuitt is looking to increase his snapcount this week as he will split time with C. Thomas @ DE...Shazier, probably has the best chance of playing this week, but Jarvis Jones, McCain, and McLendon are all looking favorable to play so look for a roster move later in the week to get JJ on the active roster. C. Allen and Harrison are probably going to be limited in practice...I think JH will go. Not sure about Gilbert's status...Face may be able to complete the puzzle on injuries.

This game...imo it doesn't matter if Ike plays better this week or not...the Steelers DEF does not match up well with the skill position players for the Bengals. TE/WR/RB all can and probably will do damage. This game is going rely heavily on the front 7 playing their best game of the year, and getting pressure on Dalton...if they can make him uncomfortable, they have a shot to win.

OFC...The OFC has to bring their A game imo. I think we can look for Ben to play much better this week...there is some talk about over using Bell, but I think we can expect 25+ touches again. Maybe this will finally be the game Archer gets a real pkg of plays.

Atkins has played better as of late, but he's not the disruptive force that he was pre-injury...Dunlap has stepped up his game a bit...Gilbert or Adams need to play well to keep the athletic DE out of the backfield...I would like to run to his side and force him to tackle Bell on the CIN side of the LOS.

Outcome...I don't think CIN is playing a whole lot better than PIT, but I don't like the matchup of their OFC vs our DEF.

Bengals 27-24...I hope I'm wrong.

What say you?

 

[SJ20]

Not sure why I maintain faith in this team but I will for at least this week and I will predict a close Steelers win. The Steelers know they need to win this game. To counteract losing to some of the stinkers (Bucs, Jets) they have to beat the teams ahead of them. I think the offense carries us this week over the team with the skid marks on their helmets. I agree though, our D against their O is just scary. But as you mentioned, they didn't play well last week either. I just don't think that team is as good as their record. We have to get after Dalton and get him on the ground and often. I realize our team is average at best but I think we can compete with this team and hopefully get lucky.

 

[Ewa PGH Fan]

1st meeting of the year with the Orange & Black clad team from CIN.

Both teams coming off poor performances last week, only the Bengals were still able to post a W, and now have a 2 gm lead (8-3-1) in the loss column against the DIV. If they win 2 more games...that will force the Steelers (really everyone else in the DIV) to win out in order to win the AFCN. One note here...the Steelers do control their own destiny.

We've said enough about the Steelers this season...one word describes this team...inconsistent.

The Bengals have not been much more consistent themselves in terms of performances on the field, but like Sun...they have come away with the W when they could've lost.

Whose hurting?

Keisel tore his tricep in the game last week and was put on IR, ending his season...he made a real contribution this season. Tuitt is looking to increase his snapcount this week as he will split time with C. Thomas @ DE...Shazier, probably has the best chance of playing this week, but Jarvis Jones, McCain, and McLendon are all looking favorable to play so look for a roster move later in the week to get JJ on the active roster. C. Allen and Harrison are probably going to be limited in practice...I think JH will go. Not sure about Gilbert's status...Face may be able to complete the puzzle on injuries.

This game...imo it doesn't matter if Ike plays better this week or not...the Steelers DEF does not match up well with the skill position players for the Bengals. TE/WR/RB all can and probably will do damage. This game is going rely heavily on the front 7 playing their best game of the year, and getting pressure on Dalton...if they can make him uncomfortable, they have a shot to win.

OFC...The OFC has to bring their A game imo. I think we can look for Ben to play much better this week...there is some talk about over using Bell, but I think we can expect 25+ touches again. Maybe this will finally be the game Archer gets a real pkg of plays.

Atkins has played better as of late, but he's not the disruptive force that he was pre-injury...Dunlap has stepped up his game a bit...Gilbert or Adams need to play well to keep the athletic DE out of the backfield...I would like to run to his side and force him to tackle Bell on the CIN side of the LOS.

Outcome...I don't think CIN is playing a whole lot better than PIT, but I don't like the matchup of their OFC vs our DEF.

Bengals 27-24...I hope I'm wrong.

What say you?

I hope you're wrong too.

I'll go with 35-28 Steelers. (Almost went with 24-21 Steelers but think there will be more scoring in this game than that)

 

[Muddler]

Hmmm. What do I think will happen this week? I haven't a clue.
IMO it has absolutely nothing to do with matchups or any kind of objective analysis of personnel, records, past history or whatever. For me it basically boils down to how well will Ben play and will Martavis Bryant show up and be a major part of the offense again?

Ben can carry a team as he did during their 3 game winning streak but he can also sink it's chances when he plays poorly as he did for most of the game against the Saints. Seems to me that Ben and the Steelers have looked best this year when Bryant was on the field and catching everything thrown his way. Lately, for whatever reason the rook has been basically invisible.

Now there are rumors that Ben has a broken bone in his wrist that doesn't affect his availability. Would like to hear an official statement about that to help clarify things.

Enough rambling - back to the game: I don't think this team is going to turn it around this year. IMO if it were going to happen it would have started last week after the bye and we saw what happened. I picked them to win that one so this week I'm picking against the Steelers. Maybe a little reverse psychology will work for me. They will lose and it might get ugly.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Hmmm. What do I think will happen this week? I haven't a clue.
IMO it has absolutely nothing to do with matchups or any kind of objective analysis of personnel, records, past history or whatever. For me it basically boils down to how well will Ben play and will Martavis Bryant show up and be a major part of the offense again?

Ben can carry a team as he did during their 3 game winning streak but he can also sink it's chances when he plays poorly as he did for most of the game against the Saints. Seems to me that Ben and the Steelers have looked best this year when Bryant was on the field and catching everything thrown his way. Lately, for whatever reason the rook has been basically invisible.

Now there are rumors that Ben has a broken bone in his wrist that doesn't affect his availability. Would like to hear an official statement about that to help clarify things.

Enough rambling - back to the game: I don't think this team is going to turn it around this year. IMO if it were going to happen it would have started last week after the bye and we saw what happened. I picked them to win that one so this week I'm picking against the Steelers. Maybe a little reverse psychology will work for me. They will lose and it might get ugly.

When you play a team twice a year, every year...imo matchups do matter because you're facing the same personnel, same scheme. Similar to NBA playoff series.

As with every game, the play in the trenches plays a huge part.

Your point on Ben/Martavious is a good one because it gives Ben another playmaker to go with Bell and AB...they can get good balance, and he can hit Miller/Wheaton spread it around when the focus goes to those players. If they can get up a couple of possessions ahead and force CIN into a passing mode...I like their chances.

If the front 7 can make Dalton think about them vs his WRs downfield...he can be rattled a little more so than Ben...Steelers chances go way up.

If they don't pressure him...imo their OFC skill position guys are better than our LBs in space, and back 4/5.

CIN OL imo is not as good as some of their fans think...but I just haven't seen the consistency from the Steeler front 7 to make me think they will be able to exploit it...maybe they get another great effort and surprise me.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Not sure why I maintain faith in this team but I will for at least this week and I will predict a close Steelers win. The Steelers know they need to win this game. To counteract losing to some of the stinkers (Bucs, Jets) they have to beat the teams ahead of them. I think the offense carries us this week over the team with the skid marks on their helmets. I agree though, our D against their O is just scary. But as you mentioned, they didn't play well last week either. I just don't think that team is as good as their record. We have to get after Dalton and get him on the ground and often. I realize our team is average at best but I think we can compete with this team and hopefully get lucky.

I don't either...they looked really good at times and much like PIT, really bad at times.

We shall see.

 

[element1286]

Really don't see a reason to believe the Steelers will win this one, I suppose Dalton could have one of his standard Dalton terrible games, but other than that, the Bengals are a better team.

Bengals 24-20

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Really don't see a reason to believe the Steelers will win this one, I suppose Dalton could have one of his standard Dalton terrible games, but other than that, the Bengals are a better team.

Bengals 24-20

I think they have a shot, and by your score you think they do too, but that front 7 needs to play a kick ass game...Dalton can be shaken, but I can see him throwing up jump balls and completing passes on this back 4 several times to bail him out.

 

[element1286]

I think they have a shot, and by your score you think they do too, but that front 7 needs to play a kick ass game...Dalton can be shaken, but I can see him throwing up jump balls and completing passes on this back 4 several times to bail him out.

Well, yeah I think they have a shot, I was probably a little overzealous, I mean they are +150 on the money line, so that implies they have close to a 40% chance which is fair, IMO.

Probably most worried about the Bengals secondary.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Well, yeah I think they have a shot, I was probably a little overzealous, I mean they are +150 on the money line, so that implies they have close to a 40% chance which is fair, IMO.

Probably most worried about the Bengals secondary.

If it comes down to the OFC making a play to win it...Steelers have a little different set of players on that side of the ball...(only faced Bell once, Bryant, Wheaton) I like the chances much better than the DEF needing a stop to win it.

Dunlap has become their most dangerous pass rusher and imo he's good, but can be blocked.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Good analysis gents…

O… Gilbert has been ruled out already after missing 3 straight practices. Adams will give it another go. Look for Cincy to turn up the heat on that side. They will employ the typical run first scheme as always. Which usually means they will be playing from behind after 1 or 2 quarters. Maybe they will stick in a few shots down the field early to try and surprise them and spark life into this deflated team. They are going to need a better game out of Ben, first and foremost. If he plays well then they will be in it.

D… JH is designated as doubtful, although he sounds like he is going to give it a try sunday morning, but regardless I think JJ is going to be pushed harder to start. They need a boost on defense. The pass rush has been there for only the 1st couple quarters then it disappears. The defense needs to come up with some splash plays to spark this team. I agree that I don't like the matchups at all. Cincy has the personnel to do some damage if the pass rush doesn't disrupt Dalton at all. I'm curious to see how Tuitt's snap count reacts to Keisel being gone. I've heard it will be a timeshare (most likely), but others are saying Tuitt will be given the chance to win the job outright (meaning more snaps). I have high hopes for the kid… Not to mention I really don't want to see Cam Thomas at DE getting pushed around.

This team came out completely flat against a sub-.500 team after having 2 weeks to prepare, so I'm not sure I can put much faith into them. They will be competitive, but I chose Cincy this week…

CIN 28 - PIT 20

 

[ATL96Steeler]

What can you say aside from Thank You Dalton...not sure if PIT wins this one w/o his help.

That said...hats off to the OL...zero sacks on Ben, a major feat...Bell, outstanding again (MVP of the team imo)...Ben bounced back.

But...as we've said before...this means nothing if they lose to ATL...kind of good that BAL won too...still some pressure on them.

 

[Muddler]

Oline was studly today! I think I'll keep picking against them. The reverse psychology thing seems to be working for me.

 

[MISKO]

im happy with the game today ...they played good after they got their heads out of their asses

 

[Gooch1034]

Its always nice surprise when they win and Im not expecting it. Going to be an interesting race to the end!

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Oline was studly today! I think I'll keep picking against them. The reverse psychology thing seems to be working for me.

I'm with you on that boat... For me I will recreate the "magic" by picking the opponent to win, and staying off of the SportsHoopla for the entire game lol

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

What can you say aside from Thank You Dalton...not sure if PIT wins this one w/o his help.

That said...hats off to the OL...zero sacks on Ben, a major feat...Bell, outstanding again (MVP of the team imo)...Ben bounced back.

But...as we've said before...this means nothing if they lose to ATL...kind of good that BAL won too...still some pressure on them.

Thank You Dalton indeed... It would have been a lot closer if he had played all 4 quarters like he did in the 2nd & beginning of the 3rd. Essentially Dalton only showed up for half of the game.

O... Great play calling by Haley to identify what was working and keep shoving it down their damn throats instead of getting 'cute' like he always tries to do. O-line deserves the game ball for this one. They dominated inside and out. Plus Miller, DeCastro & W-Johnson were beasts on the power play runs. A lot better play from Ben as well. All around I liked what I saw from this unit. They kept it competitive even when they were struggling to get much done. Then by the time they got in a groove they blew the doors off. This should serve as a huge confidence booster moving forward. That Cincy D was playing solid football for 3 straight weeks, and even today until PIT continuously wore them down (Thanks in part to Dalton lol).

D... Not a great performance, mainly due to the secondary being nonexistent. Taylor is a liability out there and he needs to really step it up if he is going to be out there covering the WR1. If I were Lebeau & Lake I would be considering putting Taylor in the Slot with Gay & McCain on the outside. Gay played fairly solid on the outside, aside from 1 or 2 blown assignments. That INT that got negated due to a penalty was a great play by him. Mitchell seems quite clueless back there, but that's not completely his fault when Taylor is giving his WR a free release each snap. That 12-15 yard cushion crap needs to stop. That's exactly why we hated on Cortez Allen so much because he did that every snap and got abused for doing it. It's not hard to get 7-8 yards every play on a CB that is back peddling on top of a 12 yard cushion. I'm not sure what the answer is, but it's annoying to watch.

Solid win regardless... Like ATL said, we have talked about it before that it will mean nothing if they can't take care of business next week.

 

[Ewa PGH Fan]

I hope you're wrong too.

I'll go with 35-28 Steelers. (Almost went with 24-21 Steelers but think there will be more scoring in this game than that)

Great win! Now they need to stack wins again!!!


Amazingly, I got the total points of 63 right but was slightly off the final score for each team. Bell is a beast!!!!!!!!

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Great win! Now they need to stack wins again!!!


Amazingly, I got the total points of 63 right but was slightly off the final score for each team. Bell is a beast!!!!!!!!

Yea that's a damn good prediction! Now we all have to do our part in recreating whatever we did before the game...

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Thank You Dalton indeed... It would have been a lot closer if he had played all 4 quarters like he did in the 2nd & beginning of the 3rd. Essentially Dalton only showed up for half of the game.

O... Great play calling by Haley to identify what was working and keep shoving it down their damn throats instead of getting 'cute' like he always tries to do. O-line deserves the game ball for this one. They dominated inside and out. Plus Miller, DeCastro & W-Johnson were beasts on the power play runs. A lot better play from Ben as well. All around I liked what I saw from this unit. They kept it competitive even when they were struggling to get much done. Then by the time they got in a groove they blew the doors off. This should serve as a huge confidence booster moving forward. That Cincy D was playing solid football for 3 straight weeks, and even today until PIT continuously wore them down (Thanks in part to Dalton lol).

D... Not a great performance, mainly due to the secondary being nonexistent. Taylor is a liability out there and he needs to really step it up if he is going to be out there covering the WR1. If I were Lebeau & Lake I would be considering putting Taylor in the Slot with Gay & McCain on the outside. Gay played fairly solid on the outside, aside from 1 or 2 blown assignments. That INT that got negated due to a penalty was a great play by him. Mitchell seems quite clueless back there, but that's not completely his fault when Taylor is giving his WR a free release each snap. That 12-15 yard cushion crap needs to stop. That's exactly why we hated on Cortez Allen so much because he did that every snap and got abused for doing it. It's not hard to get 7-8 yards every play on a CB that is back peddling on top of a 12 yard cushion. I'm not sure what the answer is, but it's annoying to watch.

Solid win regardless... Like ATL said, we have talked about it before that it will mean nothing if they can't take care of business next week.

Haley/OFC...agreed, they threw a few wrinkles at the DIV foe with passes to Spaeth...have to give Adams some individual props...he played pretty well vs their best pass rusher Dunlap, he won on a couple of bull rushes, but overall Adams got the best of that matchup...as you noted, DeCastro, Miller, Speith pulling on the power run were outstanding...they had to run that play 12-15 times. I know we're biased, but trying not to be...is there a better 2 way RB in the NFL right now?

Labeau/DEF...every team wants to be balanced, really should've been a 40-45 pass attempt game for CIN, and work in a few runs and screens...Ike should've had Mitchell over the top on AJ all day, but for some reason on the TD bomb he chose to bite on a route in the middle of the field (Gresham I think)...either way...look for Ike to give the 10 yd cushion vs Julio in ATL. Troy on Gresham was there a lot I thought.

That said...the front 7 was more active as the game went on...JJ didn't get a sack, not recorded but he got a nice lick on Dalton, Moat of course the 2 sacks...Tuitt got the big hit that took him out.

We'll see how it goes here in ATL this week...ATL DEF is a step quicker in the dome, but does not have a good pass rush and LB support is not consistent vs the run...the OFC should have a decent game again...but the DEF worries me...Falcons can score...Ryan has to face pressure.