Game Thread: Bengals @ Steelers

[kramer1]

We're not getting Cleveland's best on Thursday. McCown might be playing, but he's hurt.... And rib injuries are not good for a qb (ask Luck).

Even worse for them, Haden left yesterday's game with a concussion. He's the one DB in the league that seems to bother Green.

Haden and Whitner.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

No need to hate to put it like that. It's a fact. If the Bengals don't win the division, it's because they imploded down the stretch.

Sucks to see such a good player in Bell go down. While it certainly helped the Bengals, you never want to see major injuries like that occur. Just brutal for the kid.

Ben looked as good as you could have expected, with some rust. He clearly was afraid to do any kind of real running/moving around in the pocket, and it cost him at least 1 of his INT's where he could have gotten 4-5 yards easily without contact, but opted to hang and throw resulting in his last (I think it was) INT that set the Bengals up for the TD.

Brutal game flag-wise for both teams. Stupid personal fouls/taunting by both teams, and holding galore, but it was a typical AFCN battle, and I expected nothing less. Good luck the rest of the way (Until the next matchup, of course).

Yep...but that's pretty far fetched at this point...I see the gap closing some in the DIV, but I think we know the real measuring stick is really in JAN for the Bengals.

Ben...he's already said he should've run there, but I'm guessing the coaches told him before the game not to chance it.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Yep...but that's pretty far fetched at this point...I see the gap closing some in the DIV, but I think we know the real measuring stick is really in JAN for the Bengals.

Ben...he's already said he should've run there, but I'm guessing the coaches told him before the game not to chance it.

Agreed. Everyone, even the Bengals know, it's January that matters. But, every solid win against good teams go a long way for confidence. Even if Pitt is struggling, any win against them, on the road no less, is a quality win for this team.

Yeah, should have ran a few times. He was sailing passes often, as well. A clear sign that he was not yet ready to trust his knee in following through completely on his passes.

 

[DanBengalfan]

as for the Steelers, they are just going to get better in the offseason. think of what they can do with a decent draft pick for a change? holy smokes.

as for us, we've moved on to Cleveland.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Agreed. Everyone, even the Bengals know, it's January that matters. But, every solid win against good teams go a long way for confidence. Even if Pitt is struggling, any win against them, on the road no less, is a quality win for this team.

Yeah, should have ran a few times. He was sailing passes often, as well. A clear sign that he was not yet ready to trust his knee in following through completely on his passes.

In bold...that's kinda why I think the DIV is a wrap and JAN is the real measurement...SEA, PIT, even BAL (even though you've had their number lately)...all solid wins, I don't see the Bengals coming back to the pack in the DIV and no one is good enough to run them down.

 

[dare2be]

stayed true to my word and didn't watch. Thank gawd.

fun read, this thread.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

We're not getting Cleveland's best on Thursday. McCown might be playing, but he's hurt.... And rib injuries are not good for a qb (ask Luck).

Even worse for them, Haden left yesterday's game with a concussion. He's the one DB in the league that seems to bother Green.

I saw a stat on NFL Network this morning:

AJ Green against Haden: 18 catches / 335 yards / 2 TD's / 2 INT's
AJ Green against any other DB on Cleveland: 17 catches / ~170 yards / 2 TD's / 3 INT's

So is it really Haden killing us or is it the Browns secondary in general that shuts down our passing game?

 

[cincygrad]

I saw a stat on NFL Network this morning:

AJ Green against Haden: 18 catches / 335 yards / 2 TD's / 2 INT's
AJ Green against any other DB on Cleveland: 17 catches / ~170 yards / 2 TD's / 3 INT's

So is it really Haden killing us or is it the Browns secondary in general that shuts down our passing game?

I don't think that stat is helpful.... Wouldn't you have to take into account the number of plays Haden has guarded Green vs. the number that he hasn't? But you make a good point about the Browns D in general..... For whatever reason, they've given Dalton, Green and the entire offense more trouble than any of the other teams in our division. Surprising given the reputations of Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

I'd say the best we looked was last year in Cleveland..... And that day we did most of our damage on the ground and the passing game was average at best.

 

[Tubbs1518]

The Browns running defense blows. Hill and Gio should have a field day.