Game Thread: Week 15... @CIN ***MNF***

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Game Info: Week 15​

Pittsburgh Steelers vs Cincinnati Bengals​

Monday, December 21, 2020 at 8:15 PM​

Betting line: -12.5
Over/under: 40.5


Last Regular Season Meeting: Steelers (W) 36-10 vs Bengals
Win streak: 11 games PIT
Last 3 Meetings: PIT 3 - 0 CIN
Last 10 Meetings: PIT 10 - 0 CIN

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Win & they clinch the division crown.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Just putting Claypool in there to run go-routes doesn't classify as an efficient deep ball game Randy... How about some creativity? Or changing up the personnel?

 

[Superbelt]

Steelers should go run-heavy from here on until the playoffs. Even if it isn't working. But they need to try, and hope to discover some kind of running game that actually work.

Getting a 2 seed at 14-2, and then getting bounced right away by the Titans or Colts could be the result if they keep doing what they do. At the very worst the Steelers are already a WC team. It's unlikely the Browns can overtake for the division. Use the remaining game to experiment.

Even if they don't find a run game the next 3 weeks, at least Ben would be well rested to try and air it out.

 

[DJ]

Easy win.

 

[DJ]

Big Ben is a senior citizen by NFL standards with a repaired elbow should NOT BE SLINGING it 40-50 times a game. Run the damn ball.....

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[Bridgeburner]

It’s the Bengals and no Burrow so. Steelers 24-13. But I won’t feel any better.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Offense... Disclaimer! Don't buy into it if the Steelers finally find some level of success running the ball. Or if the offense suddenly wakes up. Itsthe Bengals. Calm yourselves. JCH at LG should be interesting. He might play better than he did at center, but who knows. After all the talk of practicing deep balls & physicality this week, I'm sure we'll still see this offense struggle lol. You can talk big game all they want, but their biggest problems aren't going to be solved in practice. The man calling the plays isn't qualified to resurrect this team, and their players aren't playing with much focus or intensity. James Conner is likely out. Snell & McFarland aren't going to make up for any lackluster blocking efforts. I'm sure we'll see a healthy dose of Eric Ebron. Get excited.

Defense... This will be their saving grace today. Or at least should be. Going up against a 3rd string QB should be just what the doctor ordered. Haden is back, so that should help. Would like to see the secondary play as well as they did against the Bengals the 1st time. Haden was lights out. Bince still hasn't been activated, so its going to be another healthy dose of Williamson, Allen & UG3. Bengals would be wise to open up the Stefon Diggs playbook from last week. Butler is too stubborn to adapt to it.


I'm not letting my inner optimist out today. He will be heavily sedated this evening in anticipation of another shitshow. Hold onto that energy you felt last week because it'll better prepare you for whats to come tonight. Steelers should edge this one for the W, but I'm very fearful about it.

STEELERS 20 - BENGALS 13

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[Ojb81]

Vomitus

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Coaching... Last chance to "get right" and they roll out an entire half of football with ZERO points against a 2-win football team already planning on 2021? Cool. Guess we should do the same... Put our eyes on 2021 lol. Well, for the first time in months it actually appeared that this L wasn't completely on Randy's shitty scheme. Yes his playcalling is still predictable, but there were lots of players open all game long and 7 just failed to find them. Randy is still a problem in the long run though as any team watching film knows exactly what to expect. And on the most pivotal 4th down of the game they opted not to have Claypool on the field again. Seems like that is a common theme every week. Shaun Sarrett is a garbage O-line coach/coordinator. They need to replace him badly this offseason. F

Offense... Yay, the deep ball finally arrived. But oh no, Ben was 1-13 on passes over 10yds at one point... Not sure what he ended up at. LMAO. This offense is lifeless. These receivers have no dog in them. They gotta want it and quit waiting for things to happen. Make them happen. All the Claypool hype is gone. To me, he reminds me of a bigger & slower version of Mike Wallace. If the ball doesn't drop in the basket just right he ain't coming down with it. The O-line... Well I don't know if you can call it that since it looked more like a subway station turnstile. Villanueva should be benched for a performance like that. But sadly, they don't have anyone else. F

Defense... To encapsulate just how badly the offense hung this unit out to dry, picture this... The Bengals scored 17 unanswered points on just 68yds of offense. Defense managed to hold the inept Bengals to 8 drives under 10yds gained. Secondary didn't play well last night. Their final numbers may have looked good, but I saw Finley miss a plethora of wide open receivers. If this was Joe Burrow they probably would have won by a comfortable 30+ point margin. And oh look, another LB injury. C-

ST... Who gives a shit.

Overall... This team is way too banged up & its trying like hell to get an unmotivated group to play football. Somewhere along the way the wheels simply fell off and teams have figured them out. Call it fools gold or whatever, but the offense lost any semblance of an identity and they are scrambling for answers behind a completely inept coaching staff. It's too late in the year to think they're able to change much so they're just gonna keep trying to work with what little they have in front of them. It's time to cook your confidence if you haven't already done so people... This team is done for, and we should have seen this coming. Opposing defenses have the easiest game in the NFL when playing the Steelers. All they have to do is cover-4 with 2-high safeties and let their DBs sit in the 8-12yd window waiting to tee off on the underneath routes. F

Outlook... Home game vs the Colts. LOL.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

I honestly wouldn't even want to watch the all-22 of these past couple games... It's been such a shitshow from top to bottom. Every single play is like watching a comedy of errors from a JV squad.