Week 8...CIN

[ATL96Steeler]

4-3 Fellas...it doesn't feel great and it doesn't feel bad either.

Assuming nothing out of the ordinary happens in practice, we get Ben back this week for the 2nd DIV game of the year vs the undefeated Bengals.

Injuries...Gay (shoulder) is the new name here, possible he could miss his 1st NFL game ever. Boykin could get his 1st start as a Steeler. Tuitt (knee)...if they took that much time Shazier, I guess it makes sense here too...sounds iffy. Allen (ankle)...I don't expect him back this week...Golden wasn't bad I heard last week. Hopefully @FaCe-LeE-uS will give us some locally flavored updates later.

Week 8

Steeler OFC...okay, Ben's back, but AV needs shake off the strip sack and be ready for this week...Johnson has been fairly quiet for them in the sack dept (I'll be interested to see how many times Spaeth is helping on the left side)...Dunlap plays the LDE I think, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's not getting a few reps on the RDE spot...I like the matchup with Gilbert...he might give up one, I don't see him getting dominated...but Foster has to help Wallace and vice versa...they can't have a bad game vs Atkins who seems to be back to beast mode.

OL play was not terrible in KC...so I don't expect them to be terrible at home...if Ben is reasonably sharp, I think the OFC will do okay...Bengals backend D is solid, but not to be feared. My thinking is Bell and DWil need to carry the load in this game...pound the rock, shorten the game...take your shots downfield when you can but don't get into a shootout type game.

Steeler DEF...This one is on the front 7...the Bengals have 5 or 6 legit weapons Eifert and AJ are at the top of the league rankings...also great balance with 2 RBs that could start for nearly every team in the league. That makes them hard to predict. If they don't speed up Dalton's clock the back end is not going to hold up...really curious to see how Butler plays this game, imo, he cannot sit back in this one.

Outlook...On paper it looks like a wipe out at first glance...but, when you start breaking down the Bengals games...OAK, SD, BAL, KC, SEA, BUF with back up QB...to their credit they beat them all, but none of the teams have played as well thru 7 weeks as PIT even though 2 of them beat the Steelers. I'm sure they were amped up for SEA and they were getting spanked in that game before going on a spurt.

I like the Steelers to kind of stun a few people and bounce back at home...23-20.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Hopefully @FaCe-LeE-uS will give us some locally flavored updates later.

Last I heard Klavon's flavors of the "day to day" fashion were the Tuitt-Knee Truffle, and the W-Gay-Shoulder-Split... Both served with "limited capacity" sprinkles. The Allen-Ankle Parfait is still a work in progress. Hasn't come out in full production yet! So we'll have to wait for that deliciousness...

@SteelersPride knows WhatI'mTalkinBout!

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Oh I almost forgot... On a lesser note the Vick-Geriatric Sorbet got recalled from the "2nd string" cold bins to the "3rd Pine-Rider" bins in the back... Probably the last time we are going to see that flavor.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Steeler OFC...okay, Ben's back, but AV needs shake off the strip sack and be ready for this week...Johnson has been fairly quiet for them in the sack dept (I'll be interested to see how many times Spaeth is helping on the left side)...Dunlap plays the LDE I think, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's not getting a few reps on the RDE spot...I like the matchup with Gilbert...he might give up one, I don't see him getting dominated...but Foster has to help Wallace and vice versa...they can't have a bad game vs Atkins who seems to be back to beast mode.

OL play was not terrible in KC...so I don't expect them to be terrible at home...if Ben is reasonably sharp, I think the OFC will do okay...Bengals backend D is solid, but not to be feared. My thinking is Bell and DWil need to carry the load in this game...pound the rock, shorten the game...take your shots downfield when you can but don't get into a shootout type game.

Steeler DEF...This one is on the front 7...the Bengals have 5 or 6 legit weapons Eifert and AJ are at the top of the league rankings...also great balance with 2 RBs that could start for nearly every team in the league. That makes them hard to predict. If they don't speed up Dalton's clock the back end is not going to hold up...really curious to see how Butler plays this game, imo, he cannot sit back in this one.

Outlook...On paper it looks like a wipe out at first glance...but, when you start breaking down the Bengals games...OAK, SD, BAL, KC, SEA, BUF with back up QB...to their credit they beat them all, but none of the teams have played as well thru 7 weeks as PIT even though 2 of them beat the Steelers. I'm sure they were amped up for SEA and they were getting spanked in that game before going on a spurt.

I like the Steelers to kind of stun a few people and bounce back at home...23-20.

Good writeup as usual ATL!

O... Things could get pretty hectic in this game. I'm guessing that this could turn into a shootout really quick if the Steelers don't establish a gamespeed and force Cincy to adhere to it (basically what you were talkin about with running the ball). Having Ben back will give them a shot at keeping this a competitive game. Its an incredibly tall order for Ben coming off a 4 week hiatus and still likely not 100%. But with Ben in the game, nothing is out of reach. As ATL noted, we'll need better LT play this week from AVill. Hopefully it was just the first time jitters and he shakes them off. Wallace is definitely going to struggle with Atkins so AVill is not going to receive as much help this week if they don't put Spaeth & Miller on his side. Time to put your big boy pants on AVill! Look for Ben to dump the ball off a lot to Bell to take the energy out of the D-lineman. Hopefully that in turn draws the safeties down at some point.

D... Front 7 revolves around Tuitt's presence (and for that matter Heyward's). D-line depth is an issue. Hopefully with Shazier & JJ getting back to full health without any setbacks we will see some better play this week. I fear for what the secondary will look like without Gay out there. I'll keep my fingers crossed that his shoulder injury isn't as bad as initially thought to be. But on the bright side, we'll (hopefully) get to see Boykin. Tomlin's love-affair with Blake needs to come to an end. He's simply not getting the job done on the outside. As for the safeties, I agree that Golden has played well. Mitchell is improving so there's some evident "freshness" to that pile of dung that we call a secondary. But a turds still a turd...

Overall... I'm hoping this doesn't turn into a shootout but it could easily do just that. Being an AFCN game it is going to be very physical. Foster had some words of worry this week about potential knee-targeting. Lets pray that he's wrong. I expect the Stillers to play from behind most of the game. Hopefully the game doesn't get out of reach...

As I rub my lucky rabbits foot I will take the Bengals 28-24.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Last I heard Klavon's flavors of the "day to day" fashion were the Tuitt-Knee Truffle, and the W-Gay-Shoulder-Split... Both served with "limited capacity" sprinkles. The Allen-Ankle Parfait is still a work in progress. Hasn't come out in full production yet! So we'll have to wait for that deliciousness...

@SteelersPride knows WhatI'mTalkinBout!

lmao!!!

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Good writeup as usual ATL!

O... Things could get pretty hectic in this game. I'm guessing that this could turn into a shootout really quick if the Steelers don't establish a gamespeed and force Cincy to adhere to it (basically what you were talkin about with running the ball). Having Ben back will give them a shot at keeping this a competitive game. Its an incredibly tall order for Ben coming off a 4 week hiatus and still likely not 100%. But with Ben in the game, nothing is out of reach. As ATL noted, we'll need better LT play this week from AVill. Hopefully it was just the first time jitters and he shakes them off. Wallace is definitely going to struggle with Atkins so AVill is not going to receive as much help this week if they don't put Spaeth & Miller on his side. Time to put your big boy pants on AVill! Look for Ben to dump the ball off a lot to Bell to take the energy out of the D-lineman. Hopefully that in turn draws the safeties down at some point.

D... Front 7 revolves around Tuitt's presence (and for that matter Heyward's). D-line depth is an issue. Hopefully with Shazier & JJ getting back to full health without any setbacks we will see some better play this week. I fear for what the secondary will look like without Gay out there. I'll keep my fingers crossed that his shoulder injury isn't as bad as initially thought to be. But on the bright side, we'll (hopefully) get to see Boykin. Tomlin's love-affair with Blake needs to come to an end. He's simply not getting the job done on the outside. As for the safeties, I agree that Golden has played well. Mitchell is improving so there's some evident "freshness" to that pile of dung that we call a secondary. But a turds still a turd...

Overall... I'm hoping this doesn't turn into a shootout but it could easily do just that. Being an AFCN game it is going to be very physical. Foster had some words of worry this week about potential knee-targeting. Lets pray that he's wrong. I expect the Stillers to play from behind most of the game. Hopefully the game doesn't get out of reach...

As I rub my lucky rabbits foot I will take the Bengals 28-24.

Likewise.

Interesting thoughts.

Foster and the Steeler media in general seem to think AVill played pretty well...I saw his comments on the sacks he gave up...faced the music, he felt like he learned a lot. If he plays well in this game and they are running that power play pulling DeCastro...they can run both left and right I think.

I would try to run it 30+ times in this game...keep Ben in 3rd and short vs 3rd and shotgun.

Things are quiet on the Gay front...I'm getting the sense that Boykin gets his 1st start or slot...I'm with you on Blake...the pick 6 still resonates with Tomlin I guess. He's going to keep running him out there.

It looks as if Grant will get bumped from the PS if Gay can't go and I see they signed another CB...Frey. On the SS front...there is some growing support (at least in the media) for Golden to be the man even when Will Allen is ready to return.

FYI...I tried the online version and it was a bit frustrating. This one I'm pretty sure CBS will put up a game against the Falcons and this their best 1p game...if not I'll be at the bar down the street...they have the tkt.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Probable:
Roethlisberger (knee)
Gay (shoulder)
Wallace (illness)

Out:
Tuitt (knee)
W Allen (ankle)
Garvin (knee)
Vick (hamstring)

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Sour taste after this game...

Coaching... Poor clock management by Tomlin. WTF was up with letting the clock run all the way to the 2 minutes when the team had 3 timeouts and it was 2nd & 9?? Playcalling wasn't great, but looked better than it had the past couple games. Still... Only 10 points with the 4 Killer B's out there? Granted that was for only 20 mins. Can’t put it all on Haley but he wasn’t helping the cause either. C

Offense... Struggled. Ben looked rusty. Poor decision making. Looked to me like he wasn’t shifting his weight while following through. Could be why his passes were sailing on him. He just didn't trust the leg, which is understandable since he's not at 100%. But hats off to Cincy D. They played lights out for most of the game. Thank god Ben had his trusty TE valve. O-line hung in there and battled. They ran with some success off the left side so AVill was doing his job. Holding penalties on Gilbert (2x), Foster, Miller & Spaeth really hurt them. C

Defense... Looked solid for the most part. Butler's decision to put McCullers inside and move McLendon outside in 3-4 was genius. I've been hoping they would do that for some time now. Anything to keep Cam Thomas off the field lol. Run D looked good today. Secondary looked ok, but stepped up big in crucial moments. They just got gassed late in the game when the offense couldn't stay on the field. 2 INT's that netted zero points, and not a single first down for that matter. That's a harsh situation to put any team in. The defense did its job today and gave this team every opportunity they could. Blake had a solid game against a top 5 WR in the NFL. He gave up a few plays, but overall he did well above what was expected. Mitchell came up with a great INT, but still goes on my crap list after the taunting penalty. That was just asinine & unprofessional. A vet like Mitchell should know better. Heyward deserves every penny of his contract. B+

ST... Dri Archer had a horrible game. Pinned us behind the 20 twice (once as far back as the 10yd line) from my count, possibly more. Kickoff coverage was awful. Nobody could block to save their life out there. Both KR & PR coverages have been awful this season. C

Overall/Outlook... Game could have gone either way. Ben was rusty and Cincy had 2 wks to prepare for PIT so I'm not going to knee-jerk too much after this game. Bell's injury stings, and will more than likely be every analysts' go-to reason why the Steelers season went down the crapper if it does. Steelers played hard against a SB contender and almost won. That's as good a reason as any to remain optimistic. Next week is C+

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Sour taste after this game...

Coaching... Poor clock management by Tomlin. WTF was up with letting the clock run all the way to the 2 minutes when the team had 3 timeouts and it was 2nd & 9?? Playcalling wasn't great, but looked better than it had the past couple games. Still... Only 10 points with the 4 Killer B's out there? Granted that was for only 20 mins. Can’t put it all on Haley but he wasn’t helping the cause either. C

Offense... Struggled. Ben looked rusty. Poor decision making. Looked to me like he wasn’t shifting his weight while following through. Could be why his passes were sailing on him. He just didn't trust the leg, which is understandable since he's not at 100%. But hats off to Cincy D. They played lights out for most of the game. Thank god Ben had his trusty TE valve. O-line hung in there and battled. They ran with some success off the left side so AVill was doing his job. Holding penalties on Gilbert (2x), Foster, Miller & Spaeth really hurt them. C

Defense... Looked solid for the most part. Butler's decision to put McCullers inside and move McLendon outside in 3-4 was genius. I've been hoping they would do that for some time now. Anything to keep Cam Thomas off the field lol. Run D looked good today. Secondary looked ok, but stepped up big in crucial moments. They just got gassed late in the game when the offense couldn't stay on the field. 2 INT's that netted zero points, and not a single first down for that matter. That's a harsh situation to put any team in. The defense did its job today and gave this team every opportunity they could. Blake had a solid game against a top 5 WR in the NFL. He gave up a few plays, but overall he did well above what was expected. Mitchell came up with a great INT, but still goes on my crap list after the taunting penalty. That was just asinine & unprofessional. A vet like Mitchell should know better. Heyward deserves every penny of his contract. B+

ST... Dri Archer had a horrible game. Pinned us behind the 20 twice (once as far back as the 10yd line) from my count, possibly more. Kickoff coverage was awful. Nobody could block to save their life out there. Both KR & PR coverages have been awful this season. C

Overall/Outlook... Game could have gone either way. Ben was rusty and Cincy had 2 wks to prepare for PIT so I'm not going to knee-jerk too much after this game. Bell's injury stings, and will more than likely be every analysts' go-to reason why the Steelers season went down the crapper if it does. Steelers played hard against a SB contender and almost won. That's as good a reason as any to remain optimistic. Next week is C+

Good job Face.

For me...the D is coming of age...I called this a close game...if you told me before the game that CIN would only score 16...I would've bet the mortgage on a W....the turnovers killed them.

In short, the D did it's job, and OFC did not. The stats look better than they really played...had they got 6 at the end to win it I can feel much better about the OFC , but so many sputters.

I'll reserve my other comments to the other thread just started on where to do we go.

 

[MISKO]

not making an excuse but I thought early in the game when ben got his knee dinged we were toast ... that had to be in his mind he was going to be gone for the season

 

[SteelersPride]

ben was fine, he moved fine, they just beat us, we beat ourselves too

 

[SteelersPride]

i re-affirm my hate for dri archer,