Steelers Today - A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

Troy Polamalu scored as many touchdowns as the Cincinnati Bengals’ entire offense did.  So did LaMarr Woodley.  Both intercepted Carson Palmer passes and returned them for touchdowns in the Steelers’ 23-7 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Steelers defense put on a truly dominant performance against the Bengals.  They held the Bengals to only 190 net yards total.  Of those, only 34 came on the ground.

And as if his “pick 6″ weren’t enough, Troy added another interception in the 4th quarter just for good measures.

Unfortunately, Troy’s first interception also left him limping for the rest of the game.  Hopefully, it is just a minor injury, and won’t effect him further.

Troy limps off the field

As effective as the defense was, the offense was equally impotent.

Once again, the Steelers’ offense was unable to score a touchdown.  The Steelers have only scored 2 touchdowns in their last 30 offensive possessions.

It has become the norm to see the Steelers get into their opponents’ red-zone, only to have them settle for a field goal.

A good example of this happened in the end of the second quarter.  The Steelers had the ball at the Bengals’ 5 yard line.  They attempted consecutive pass plays, and both almost resulted in interceptions.  Finally, they settled for a field goal.

Same thing happened in the third quarter.  The Steelers had the ball on the Bengals’ 19 yard line.  They attempted 3 consecutive (unsuccessful) pass plays, and then settled for a field goal.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m very happy with the performance that Shaun Suisham has turned in since replacing Jeff Reed.  Suisham has been perfect since joining the Steelers.  However, the Steelers seem to be on a collision course with the New England Patriots in the playoffs.  They will not be able to beat the Patriots if they can only score field goals.

The Steelers have three games remaining, and two of them are at Heinz Field.  Moreover, two of the Steelers’ remaining games are against teams with losing records (the Carolina Panthers and the Cleveland Browns).  The only game they have remaining against a team with a winning record is next week’s game against the New York Jets.

The Steelers have a very real possibility of finishing the season at 13-3 or 12-4.  They could potentially receive a first round bye in the playoffs.  However, unless they can find a way to score touchdowns instead of field goals, the Steelers’ playoff run might not be very long.

Fortunately, we have 3 games remaining to fix the problem.

Here we go Steelers, here we go!!!!

Today’s featured item:

What could possibly be better than having your bedroom decked out in black and gold?  Get your this Steelers bedroom set that includes bedding and drapes.

Please note that this set is a queen size bed.  Sets are also available for full size or twin size beds.  Make sure that you order the appropriate size for your bedroom set.

Don’t delay.  Order now!  There’s still time to get your set before the holidays.

(If you enjoyed this article, please consider leaving a comment by clicking on the square at the top right of this article.  Also, please subscribe to our blog by pressing the orange button below.  You can also follow us on Twitter by clicking the bird doohicky below.  Also consider following us on Facebook. Thanks.)

Subscribe in a reader

Last year the Cincinnati Bengals swept the AFC North on their way to winning the division championship.  But that was then, and this is now.

The Bengals come into Monday night’s showdown with the Steelers with the exact opposite record that the Steelers have.  The Steelers are 5-2, while the the defending champion Bengals are 2-5.

The Bengals are tied with the Cleveland Browns for last place in the AFC North.  Moreover, the Bengals are in the midst of a slump that saw them go 0-4 during the month of October.

Perhaps the biggest reason for the poor start by the Bengals is that they have abandoned the formula that they used to win the division in 2009.  The Bengals won the division by playing “Steeler football”; they ran the ball and played stout defense.

The Bengals were primarily a running team in 2009, and running back Cedrick Benson was the star of their offensive attack.  But this year, the Bengals have thrown the ball almost 100 times more than they’ve run the ball.  Cedrick Benson is an afterthought in an offense that now seems to focus on wide receivers Terrell Owens and Chad Ocho Cinco, and rookie tight end Jermaine Gresham.

In his first season with the Bengals, T.O. has emerged as Carson Palmer’s favorite target.  He leads the team in receptions (45), yards (629), and touchdowns (5).

Oddly, the biggest weakness on the team seems to be Palmer himself.  He’s tied for the lead in interceptions in the AFC.  When pressured, Palmer has been prone to throwing errant passes.  This should bode well for Steelers’ linebackers James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley, who absolutely LOVE to pressure passers.

But perhaps the biggest change for the Bengals has been their defensive letdown.  The Bengals were the 4th ranked defense in the NFL last season.  Their defense was ranked higher than the Steelers’.  But this year, the Bengals’ defense is ranked 19th in the NFL, and doesn’t seem to be able to stop anyone.

In particular, the Bengals’ rushing defense seems particularly vulnerable.  They allow 120.7 rushing yards per game.  This should have Rashard Mendenhall salivating.  Mendenhall hasn’t had a good game since Ben Roethlisberger returned from suspension.  The Bengals may be just what the doctor ordered to get Mendenhall back on track.

Of course the Steelers shouldn’t take the Bengals lightly.  After all, the Bengals swept the Steelers last season.  Also, the game will be played at Paul Brown Stadium in front of the Bengals’ home crowd, so they will have that advantage.

Fortunately, Steelers fans always manage to secure lots of tickets to games in Cincinnati.  So I’m confident that there will be plenty of Terrible Towels waving in the crowd.

Monday Night Football has always been friendly to the Steelers as well.  The Steelers and head coach Mike Tomlin have won 5 straight games on MNF, and will look to make it 6 this week.

If the Steelers play their game, they should be able to beat Cincinnati, despite being on the road.  The Bengals’ defense simply isn’t stout enough to stop the Steelers offense.  However, the inverse is not true.  The Steelers should be able to successfully shut down Carson Palmer and the Bengal’s offense.

I predict a Steelers win (that should surprise no one), by a final score of 24-13.

Here we go Steelers, here we go!

Today’s featured Steelers gear:

Not only are we Steelers bloggers, but we’re also Steelers fans.  We search hard for the coolest Steelers stuff.  We try to find Steelers gear that we want.  Then we make you aware of them in case you want to add them to your Steelers collection.

We love this Modern & Retro reversible full zip jacket.  This jacket features a great reversible look starting with an embroidered twill team name across the front of both sides; the microfiber side boasts of the current team logo in embroidered twill appliqué on the back and right sleeve with team color piping, while your retro, canvas side sports a throwback logo on the left sleeve and contrast, team color sleeves for unstoppable team spirit style that never gets boring!.

It’s like buying two Steelers jackets for the price of one.  How cool is that?!!

(If you enjoyed this article, please consider leaving a comment by clicking on the square at the top right of this article. Also, please subscribe to our blog by pressing the orange button below. You can also follow us on Twitter by clicking the bird doohicky below. Also consider following us on Facebook. Thanks.)

Subscribe in a reader

Here is Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin’s post-game press conference following the loss to the Bengals. Not much he could say. The team looked bad on offense, and they looked worse on special teams.

Oh well.  Sunday’s game is behind us.  The team is going to have to fight hard to maintain their position as a wild card team.  On to Kansas City.

(If you enjoyed this article, please consider leaving a comment below. Also, please subscribe to our blog by pressing the orange button below. You can also follow us on Facebook or Twitter by clicking the doohickies at the bottom of the right column of this page.  Thanks.)

Subscribe in a reader

The last time the Cincinnati Bengals won the AFC North was in 2005.  That’s the same season that the Steelers went on to win Super Bowl XL.

That is recent proof that all is not lost following the Steelers 18-12 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.  However, that doesn’t change the fact that the Steelers made things much more difficult for themselves by losing for a second time to the Bengals.

The Bengals now hold an almost insurmountable advantage in the division race.  It would take a miracle for the Steelers to wrestle the division crown from the Bengals grasp.  So if the Steelers are going to repeat as Super Bowl champs, it is going to have to be as a wild card team.

The Steelers defense looked impressive in the loss.  They held the Bengals to only 61 yards rushing.  They also held Carson Palmer to only 178 yards passing, while sacking him twice.  They didn’t allow a single touchdown to the Bengals’ offense, and stopped them 3 times in the red zone.  We really can’t ask them to do much more than that.

Unfortunately, the Steelers offense and special teams didn’t uphold their end of the deal.  The Steelers special teams allowed the only touchdown of the game.  Kicker Jeff Reed was within a few feet of Bengals return man Bernard Scott, and could have tackled him early in his run.  Unfortunately Reed didn’t even make an attempt to stop him.  He didn’t dive for his feet.  He didn’t stick out his leg to trip him.  He didn’t even reach out an arm to try to touch him.  He just let him coast by for a touchdown.

I know that Jeff Reed is a kicker, but can someone remind him that he’s also a football player.  And a professional football player at that.  He has to learn how to tackle. 

The Steelers offense didn’t do much better.  They didn’t generate a single touchdown despite being in the red zone 4 times. 

Part of the problem seemed to be the play calling.  The Steelers attempted 40 passes while only giving the ball to their running backs 16 times (Big Ben also ran the ball twice).  That’s more than a 2-1 ratio of passes to running plays.

The heavy emphasis on the passing game might have been okay if Roethlisberger was playing well.  But he wasn’t.  Big Ben completed only 50% of his passes, was sacked 4 times, and ended the game with a 51.5 quarterback rating.

Another incomplete pass

Did the Steelers forget that Rashard Mendenhall had rushed for 155 yards last week?  Did they not notice that Willie Parker averaged 7 yards per carry during the game, and that Mewelde Moore averaged 10.5 yards per carry?  Obviously they didn’t.  I think Big Ben and Bruce Arians grew too infatuated with the incomplete pass.

As if to add insult to injury (or should I say “add injury to insult”?), safety Troy Polamalu left the game due to an injury to his knee.  No prognosis was available, but Mike Tomlin said that Polamalu would undergo an MRI.  Hopefully, it’s nothing serious, and Troy won’t be out for an extended period of time.  We all saw what happened last time Polamalu was out of the Steelers lineup.

Fortunately for the Steelers, their next game is against the pathetic Kansas City Chiefs.  That may be just the tune-up that the team needs before traveling to Baltimore for their first of two remaining meetings with the Ravens.

Sunday’s loss means that the Steelers now have an uphill battle on the stairway to seven.  Next stop, Kansas City.

(If you enjoyed this article, please consider leaving a comment below. Also, please subscribe to our blog by pressing the orange button below. You can also follow us on Facebook or Twitter by clicking the doohickies at the bottom of the right column of this page.  Thanks.)

Subscribe in a reader

I firmly believe that the Steelers are going to beat the Bengals today.  Sure, the Bengals beat the Steelers earlier in the year, but we all know that that game was a fluke.  The Steelers were without Troy Polamalu and Rashard Mendenhall.  They were in Cincinnati.  They blew 10 points due to a missed field goal by Jeff Reed and a dropped touchdown pass by Limas Sweed.  And their defense completely disappeared in the 4th quarter.

This time the game will be played in Pittsburgh.  Troy Polamalu is back.  Rashard Mendenhall is running wild.  Limas Sweed is on the bench (where he belongs).  Jeff Reed has recaptured his mojo.  And the Steelers defense is once again playing like……the Steelers defense.

So when the Steelers beat the Bengals this afternoon, all will be well in Steelerland, right?  Well, not so fast.

Even with a win today, the Steelers will still have their work cut out for them.  The Bengals have already swept their season series with the Baltimore Ravens.  Meanwhile, the Steelers have yet to face the Ravens.  Beating them once is always tough.  Beating them twice is extremely difficult.

The Bengals are 4-0 within the AFC North.  The Steelers are 1-1.  That’s a significant advantage for the Bengals.  And if the Bengals somehow win today, the advantage probably becomes insurmountable.

If we look at their remaining schedules, the Bengals seem to have a fairly easy path for the rest of the season.  The Bengals next three games are against the Oakland Raiders, the Cleveland Browns, and the Detroit Lions.  I’d say those are probably 3 easy wins for the Bengals.  The Bengals also have games remaining against the Kansas City Chiefs and the New York Jets.  Those are also probably wins for the Bengals.  The only two challenging opponents remaining on the Bengals’ schedule are the Minnesota Vikings and the San Diego Chargers.  Both games are on the road, so I’m going to assume that the Bengals will lose one, but not both games.  That would mean that the Bengals would end the season with a 12-4.

Meanwhile, the Steelers still have two games remaining against the Ravens.  The Ravens are 4-4 right now, but we all know that neither team’s record matters when these two teams face one another.  The Ravens are particularly difficult to beat in Baltimore.  So there is a possibility that the Steelers might lose one of the two games against the Ravens.  That would dig the Steelers an even bigger hole in their division tie breaker.

Besides the Ravens, the Steelers have a fairly easy path for the rest of the season.  They have games remaining against perennial losers like the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oakland Raiders, and the Cleveland Browns.  The Steelers also have to face a pretty good Green Bay Packers team, and an enigmatic Miami Dolphins team.

I don’t foresee the Steelers losing to the any of these teams.  But I didn’t foresee them losing to the Bengals or Bears either.  If the Steelers lose one of their games to the Ravens, and then drop a game to one of their remaining opponents (e.g. the Green Bay Packers), they will probably end the season in a tie with the Bengals.  That will leave the Steelers in an unfavorable position with the tie-breakers.  The Bengals will probably have a better record in the division.  They will probably also have a better record against common opponents (that Chicago Bears loss comes back to haunt us).

The bottom line is that if the Steelers lose today, they will have placed themselves in a very difficult predicament.  Catching the Bengals will be almost impossible.

The obvious solution to this problem is for the Steelers to win.  They need to beat the Bengals today, and then keep on winning.  They have to sweep their series against the Ravens (not an easy task).  They also need to make sure they don’t suffer any more unexpected losses (e.g. Chiefs, Browns, or Raiders).  Then they have to take care of business against the two respectable non-division opponents remaining on their schedule (Packers & Dolphins).

I guess it all goes back to something that we all learned on the playground in kindergarten; winning is good, and losing is bad.  If the Steelers keep winning, things will be good for them.  If they suffer another loss or two, things will be bad. 

The team’s fate is completely in their own hands.  They know what they have to do.  Beat the Bengals.  Beat the Ravens (twice).  Beat the doormats (Raiders, Browns, and Chiefs).  Beat the Packers.  Beat the Dolphins.  It’s as simple as that.

To quote a once great man who is now obviously senile; “Just win, baby!”

(If you enjoyed this article, please consider leaving a comment below. Also, please subscribe to our blog by pressing the orange button below. You can also follow us on Facebook or Twitter by clicking the doohickies at the bottom of the right column of this page.  Thanks.)

Subscribe in a reader