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Steelers at Bengals Game Thread 9/27/2009


membengal

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Will this one play out according to how it has looked on the field the first few weeks? Will Pittsburgh continue to struggle running the ball? Will Roeth continue to have to try and do it by himself? Can Cincy's line block the Steelers enough to run the ball themselves?

Dunno.

But at least today we find out.

Bring pre-game and game chatter here.

Fair warning to the new Steeler interloper fans who infected the site last night, we have a smack forum thread. You want to talk smack? Go there.

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This one will be a true measuring stick for the Bengals.

Are the Steelers as vulnerable as many think? Are they still enjoying their Super Bowl win? And are the Bengals this suddenly good football team?

Several keys for me will be the Bengals ability to run and whether the pass offense has shaken off the rust. And for the Steelers, will they be able to run the ball against the Bengals as they have in the past and will they take the Bengals seriously as an opponent? I'll also be looking for #55 of the Bengals and that 86-guy for the Steelers to see if their paths cross at anytime.

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At least on paper and on the field the first few weeks, the Bengals have definitely changed their approach. Defense is a good thing.

I have more questions about the mental part of if. Are they different enough in players and approach to put aside their history with Pittburgh? I hope so.

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Of all opponents, our predictability as a weakness is the most exploited by the Steelers. No one knows how to beat the Bengals better than our rivals up the river.

Brat's offensive scheming has always relied on out-executing the opponent, placing all of the pressure on the players to make a play out of the known scheme. In the past, there has been very little innovation and a general unwillingness to implement gross changes on offense.

Unless they innovate and utilize the players they have for their strengths (like getting Henry into the pass game and Scott into the run game), instead of forcing them to adapt to the scheme, they will continue to be eminently predictable and easy to figure.

Further, the overall lack of adjustments, or mis-adjustments (like stopping running the ball vs Denver) is just as concerning. Brat has never shown the ability to modify the game plan in-game to exploit a specific weakness they expose. If they do adjust, it comes off as more of a panic button move that rarely works.

For today, the game plan MUST include exploiting the weak Steelers secondary with short/medium passes to neutralize the zone blitz. the run game will open up with play action off of this and the dep ball will subsequently open up. Starting with the deep ball may work, just depends on the blitz reads that Carson can make. Also, going some no-huddle would also seem to be a good idea, as keeping the Steelers in react mode will also negate some blitzing.

If the O tries to muscle the Steelers and "brawl", I see a very frsutrating day, despite my beief that loading the right side with Williams, Collins and ROland can give Benson ample room to mash for chunks of yards.

I feel if the Bengals open up with new looks and keep the Steelers D wondering, the Bengals can win handily - 27 - 13

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Will this one play out according to how it has looked on the field the first few weeks? Will Pittsburgh continue to struggle running the ball? Will Roeth continue to have to try and do it by himself? Can Cincy's line block the Steelers enough to run the ball themselves?

Dunno.

But at least today we find out.

Bring pre-game and game chatter here.

Fair warning to the new Steeler interloper fans who infected the site last night, we have a smack forum thread. You want to talk smack? Go there.

Thanks to Aaron/membengal for starting the Game Thread again. He did it last week, and Cincy came away a winner! Lets keep it rolling!

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