What should we expect from the Steelers?

[aaronburr]

Maybe I'm just overthinking things, but Monday night's game has me scratching my head....

1. Can we really expect the Steelers to play two horrible games in a row? Even with a short week?

2. Does humiliation on national TV mean they'll play with a chip on their shoulder? Can we take advantage of guys like Roethlisberger playing "outside of himself" trying to make up for MNF? If so, I smell interceptions.

3. Does Roethlisberger's horrid performance two games in a row (including the Super Bowl) mean Cowher will be more likely to pull him? Cowher's defense of Ben makes me think he's also defending the decision to play him. Does he want to do that 2 weeks in a row?

3a. Which is better for us, a horrible Roethlisberger (with excuses a-plenty) or a healthy Charlie Batch (with slightly fewer excuses)?

4. Does 167 yards of total offense mean they'll throw out the playbook and show us something we've never seen before?

[PhunkE1]

Ben did look a bit lost at times last night. Our defense is vastly improved, but it's not anywhere close to Jax.

I don't think there's any chance of Ben getting benched in favor of CBatch. Ben's escapability is invaluable in the pocket. I see Pitt coming out trying to run allot of Off Tackle runs as well as sweeps and stretch runs to try and take the preasure of Ben. They tried to run up the middle far to often last night when DT is the strength of the Jack D. All in all I see us taking advantage of an offense that's struggling to find their identity. Bettis meant so much as a leader and the Pitt bravado. I think we'll take this game 27-20.

[Stripes]

1. Can we really expect the Steelers to play two horrible games in a row? Even with a short week?

No. They'll come out with a fire to try and make amends for yesterdays shutout embarassment in front of their home crowd.

2. Does humiliation on national TV mean they'll play with a chip on their shoulder? Can we take advantage of guys like Roethlisberger playing "outside of himself" trying to make up for MNF? If so, I smell interceptions.

Yeah, I think it does. The Bengals have a much bigger chip on their shoulders though.

3. Does Roethlisberger's horrid performance two games in a row (including the Super Bowl) mean Cowher will be more likely to pull him? Cowher's defense of Ben makes me think he's also defending the decision to play him. Does he want to do that 2 weeks in a row?

I doubt Batch will play at all in a game Big Ben starts, unless the Steelers are winning big. I think if they'll beat us though, it'll be despite Roethlisberger.

3a. Which is better for us, a horrible Roethlisberger (with excuses a-plenty) or a healthy Charlie Batch (with slightly fewer excuses)?

Ben. Who cares about excuses? I'd rather just beat their starter and ignore the other crap.

4. Does 167 yards of total offense mean they'll throw out the playbook and show us something we've never seen before?

Nah, I don't think so. Cowher will be more confident in his physical gameplan against our defense than he ever could have been against the Jags. Hopefully that confidence ends up crushed.

[ArmyBengal]

Could it be that none of this stuff about the Steelers really matters at all and the Jags are just that dominant of a team this year ?? When push comes to shove, the Bengals are just going to have to WANT IT MORE than the Steelers, who will be pumped up in front of the home crowd, going against their hated division rival !!!

WHODEY !!!

[aaronburr]

Could it be that none of this stuff about the Steelers really matters at all and the Jags are just that dominant of a team this year ?? When push comes to shove, the Bengals are just going to have to WANT IT MORE than the Steelers, who will be pumped up in front of the home crowd, going against their hated division rival !!!

WHODEY !!!

I usually agree with you, Army, but in one sentence you suggest that it's about whichever team is better, then the next sentence you say it's all about emotion. Doesn't make sense to me.

My overall point was that I'd rather play the Steelers after a mediocre win against a mediocre team, then after a humiliating loss on national TV. If they were humiliated because they're a worse team than the Jags, then so be it. I think they'll play differently as a result.

(Still think we'll win, though.)

[NYBengalfan]

4. Does 167 yards of total offense mean they'll throw out the playbook and show us something we've never seen before?

Nah, I don't think so. Cowher will be more confident in his physical gameplan against our defense than he ever could have been against the Jags. Hopefully that confidence ends up crushed.

I hope he tries that physical s**t against us. I think that Big Sam is helping us out a lot. They dont have Fat Bus any more to help them with his fat making him fall foreward every time. Willie will get crushed b/c he is not a 25 carry RB(Sam will stuff him). Rashad Jeanty is a solid replacement along with Brian Simmons who has had a hell of a start to this season.

[Stripes]

Agreed, NY.

While I don't think the loss of Bettis was all that devastating to the Steelers, the effects will probably be most felt in this game. Our defense is tailor made now with speed all over the field to stop guys like Willie Parker. Bettis would have worried me a lot coming into this game. It was usually him that imposed his physical will on our defensive line and crushed our moral early on.

[Dan2330]

Just got back from Jacksonville, was in town for MNF, got to say love seeing the Steelers lose. Best part of the game was when leaving the stadium and walking past Steeler fans and yelling out "Who Dey". From what I saw at the game it looked like a lot of rust on Big Ben's part. Ward had a couple of drops, Steelers were moving the ball good on the first series but then flat lined after that. Jags were playing some pumped up defense, special teams kept burying the Steelers inside the 10 yard line and fans were going nuts at the game. I fully expect to see the Steelers do what they do best next week, pound the ball and mix in high percentage passing.

[aaronburr]

3a. Which is better for us, a horrible Roethlisberger (with excuses a-plenty) or a healthy Charlie Batch (with slightly fewer excuses)?

Ben. Who cares about excuses? I'd rather just beat their starter and ignore the other crap.

I agree regarding the excuses. It's just getting harder to avoid them since they're the defending Super Bowl champs and get all that extra exposure. Even when Cowher is talking about how it was a 100.4 degree fever instead of a 104 degree fever, he's gotta mention that....

Cowher noted that Roethlisberger and top receiver Hines Ward had not even practiced together for more than a month until last week. Ward sat out much of training camp with a hamstring injury.

"There's no substitute for playing time," Cowher said. "And we have [now] gotten Ben that."

I'm just glad we'll never hear Carson complaining about losing snaps during his recovery.

[ArmyBengal]

Could it be that none of this stuff about the Steelers really matters at all and the Jags are just that dominant of a team this year ?? When push comes to shove, the Bengals are just going to have to WANT IT MORE than the Steelers, who will be pumped up in front of the home crowd, going against their hated division rival !!!

WHODEY !!!

I usually agree with you, Army, but in one sentence you suggest that it's about whichever team is better, then the next sentence you say it's all about emotion. Doesn't make sense to me.

My overall point was that I'd rather play the Steelers after a mediocre win against a mediocre team, then after a humiliating loss on national TV. If they were humiliated because they're a worse team than the Jags, then so be it. I think they'll play differently as a result.

(Still think we'll win, though.)

I was trying to make the point that the Jags are a MUCH better team than most give them credit for (they finished 12-4 last year) and the Bengals don't have the defense that the Jags do. With that, the Steelers aren't a crappy team based on the performance of one game and if the Bengals want to come into Pittsburgh and beat them, they will have to want it more because they don't have the talent on defense the Jags do. (At least on the defensive line)...

WHODEY !!!

[NYBengalfan]

Just got back from Jacksonville, was in town for MNF, got to say love seeing the Steelers lose. Best part of the game was when leaving the stadium and walking past Steeler fans and yelling out "Who Dey". From what I saw at the game it looked like a lot of rust on Big Ben's part. Ward had a couple of drops, Steelers were moving the ball good on the first series but then flat lined after that. Jags were playing some pumped up defense, special teams kept burying the Steelers inside the 10 yard line and fans were going nuts at the game. I fully expect to see the Steelers do what they do best next week, pound the ball and mix in high percentage passing.

As far as the Steeler special teams, I think that Bringing up McNeal, we should put him at PR!!!(WITHOUT A DOUBT!)

What is Tab's Status for Sunday?

If he doesnt go I say put reggie on KR too!

[jeffreedrocks]

Hey there guys, remember me?

Its good to see you all are still here. Let me apologise for my lack of attendance from the board.

Lets get a few things straight, in case people may have forgotten me

1) I'm a Steelers fan, through and through, been that way since birth

2) I enjoy what the Bengals bring to the table of the NFL, AFC-N in general.

3) I respect the Bengals, but not necessarily like them

4) I come here for intelligent intra-team discussion.

Good luck to the Cinci boys when they roll into the Iron City on Sunday. I suspect the team that you saw on Monday night and the team that Cinci will see on Sunday will be 2 different teams. I think the key matchups to look for in this game are

1) Sam Adams v. Alan Faneca/Kendall Simmons

Adams is a beast and will eat Simmons up, Kendall Simmons cant block s**t.

2) Chad Johnson v. Ike Taylor

Ike has had success in cover Chad in the past. These two are a great matchup and are about even as far as ability goes, in my opinion.

3) TJ Houshmanzadeh (sp?) v. Deshea Townsend

I'm just speculating that these two will be paired up, could be interesting. In my opinion, when going against the Steelers, TJ is more of a threat.

4) Deltha O'Neal v. Hines Ward

Could be a good matchup.

In my thoughts, I'm looking forward to this game. I'm not going to lie and say I hope the Bengals dont lose, but sorry, some things you just cant fight. I hope this is as good as the hype will be.

[schweinhart]

I'd expect the Steelers to run a Parker stretch just about every set of downs. They'll do their best to try to duplicate what Willis McGahee did in the preseason and Willie did himself last year vs. the Bengals for a 30-some yard TD run. There's one reason to expect that maybe Caleb Miller shows up more at strongside backer this week to try to get more speed in dealing with Parker on stretch runs. Miller probably isn't as physical as Jeanty playing in trash but he did have a nice play strongside on Droighns on a pass in the flats where he dragged Droughns down despite a solid stiff arm.

They'll probably try not to rely so much on Big Bozo throwing like they did vs. Jags. The practice will help him be more accurate. The Jags have a solid secondary -- Brian Williams played really well, Mathis held his own and the safeties might be the best pair in the league. If the Bengals have to rely on Tory James with centerfield help from K2, then the results will look a lot like the end of last year and probably lead to the same problems the Benals had with this pair in the wildcard loss. I would expect the Steelers to try to isolate Cedric Wilson on James again deep but soften that side up with a lot of outs to Ward to force James to make a lot of tackles. I hope they used Ward a lot more in the slot where Joseph can deal with him because I do believe Joseph is physical enough to exploit how the Steelers rely on Ward.

Also, I'd expect more Heath Miller catches and some gadget plays from Whiz.

Overall, I think the Bengals can hold the Steelers offense to 13 points. But special teams wise and giving up either points or position to their defense should up what the Steelers get. I'll say they score 20.

[derekshank]

Did anyone notice how big of an impact Darius (the Jags SS) was on the Steelers offense? That is a concern to me since Dexter is out. Madieu better play the run strong, because KK is a liability back there.

On the other hand... Ben's poor play didn't seem to do with anything "tricky" the defense was doing. Ben didn't throw INT's until late in the game, but his accuracy was off, because you could tell he didn't want to get hurt. And after that shot he took in the gut late in the game, I doubt he'll feel any different on Sunday. We need to blitz early on often to get pressure on him. If we are successful, he'll have another bad game.

[ArmyBengal]

Speaking of who to notice on the Jags, did anyone notice how their punter kept the Steelers deep in their own end most of the game with his punts ?? Great special teams indeed !!!

WHODEY !!!

[CJBestInAFC]

Hey there guys, remember me?

Its good to see you all are still here. Let me apologise for my lack of attendance from the board.

Lets get a few things straight, in case people may have forgotten me

1) I'm a Steelers fan, through and through, been that way since birth

2) I enjoy what the Bengals bring to the table of the NFL, AFC-N in general.

3) I respect the Bengals, but not necessarily like them

4) I come here for intelligent intra-team discussion.

Good luck to the Cinci boys when they roll into the Iron City on Sunday. I suspect the team that you saw on Monday night and the team that Cinci will see on Sunday will be 2 different teams. I think the key matchups to look for in this game are

1) Sam Adams v. Alan Faneca/Kendall Simmons

Adams is a beast and will eat Simmons up, Kendall Simmons cant block s**t.

2) Chad Johnson v. Ike Taylor

Ike has had success in cover Chad in the past. These two are a great matchup and are about even as far as ability goes, in my opinion.

3) TJ Houshmanzadeh (sp?) v. Deshea Townsend

I'm just speculating that these two will be paired up, could be interesting. In my opinion, when going against the Steelers, TJ is more of a threat.

4) Deltha O'Neal v. Hines Ward

Could be a good matchup.

In my thoughts, I'm looking forward to this game. I'm not going to lie and say I hope the Bengals dont lose, but sorry, some things you just cant fight. I hope this is as good as the hype will be.

I think one major matchup will be who ever is covering Chris Henry. He broke a 100 yards recieving with only 4 catches. I really do think he will have another huge game for the Bengals against the Steelers. Another important matchup will be Rudi against Pitt. D. I have never seen Rudi look so dominant since he was drafted by the Bengals. If you don't stop Rudi the Steelers will lose. He just pounds the ball and wears the D, but I don't think it will take a lot less pounding from Rudi since Jacksonville really took it to Pitts. D. So what is the status with Troy. I think he will be a liability for the Steelers because he wont be able to tackle well with that bumb shoulder. Same type of injury happened to M. Williams last year. I would put those matchups on your list also.

[duus]

Another important thing to recall from the game ...

Notice how the Jags kept Ben in the pocket and pressured from the ends. If coverage is good (and it was in that game), then Ben is forced to throw under pressure and we all know that doesn't work for him. Folks like to talk about how tough 'big ben' is, but I think this is a myth, especially if we are talking about standing in the pocket under heavy pressure. Compare what you saw from Ben to what you might have seen from Eli Manning. I saw Manning stand in the pocket and take a few big shots to the mid-section, right after releasing the ball. Not with Ben. He pushed the ball out there, and tried to duck at the very last second to miss the hit. I think the guy is a bit gunshy right now. Not sure if it is from the accident, lack of playing time or what, but I don't believe I saw him do that at all last year, and yet I saw it at least 3 times in this one game.

Oh, and isn't he looking much smaller than a year ago?

[derekshank]

Just a little note:

The Steelers lost on Monday night. They got punched in the mouth, couldn't run the ball, and Ben had to throw the ball more than 25 times for less than 150 yards and 2 INT's.

You know... this happened once before. Last year, when the lost to the Colts. The couldn't run the ball, Ben threw the ball more than 25 times for less than 150 yards and 2 INT's.

What happened right after that game? The Bengals went into Pittsburgh and hung 38 on them. This is almost the exact same scenario as last year. Hopefully the result will also be the same.

[jeffreedrocks]

Agreed on your point. However, the Bengals put up 38 points to the Steelers 31 points. It was a big offense game. Bengals got a gift wrapped INT as I recall.

Troy was definitley not the same guy with his bum shoulder. Hopefully he will get better.

Chris Henry's coverage will be interesting. I would hope that they would put Bryant McFadden on him, but the chances are better of it being Ricardo Colclough (advantage = Bengals, Colclough sucks).

Ben may be a bit gunshy this year, I cant necessarily say that I blame him. A car is totaled because of his body. Also, Ben lost weight in the off season....that will happen when your jaw is broken. We'll see how Ben reacts when he's at home. That was the first full game he has played since SBXL, and he has to re-adjust to full speed football, not that pre-season s**t.

[Walrus]

Anyone else see more sacks in our future? Cleveland ran maximum protection last week, so we didn't get any, but does anyone see Heath Miller being kept in to block this week? No, me neither. Consequently, I expect to see Smith, Peko and Geathers springing loose in Roethlesberger's grill. Not to mention the occasional corner blitz. I would be surprised if we got any fewer than 4 sacks on Sunday.

[Stripes]

The Steelers have struggled some in pass protection this year, so sacks are a possibility. I'd say it's the same story from their end though... We gave up 4 sacks to the Browns. Given the situation at center, we could see more of that against the Steelers. It'll be good to have Levi back.

If Houshmandzadeh plays (I think he's questionable right now), then I also expect big things from Chris Henry in this one. The Steelers are a little lacking in depth in the secondary, and I don't think they have anyone capable of containing him consistently.

I think Ike will play Chad well again, but I'd be surprised if he didn't finally find the endzone against them. The questions regarding Polamalu might prove very important when Ike needs help in coverage. He didn't just seem to be sagging one arm, but he was moving a little slower than I am used to seeing him against the Jags.

The most consistent RB to face the Steelers in recent seasons has been Rudi Johnson. Rudi looks better than ever this year... If we can get him going with any marginal consistency, we'll have a huge advantage.