Bengals @ Steelers Pregame Thread

[Sea Ray]

I doubt they bring anyone in, it's just too late. More likely they bring CLH back up off the PS.

Or maybe McCaleb?

[HoosierCat]

I doubt they bring anyone in, it's just too late. More likely they bring CLH back up off the PS.

Or maybe McCaleb?

I doubt he's ready, if he ever will be.

[gregcook68]

I doubt they bring anyone in, it's just too late. More likely they bring CLH back up off the PS.

Or maybe McCaleb?

Speaking of McCaleb, isn't he the guy Ken Riley is mentoring? If memory serves me correctly, I believe he thinks McCaleb can be one of the best he's ever seen.

Let me see if I can find that link.

I found a link where Riley is mentoring but cannot find the quote where Riley speaks highly of him. I know I read it somewhere, but too much for this old 60 year old mind to remember and recall!!

[walzav29]

Sunday is a great test for the playoffs. Pittsburgh will try and ram the ball down Cincy's throats. They will go after Dre the other plays. They are at home. Embarassed, and this would be a hi-lite to a horrible season. This victory will be earned. Cincinnati has more talent. This is where we find out how much heart.

[combatbengal]

Throw out the records, throw out the injury list, throw out who's starting or who's not, throw out who has a chance for the playoffs and who doesn't. It doesn't matter. When the Bengals, Steelers, Browns and Ravens play each other, none of those factors matter. It's always a dog fight and most of the time the game is determined on who has the ball last.

I'm hoping we go in to PA and play like we did against the Colts! Andy has to be pin point on his throws. He has to mix it up with who he's throwing to and mix up the play calling. The weather forecast may put a factor in that as well.

Defense needs to rush and sack Ben all day. We can not let him out of the pocket or let him run!

[Sea Ray]

I doubt they bring anyone in, it's just too late. More likely they bring CLH back up off the PS.

Or maybe McCaleb?

Speaking of McCaleb, isn't he the guy Ken Riley is mentoring? If memory serves me correctly, I believe he thinks McCaleb can be one of the best he's ever seen.

Let me see if I can find that link.

I found a link where Riley is mentoring but cannot find the quote where Riley speaks highly of him. I know I read it somewhere, but too much for this old 60 year old mind to remember and recall!! :lmao:/>

Yes, Ken Riley spoke very highly of him on Bengalsline a week ago. I doubt he's ready to start but he may very well be ready to contribute some snaps at nickel CB

[ArmyBengal]

I agree with Mem's comments about what he saw with the pass rush in the game.

It just didn't appear to be much emphasis on sending many blitz packages.

That being said, there was pressure on Luck a good amount of time and minus poor tackling, the score wouldn't have been that.

I expect this game to be a shootout if the weather isn't poor.

I think Antonio Brown presents major problems for our secondary with or without Newman.

The injuries hurt though.

I haven't heard a word about Shawn Williams. Just hasn't developed ??

He should be at a point that bringing in the 3rd round pick due to injuries is feasible.

I think Crocker does better in the nickel role and not so much at the SS spot.

There looked to be a dropoff when Iloka went down.

Stick to running the ball and don't turn the ball over.

This is NOT a game you could call based on records alone.

Tough.

[HoosierCat]

Throw out the records, throw out the injury list, throw out who's starting or who's not, throw out who has a chance for the playoffs and who doesn't. It doesn't matter. When the Bengals, Steelers, Browns and Ravens play each other, none of those factors matter. It's always a dog fight and most of the time the game is determined on who has the ball last.

Nine times out of ten I would agree with you, combat. But this is that one other time. The Bengals should win this game handily. That said, it will probably end up close because lord knows the Bengals love doing things the hard way, but these are not the Steelers of old. They aren't even the Steelers of recent. They are a shell of a team. Most of their talent is old, slow and overpaid. Veterans are already moving on. The QB and OC have a long-simmering feud that bubbled over again after the loss to Miami. Roethlisberger has been the subject of trade and pay cut rumors -- no surprise since they remain in salary cap hell. For the past couple years they have bled talent, both players and coaches (Wallace, Arians, Wisenhunt, etc.) while retaining bums like Woodley and -- gawd love him but it's time -- Dick LeBeau. By and large their recent drafts have been flops. And their head coach looks less like The Chin and more like Dave Shula II with each passing day.

I said a couple weeks back that the Steelers wouldn't win another game all year. I'm sticking with that. :bengal:/>

[gregcook68]

Throw out the records, throw out the injury list, throw out who's starting or who's not, throw out who has a chance for the playoffs and who doesn't. It doesn't matter. When the Bengals, Steelers, Browns and Ravens play each other, none of those factors matter. It's always a dog fight and most of the time the game is determined on who has the ball last.

Nine times out of ten I would agree with you, combat. But this is that one other time. The Bengals should win this game handily. That said, it will probably end up close because lord knows the Bengals love doing things the hard way, but these are not the Steelers of old. They aren't even the Steelers of recent. They are a shell of a team. Most of their talent is old, slow and overpaid. Veterans are already moving on. The QB and OC have a long-simmering feud that bubbled over again after the loss to Miami. Roethlisberger has been the subject of trade and pay cut rumors -- no surprise since they remain in salary cap hell. For the past couple years they have bled talent, both players and coaches (Wallace, Arians, Wisenhunt, etc.) while retaining bums like Woodley and -- gawd love him but it's time -- Dick LeBeau. By and large their recent drafts have been flops. And their head coach looks less like The Chin and more like Dave Shula II with each passing day.

I said a couple weeks back that the Steelers wouldn't win another game all year. I'm sticking with that. :bengal:/>/>/>/>

I compare Bengal fans kind of like the Red Sox fans were before they finally won another World Series. They were always waiting to see how they were going to blow it this time! Also, there's this mystique about national televised games and the Bengals record in those games.

I think once we win a playoff game or two and especially the Superbowl you will see a different attitude by the fans like you do Red Sox fans now.

I do agree with Hooiser though, I think this is that year, I truly do even with the injuries. Keep in mind I think the Ravens had like 15 injuries last year going into the playoffs.

[Sea Ray]

Think of how far we've come as Bengal fans in a little over a year. When we played the Steelers in Oct of 2012, our Reds team had just been finished off by the Giants and fans were not enthused about our chances vs the Steelers. I remember the call in shows, etc where the fans had the attitude of they're Pittsburgh, we're the Bengals. Why get all excited. We know they'll beat us. Fans did not even consider that Bengal team to be playoff bound. We felt inferior to the Steelers.

We've come a long way in a short period of time

[kingwilly]

What I'm keen to watch:

Dre Kirkpatrick - seeing him get significant snaps will be hugely insightful as to his ongoing development. Josh K had nice comparison to the Simpson development quandary. Albeit, Dre has been held back by injuries and three other veteran r1 picks at CB.

D-line - after only modest push v Luck, will be interesting to see how they go after Ben and his so called "O line". I think he will be vulnerable, especially if they get behind early. Stopping Leveon Bell will also be a task, he is fast and runs with power. Weather might dictate the playcalls to a large extent.

Offense/Good Andy - also will be critical to see the current offense maintain its diversity in playcalls and keep good execution. Gresh and Eifert could have big days, as the Steelers LBs suck at covering athletic TEs, Charles Clay just went 7-99 with 2 TDs in loss to Miami. The Pitt corners are also subject to being burned, they gave up the monster game to Browns WR Josh Gordon, going over 230 yds. Plenty of hay to be made in the air but want them to stay balanced behind the reconfigured line. Now, let's see them get a 4th consecutive game without giving up a sack. All good stuff.

Marvin - we have not seen many classic "doh" moments from Marvin in recent weeks. No ugly challenges or idiotic timeouts. Would like to see this run continue. Fingers crossed.

Overall, Steelers are but a shadow of what they once were. Deficient in talent, old/injured and poor offensive scheme likely mean a Bengals win. Taking care of business, Bengals win this one 24-13.

-------

Edit to add, I see NE losing at Miami and Bengals slotting into the 2 seed. Miami has everything to play for and NE is on the downard slope, kind of like the Steelers but to a lesser extent.

[Wraith]

The league will intervene on the basis that everyone knows that New England is the better team.....you just can't have CINCINNATI with a bye in the playoffs that would mean they were only two games away from the Super Bowl, oh the humanity!

[HoosierCat]

Edit to add, I see NE losing at Miami and Bengals slotting into the 2 seed. Miami has everything to play for and NE is on the downard slope, kind of like the Steelers but to a lesser extent.

Yeah, I like the Fins this week, too. Miami was actually up 17-3 at the half when they played in Foxboro earlier this season, but Tannehill threw two second-half picks and took a sack that killed a FG. If they just clean up their mistakes, they should win.

[HoosierCat]

The league will intervene on the basis that everyone knows that New England is the better team.....you just can't have CINCINNATI with a bye in the playoffs that would mean they were only two games away from the Super Bowl, oh the humanity!

On a related note, odd thing I noticed today: the AFC is shaping up to send all but one of the same teams to the playoffs that went last season. Chiefs instead of the Texans is the only tweak (though Miami for Baltimore could happen too). Meanwhile, on the NFC side only two teams will probably repeat from 2012, with the Falcons, Skins, Pack and Vikes all falling out.

[Kazkal]

I'm concerned about loss of Newman. Dre obviously will get a chance to step up but this only leaves 3 true CBs on the roster. One of them goes down, not a stretch considering the injury history of Pacman, Dre and Ghee, and there is little there to play CB (maybe Crocker in the slot or CHL from PS).

Might it be time to bring in a FA?

Also, with Iloka maybe out, Shawn Williams should get some playing time.

Any update on Zeitler? Getting him back at RG could mean they run over Pittsburgh, which I'd like to see. Maybe even some jumbo dinosaur line stuff, Roland to the right of Fat Andre.

Deon Sanders is available ^.^ I'm sure he still faster then some other CB's out there heh

[Kazkal]

What

The

Fuk???

http://www.cbssports...llace-in-a-pile

Wow...I can't wait for every Steelers fan I ever see I'll replay that moment for them hahaha.

For the Steelers fans ghosting the forum

[combatbengal]

I hope you're right Hoosier. I would love to see a huge win in PA but I think this will be a dog fight!! Let's just hope the right Bengal team shows up to play.

[HoosierCat]

Crazy Pete thinks things will break our way.

/>http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/features/writers/prisco/picks

[gregcook68]

I hope you're right Hoosier. I would love to see a huge win in PA but I think this will be a dog fight!! Let's just hope the right Bengal team shows up to play.

Well the average Bengal fan is waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak.

"Oh they never play well on national television!"

"They've won 3 in a row, time for that letdown loss!"

"Newman's out, they don't have the secondary to stop the pass!"

I'm with Hoosier. I think this team is hungry and Pittsburgh is reeling! You know things are getting bad when the coach is trying to cheat to win.

[Kazkal]

Crazy Pete thinks things will break our way.

/>http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/features/writers/prisco/picks

Funny I was reading some of the comments and it seems like no fan wants Prisco to pick their team.

[jjakq27]

What

The

Fuk???

http://www.cbssports...llace-in-a-pile

Wow...I can't wait for every Steelers fan I ever see I'll replay that moment for them hahaha.

For the Steelers fans ghosting the forum

Where is Peter Griffin with those Butt-scratchers when you need one?

[combatbengal]

Here are some interesting facts.

First contested

November 2, 1970

Number of meetings

87

Most recent meeting

September 16th, 2013

Next meeting

Sunday night Baby!!

All-time series

PIT: 53-34

Regular season series

PIT: 52-34

Postseason results

PIT: 1-0, They broke our QB's leg and we had to depend on Kitna!!

January 8, 2006, Steelers won 31-17

Largest victory

CIN: 42-7 (11/06/1988)

Longest win streak

CIN: 6 (1988-1990)

PIT: 8 (1991-1994)

Current streak

CIN: 2 wins

[combatbengal]

I love American history!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Efiv8emyxU

[ArmyBengal]

I don't know what the forecast is, but either way around, I want to continue seeing a running game that beats up the Steelers defense and eats the clock.

That and not only get to Ben, but get him on the ground. Giving him additional time with our secondary is my only concern.

[Scottishbengal]

We don't have a strong secondary, and we don't have depth at secondary ... giving the Steelers pass protection and allowing Ruthless-bugger time to pick an open receiver is my main concern. We need blitz packages that will get players in Big Bens face, knock him down and harrass him all day long to disrupt any passing plays.

The Bengals (IMO) should run the ball first and foremeost. Pittsburgh are giving up 120 rushing yards per game so lets run run run, control the clock, keep their O off the field and make them chase the score.