Bengals could get a jump in AFCN race

[The Big Orange]

According to KFFL Bettis is hurt and out at least 2 weeks because there is too much blood in his calf (which doesn't sound good). Since I think the AFCN race is primarily between the Steelers and the Bengals, we could be up a few games instead of down at the beginning of the season.

Since the Steelers rely so heavily on their RB's they will really suffer offensively without Duce, Bettis, and Plax early on. It's gonna be all on Rothlesburger...let the Sophmore flop begin!

[The_Next_Big_Thing]

Hold up a second, you do realize that the guy who backs up Staley and Bettis is Willie Parker, who averaged almost 6 yards a carry last year, right? Even if you drop off his 58 yard run, his long, he still averaged over 4 yards per carry. This may actually be a blessing in disguise, since Parker will get a chance to prove young legs are better than old fatties.

[Stripes]

Agreed, I expect Pittsburgh to start slow without Staley and Bettis, and with Kyle Boller directing the Ravens, we should take an early lead in the division. I don't think the Steelers would struggle very long however, and if not, we'd have our hands full trying to keep them behind us.

This is all more reason the season opener in Cleveland is so huge. If we win that game, we've set the stage to maintain that momentum through the next bundle of games, leading to the fast start we'd need to take advantage of the struggles in the division. If we lose that game, we'd miss that window of opportunity, and I'm not sure we'd see it open anymore during the year.

[The Big Orange]

I'm telling you, it is not a stretch to think that the Steelers could be 1-2 by there bye week in week 3. They will probably beat the Titans at home in their season opener and then they could lose to the Texans away and will lose to the Patriots.

And that's when things could get ugly for them...4 straight loses in a row to Chargers (away) Jaguars, us in Cincy, and the Ravens.

They then have a couple of wins...Packers away and the Browns, but then they have another Ravens away, Colts and us again. With the Vikings away waiting for them in week 15.

Here's to wishing Three Rivers of yellow blood.

[HoosierCat]

more here

http://forums.bengalszone.com/index.php?showtopic=6833

[HairOnFire]

This may be a bit off topic but I've wanted to mention this for a couple of days now.

Girlish ex-Brownie head coach Butch "His knee was down!!" Davis has joined the NFL playbook roundtable and claimed last week that Big Ben's late poor play last season was a result of teams adjusting to his strengths. Specifically, defenses now attempt to always force him left due to his greatly reduced accuracy throwing on the run to that side. He further claimed that Ben's ability to break big runs and correctly read the pass rush was also one sided. Simply put, when forced to his left Ben struggles in all phases of the game. When allowed to work the right side of the field he frequently dominates. Thus, Davis predicts teams will continue eliminating defensive line twisting and stunting to ensure run gap control and will always feature a jailbreak pass rush intended to force him to his left.

As for Bettis, his actual play always seemed less important to the Steelers than the leadership and emotional inspiration his presence on the field provides.

[The Big Orange]

Damnit, Hair...I hate to agree with you on all points because every other slouch here does...but I agree on all points...suck!

Butch Davis is the sorriest excuse for almost everything he does, except making cookies (that's the skuttlebut), no wonder Browns had an immediate attraction and near carte blanche power given to him after proving nothing in his previous NFL head coaching-which was non existant. (I excel at redundancy)

[andybren]

I didn't see enough of the Steelers last year to comment on Butch Davis' particulars, but its true that a lot of the traditional "sophomore slump" is based on opposing teams getting familiar with the freshman phenom's abilities and adjusting appropriately.

Factor in the absense of Plaxico (and the double-teaming of Ward), plus the Steelers having to play a first-place schedule, and we just might see a little parity come our way.

[walshfan]

Hey, Cowher is just waiting for Marvin to cut Quincy Wilson... He's the prototypical Steeler running back......low center of gravity...grind it out behind a strong line...