See, the thing is…having won two super bowls in the last four years actually makes losing a game here or there quite bearable. Not that I’m happy about it, but frankly, it’s hard to ask a whole lot more from the Steelers than what they’ve given me the last 5 seasons.
Oh, and the Bengals are a paper tiger this year. They will win some big games…they may even make the playoffs, but I don’t see this team getting beyond the first round for the next several years. A team needs to have chemistry together, and the Bengals don’t have it.
I realized last night, watching Obama here in Pittsburgh, what happened last weekend. The Rooneys agreed to a request by Obama to let Chicago win. That’s all.
Yes, you know those class act Bengals! How long is the police report on the Bengal’s roster? At least Carson Palmer appears to be quite a nice guy. Not that the Steelers haven’t had a few off-field issues as well, but the Bengals had a stretch there were there was an arrest every couple weeks.
I love rivalries, and this is not directed at you, FoieGrasIsEvil, since I don’t know enough about you: If the Bengals win this game, the majority of Bengals fans I know will talk supreme smack and try and rub the loss in every Steeler fan’s face until the next meeting. Meanwhile, the vast majority of Steeler fans I know, should the Steelers win, will simply go about their day the next day. I find it amazing how most Bengal fans will talk so much smack at a single good game, even when the body of work is pitiful. Again, this is not directed at you, as every fan is different… I just hate losing to the Bengals particularly for this reason…it is just really annoying. So, my Steelers need to rise to the occasion and keep the peace.
Not a single arrest since 2007, while many other teams have had some serious issues (Chargers, for one) since then. And I recall a couple Steelers linebackers having a little trouble with their pittbulls…
Anyway, the reason a bunch of Bengals fans will talk smack about a win over the Steelers (which hasn’t happened at PBS since 2004, btw) is because we are starved for wins in general, and more specifically, the Steelers have made us their bitch for so long that it’s like our Superbowl when we beat the Steelers.
Add in a dash of Kimo destroying Palmer’s knee in 2005 (and some speculate that we were a darkhorse to go deep into the playoffs that year), the overtime game in 2006 that kept us out of the playoffs and Whines Hard’s cheap shot that broke Keith River’s jaw last season, and we just generally hate the Steelers.
There’s also the fact that the Steelers fans try to take over our stadium when they come to town, waving their pissrags around and generally pissing the home fans off, too.
In my case, it’s more bred from envy than anything else that our team has been so inept for so long and the Steelers have been good for so long that I get bent out of shape when we lose to them because your team is the benchmark in the division. I rate my teams progress or lack thereof in terms of how they handle playing the perennial division leader.
And to conclude, I’m pretty optimistic (a trait Bengals fans have in spades) about the game tomorrow, because the Bengals look to be almost back to their 2005 form and the Steelers look like they’re slipping.
I’m just glad I grew up with the Steelers as my team. I grew up in Browns country (Akron/Canton area), but my whole family is from Pittsburgh, so I was born and raised in black and gold.
This past year was quite obviously a great year for us sports wise (I’m also a huge hockey fan…I root on the Blue Jackets too, but as a secondary team…so they get my cheers as long as they’re not playing the Penguins). But hey, we still have the Pirates to bring us back down to earth.
I’m nervous about Sunday’s game as well…not so much because of the Bengals (who defensively look quite good, but offensively just don’t seem all there to me), but because the Steelers don’t have their rushing attack going yet. I’d like to see some consistent run blocking from the O-line…but I’ve been saying that since last year at this time.
Anyway, I understand the hate, though Ward’s hit on Rivers was clean (even all the analysts agreed), and Palmer’s injury, while very sucky for you guys, was accidental. I have to admit, while the Browns are the traditional rival for the Steelers, I generally reserve my true inter-divisional rivalry to be the Ravens, who I despise with an absolute passion. Partly because they’re good and they are a carbon copy of the Steelers defensively…tough, stingy and extremely hard hitting. I seriously though that there would only be half a football team left after the AFC Championship last year…it was a bloodbath.
I don’t share your view (surprise!) in the bolded parts. I’m not certain what you want the Bengals offense to do to show that they can still be explosive. In the Denver game, they amassed almost 400 yards, moved the ball at will, and continually shot themselves in the foot to stall drives (6 dropped passes, three of which would have converted third downs, 2 ineligible downfield, both of which negated first downs, a couple holding penalties, some false starts…) so they couldn’t score. Granted, sloppy play may be the mark of a bad team, but they were just off in that game, but you could see the potential there as Carson shakes off the rust (he hasn’t played basically since game 5 of last season) and the new/improved oline gels. It’s coming.
In the Packer game, we overcame 100 yards in penalties and two Palmer INT’s that led directly to 14 Packer points to ring up those fuckers for 31 points of our own, all of which were scored on offense. The Packers really only had one drive early in the game where they drove the field and scored.
As you mention, this defense is really turning around. It’s very un-Bengal-like in that it can actually generate a pass rush (we have 9 sacks as a team already), we have a stellar secondary led by two young first round corners in Hall and Joseph, and we now have intimidating hitters in Chris Crocker, Maulauga and Roy Williams. Our linebackers are very good right now.
The biggest key is avoiding injury. If you were to investigate, you would see that the majority of the Bengals recent woes are tied directly to injuries for 2007 and 2008. In 2007 and last year our oline was decimated, linebackers decimated, secondary missing Joseph, no running game, in 2008, no Carson Palmer, similar injury problems (we had 15 starters on IR last season), etc.
That’s all different now.
Hines Ward is known for his questionable hits. Steelers fans call it “tough football” and basically the rest of the Steelers opponents call it “dirty”. If the hits like the one on Rivers weren’t questionable, then why would the NFL feel compelled to alter the rules because of it? Why would the Ravens supposedly put out a bounty on Ward? The guy likes to take cheap hits when he can, and while legal (at the time), nobody but Steelers fans and the team condones or appreciates itm and it isn’t because nobody else can do what he does, it’s because they generally don’t, because it’s cheap.
And lastly, I’ll never forgive Oelhoffen for his hit on Palmer’s knee. I don’t think it was an “ordered assasination”, but I have rewatched that play so many times, and to me, it’s the extra little “lurch and twist” that he puts into the tackle that convinced me that he was trying to take him out.
I thought Ward’s block was a lot more questionable than Kimo’s. Really he took advantage of a rookie, either later that game or the next time they played a Bengals player tried a similar block on James Harrison and got laid out because Silverback saw him coming. Rivers just didn’t have that field awareness yet, the ability to “keep your head on a swivel” as they say. You can still block a guy low on a crackback and that may be even more dangerous. Hines Ward is dirty and tough. Teams have been gunning for him for years and he’s taken some frightful shots over the middle and is still playing at a high level, definitely some toughness there.
Back to this week’s game. Even though I could see a guy like Chris Henry hurting the Steelers this week there’s another factor I haven’t heard brought up much yet. The Steelers might be stuck with Tyrone Carter struggling in coverage at SS but the Bengals have their own Strong Safety who can be targeted in Roy Williams. The other factor to go along with that is Bruce Arians loves the 3 and 4 WR sets and the Bengals may not have the depth to match up against Pittsburgh’s wide sets. Limas Sweed looks to be back this week and the fourth and fifth receivers are pretty good. I think they’ll try to create some mismatches in the secondary. If they can do that and keep the ball away from Hall, Joseph, and Crocker it will be a long day for the Bengals. Of course that idea is shit if the line needs extra guys back in protection. Should be a good game either way.
Everyone keeps cracking on Roy Williams like he can’t cover. It’s a myth. Dude is a multi-Probowler for a reason, and it isn’t just for run support and for laying wood.
Also, we rotate a lot in our secondary because we are blessed with depth there. Ndukwe is a stellar coverage safety and Crocker plays nickel on some downs. The key here is depth, which, because we are currently about 100% healthy, we have the luxury of. The same applies to our dline.
I haven’t seen the Bengals enough lately to know about their depth. I just didn’t recognize most of the names on the backup depth chart other than Ndukwe who has looked pretty good to me in the past. I won’t believe Williams can cover until I see it. He was horrible in Dallas the past couple of seasons. I really thought he would finally eat that biscuit* and move to LB.
Interesting footnote to the game. Two guys, Hines Ward and Roy Williams, who have NFL rules informally named in their dishonour. Will Hines get Roy with a crack back block or will it be Williams with the horse collar tackle to win the battle of questionable hits?
The Steelers have benched Frank Summers for today’s game. I hate Carey Davis but Summers has whiffed on every block so far. David Johnson, a 7th round pick this year, will be in at FB and backup TE. Let’s hope he looks more comfortable out there. Also notable on the inactive list is DE Nick Eason, this means our DE of the future Ziggy Hood is in the mine-up. He probably won’t be a factor today but it’s interesting to see him in the line-up, he must be starting to get the schemes figured out. I’d like to see him in for a few passing downs to start.
