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Bengals at Steelers(-1.5)

jwinslow;616824; said:
Cincy D/ST bailed out Palmer today... I'd normally say this one might be over but this game has been wild.

I'd say they bailed out Cincy's pass protection-Carson was getting brutalized before the fumbles.
Pitt's receivers let down the team on the goal line before the FG.
 
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stxbuck;616836; said:
I'd say they bailed out Cincy's pass protection-Carson was getting brutalized before the fumbles.
Pitt's receivers let down the team on the goal line before the FG.
I agree, but he kept trying to scramble with a guy right in his face... the pressure was not his fault, some of the fumbles were, imo.
 
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My .02:

Big Ben had best unfuck himself because Parker just went over the 30 carry mark for the 2nd time in 3 weeks. No way he makes it through a season taking that kind of punishment. If he goes down we have zippo running game and Bens going to get the one dimensional treatment no matter how much better he probably will be playing soon.

Good news for Steeler Nation is that Ben obviously is capable of playing light years better and the schedule is easier in the middle of the year than at the ends.

Bengal fans should be happy with going into Pittsburgh and coming out with a win no matter how it went down. However, a lot of familiar issues seemed to reappear today. Poor pass protection and an inability to stop the run were problems they thought were behind them after KC and Cleaveland. A quality opponent seemed to make them reappear.

Glass half full is that in the past Cincy wouldn't have won no matter what. This has to be a step in the right direction as far as team maturity goes.

All in all a crazy game but a wins a win and Cincy clearly has the inside track to the AFC North again. I'm not 100% sold on Baltimore yet. Pittsburgh probably has to go 10-3 over the last 13 games to make the playoffs now and in this division thats no easy task.
 
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Congrats to the Bengals fans. Even though Cincy scored 28 pts, you can't put any blame on the Steelers defense. They pressured Palmer all day and controlled line of scrimmage much of the day. Ben was awful. His passes are floating and there were at least 5 times where he should have took off and ran. Surprisingly, Holmes may have been the best wide receiver today for the Steelers. I have never understood why the Steelers take their best players off the field in shotgun, no Parker or Miller. You'd think as bad as the receivers were today, Miller would have been in there in the shotgun near the end of the game.
 
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Some thoughts on the game from a tremendously biased Bengals fan:

1. Neither QB played particularly well. The wind probably had a lot to do with it but I question the decision-making of both of them at times today. What was Ben thinking when he threw that INT to Williams in the end zone? No way was Miller open there. And why was Palmer throwing a deep curl to Henry on 3rd and 2 (leading to an INT)? Not to mention that he practically got Henry killed by throwing high (I also fault Henry for trying to make a one-hand grab).

2. The officiating was a mixed bag. They got most of the "field" calls right: catch/no catch, fumble/no fumble, inbounds/out-of-bounds, touchdown/no touchdown. But with penalties they were awful. Apparently, the offensive holding penalty didn't apply in this game, as neither team was flagged for it (that I can recall anyway). Pittsburgh's RT was holding Robert Geathers so much I thought he was going to propose to him. And he never got flagged even when he tackled Geathers by the head and threw him at Ben's feet. Also, that penalty on Williams for "roughing" the passer was the lamest call I have seen in some time. My 9-year old daughter has slapped me harder than that. Finally, what did that guy do to get the "taunting" call?

3. I think Coach Lewis should get a lot of credit for this win. He was right on top of every situation and didn't let the team get down when they could have. On the other hand, Pittsburgh fans no doubt are wondering why Coughley was fielding that punt instead of Holmes. Also, why did Cowher take out Parker after one play on the next drive when he had just had a good run (9 or 10 yards I think)?

4. Looks like the defense is going to survive Odell Thurman's 4-game suspension. I wonder if he will start when he gets back. I think he's still in the Marvin Lewis doghouse so my thought is that he'll be a reserve for a while. In any case, after the abysmal first drive, we played pretty well even without two of our starters (three if you count Thurman as a starter). Looks like Tory James' days are numbered if he doesn't clean it up a bit. Joseph looks pretty strong at CB.

Oh well, I'm obviously very happy with the win. And I'm not impressed with Baltimore's 3-0 start against three winless teams. I'm feeling pretty good about our chances to repeat as division champs. Who dey!
 
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