Friday, November 13, 2009

Steelers - Bengals Renew Rivalry for Division Lead


Week 10 Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh 1PM EST CBS

Who Dey?? Dey are the 2009 Bengals. The 6-2, with a share of AFC North lead, Cincinnati Bengals. These are not the perennial doormats that have amassed a .379 winning percentage since they lost the Super Bowl to the 49ers in 1988. They've averaged 6 wins per year since that time with 0ne playoff birth in 18 years. The winner will have the inside track on the 2009 AFC North Division Championship.

5 reasons why this game will be tough for the Steelers to win:

1. Cedric Benson - Last month Benson snapped Baltimore’s streak of not allowing a 100-yard rusher at 39 games. Now he’s trying to stop the Steelers streak at 26. The last time the Bengals rushed for 100 yards against Pittsburgh was Oct. 3, 2004 when Rudi Johnson had 123 yards in a 28-17 loss in Pittsburgh. That was 86 games ago. In the last 80 games the Steelers have allowed three 100-yard games

2. Carson Palmer to Ocho Cinco - Palmer's 14 TD's are the 4th highest total in the NFL, Chad 85 has caught 44 balls from Palmer for 639 yards and 5 TD's. Watch out for Andre Caldwell and Laveranues Coles to get an increased looks from Palmer this week if the Steelers Defensive gameplan includes Blitz coverage schemes.

3. Improved Bengal Defense - The Bengals are ranked No. 2 against the run. The last time they finished a season that high was 1983, when LeBeau was the Bengals secondary coach

4. Improved Bengal Offensive Line - The Bengals run behind the left tackle Andrew Wentworth more than any team in the league, and their average of 5.0 yards per carry on such runs is sixth-best. Many of those runs are zone-blocking plays that start to the right, giving Cedric Benson the freedom to cut left whenever a lane develops. Steelers have the 5th ranked Rushing Defense so unstoppable force, meet immovable object

5. Pittsburgh Jail Cells are void of Bengal Players - Where are all the felons on this Bengals roster? Aside from Chris Henry, who was placed on IR after suffering a broken arm last week, the Bengals have stayed out of Jail and on the field. Barring a late night crackdown in the Strip District, the Bengals should have everyone free on their own recognisance.

The Steelers will win the game, but not cover the spread of 7 points. It'll be a close back and forth game with the Steelers taking advantage of a Bengal turnover late.

Steelers 24
Bengals 21

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

STEELERS WIN WITH SOME STYLE

Week 9 @ Broncos 11/9/09

Head Coach Mike Tomlin's mantra is that style points count for nothing, wins are what matter. While coach's philosophy is the backbone of the Steeler success under his tenure, the 2009 Steelers had gotten away from the smash mouth style synonymous with Pittsburgh Steeler football for over 75 years. On Monday night in Denver, the Steelers got back to the basics. The Steelers beat the Broncos 28-10 by making key defensive plays and running the football to control the clock in the second half. Denver proved they were clearly overrated. They have lost 2 in a row badly being outscored 58-17 and are looking more like the team that everyone predicted would struggle out of training camp.

It was less than a hostile environment. 20,000 Bronco season ticket holders sold their tickets at up to 5 time face value to eager Steeler fans. According to some reports, Invesco Field at Mile High was as high as 50% Black and Gold. The altitude turned out not to be a factor either, as the Broncos could not sustain a substantial drive.

The catalyst was Troy Polamalu's interception at 9:13 to go in the 4th. Up to that point, the Steelers had played a back and forth game with the Broncos, neither team stepping up to take control. Both offenses looked out of sync and searching for answers. The Steelers were using the pass too much early and not attacking the Denver defense with the run until after halftime, the Broncos only scored 3 offensive points the entire game while Kyle Orton came back to earth throwing 3 interceptions, one of which was returned 48 yards for the first half's only Touchdown by Steelers backup safety Tyrone Carter.

Josh McDaniels, the overhyped deciple of Bill Belichick, was clearly outcoached by Mike Tomlin evident by the drastic difference with their team's performance after halftime. Pittsburgh's second year running back Rashard Mendenhall rushed for nearly 4 yards per carry in the first half, exposing the same weakness that Baltimore did the week before running 35 times for 125 yards. In the second half, more running plays for Mendenhall were called. The first half, the Steelers ran the ball on 6 of 17 plays for 23 yards with time of possession at 10 minutes and 44 seconds. The second half yielded 41 plays, 21 of which were rushes for 150 yards. Defensively, Dick Lebeau made the adjustment to back the defensive backs off 's to counteract the effectiveness with Denver's playaction in the first half. The results were to hold Denver to 59 yards of offense in the second half, only 1 yard rushing.

There is room for improvement with the Steeler's situational playcalling. Pittsburgh was lucky that they had the time to find the weaknesses as Denver's offense sputtered to execute all game. The Steelers passed on 8 of the team's first 11 plays on offense causing the Defense to be on the field for 8 minutes and 45 seconds in the first quarter. You could clearly see members of the defense desperately grabbing for the oxygen masks between series. If Denver had sustained any long drives in the first half, the outcome could have been different. Ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas, as such the Steelers left Denver with a 28-10 victory and some confidence in the run game in just in time for the showdown with co-North Division leader Cincinnati next week at Heinz Field.