Bengals Good For Steelers

The Steelers have owned the Bengals for a long time so this was the one road game I felt the "team" believed they could win.  I emphasize "team" because this is a "new" group of players; some playing because of injuries to others while others are just "fresh" to the Steeler Nation.   

Mike Wallace had a bad game and must begin to be more reilable in terms of catching the ball(...even on deflections) if he wants anything close to a franchise contract.  Right now Wallace is just "fast" and no one is going to pay a receiver top dollar if can run fast and can't be reliabe - remember Limas Sweed!

Jonathan Dwyer looked like a young Jerome Bettis for a minute in this game.  He ran through arm tackles and generally "pounded" the Bengals second layer defensive players.  The question now is whether the offensive line will "fire out" against the next team as they did against the Bengals and whether Dwyer will run this hard again.  

I think Pittsburgh will always throw the ball earlier in games and then try to "melt" the clock in the fourth quarter with more runs.  I am also glad to see that Haley is a big advocate of the 10 plus play drive which somewhat explains these "dink and donk" short passes that Ben eluded to in a condescending manner.  These short passes are designed to save the QB's health, and also compensate for the lack of a reliable running game thus far this season

Ike Taylor had a much better game but you could also attribute this to deep safety that lined up behind him all night to help shut down the dangerous Greene on the Bengals team.  The strategy worked and to his credit Ike "squatted and jammed" the best offensive threat for the Bengals the entire game.  I'm still just not that confident in Taylor as the teams's "shut down corner"!

It was also nice to see the defense really take control of the game in the middle of the third quarter.  I saw Ziggy Hood finally dominate the middle of the defensive line particularly after the starting center got hurt.  I just feel our defensive line is just not physical enough to be "consistently" successful in the 3-4 front unles Harrison can match the intensity of Woodley on the other side and I just don't see that happening right now.

Overall, this was much needed road victory that showed some improvements in different facets of our team.  I hope to see the special teams improve in reducing their penalties next week so we can keep some of those yards Rainey and Brown can afford us.

GO STEELERS!!!

Ben "Passes" Bradshaw 

Ben has become our all-time leading passer eclipsing Terry Bradshaw of the great Steeler's era of the 70's.  To me it's uncanny how similar the two are on the field but a a bit different off the field.

Ben is a fan favorite and most would say is the "heart" of the team.  Now that he has settled his personal life off the field, Ben is poised to lead this team for as long as his body and talent will allow.  I am a big fan of Ben.  He is much better this season at getting that ball out instead of holding it taking sacks as he previously did.  Ben also seems to have a "six sense" about the pass rush and there is no one better at stepping out of the way of onslaught and making a play with his legs or getting the ball down the field.

Bradshaw was NOT considered to be a fan favorite in his era even though he was a big part of why the Steelers won 4 Super Bowls during the 70's.  However, Bradshaw had a hall of fame talent running back in Franco Harris and two hall of fame talented receivers to throw to as well.  I feel Bradshaw had a much stronger arm than Ben and could easily put the ball 60 plus yards down the field almost effortlessly.  Bradshaw was not a bad "scrambler" but wisely chose to throw the ball more when under pressure than take off running.  I think some concussions early in his career kinda' remedy that process for him.


Anyway, Ben is much better runner than Bradshaw and is bit more physical in stature as well.  However,  no matter how many passing yards Ben accumulates he still will need to get the 4 Super Bowl wins as Bradshaw to enter the ring of honor.  Unfortunately for Ben, the deck is now stacked against that feat.  Let's face it, Bradshaw played with 4 Hall of Famer's on offense(...in addition to himself) and at least 5 Hall of Famer's on defense.  I still don't know why Greenwood and Shell are not in the Hall Of Fame yet!


Currently, I think Woodley and Polamalu are possible Hall Of Fame talent and  Pouncey if he can stay healthy more consistently.  But Ben has never had a true "go to running back" except for the "BUS"(...Jerome Bettis) when he was really at the end of his prime.  I also think Hines Ward is possibly a Hall of Fame nominee but his services are no longer available, to Ben and the Steelers.  I really miss his reliability and toughness. The Steelers really need to get Ben two reliable running backs to alleviate the burden he now carries offensively every game.  Simply put, Ben is the best player on the team right now.

10/11/2012_Fed Up!

Anybody remember what it "used" to be like to see the Steelers play a dominate game on both sides of the ball?  The Steelers have got to start winning on the road and particularly beat "struggling" teams such as the Titans and the Raiders whom they fell to earlier this season.

I am really starting to doubt the game preparation by these coaches as evident in just obvious issues such as special teams inconsistency and just the overall attitude of these players.  I saw Steeler players "joking" on the sidelines while the team was either trailing and/or tied.  I am particularly perturbed by Tomlin's player like  accolades when the team makes a good play.

The offensive linemen are getting injured due to poor technique, lack of conditioning and lack of discipline

We have to begin to look at why year after year the Steelers O-Linemen stay injured so much.  

Without Polamalu in the secondary, the Steelers have no corner backs whom have adequate ball speed.  It does not matter the amount of desire and hustle you have if you just simply cannot make plays when you are "IN" position to make plays as was Ike Taylor shown above in the end zone when the Titans scored their last touch down.  

Well, the end result is the Steelers were missing some key players but had ample opportunity to win this game.  I am very disappointed.