The Bengals are seeking revenge for their loss to Pitt in the playoffs. Palmer appears to be back at full strength while his counter part Big Ben had a shaky return at Jacksonville. The Steelers are coming off a short week, but it is the Bengals who come into this game with a banged up D. Analysis predictions?
The fact that this is being played in Pittsburgh gives Pitt the edge, although at this point in the season I think Cincy is a better team. My guess is that Cincy will lose this game.
I'm very biased when it comes to my team. I will <u>never</u> bet against them or even state that they will lose (that is bad gris-gris or ju ju...things I've learned about from a Cajun friend) So any way, I say this one goes to the Bengals.
Do not expect Pitt's offense to be as ineffective as they were against Jacksonville. I say this for two reasons... 1) Cincinnati is not as strong against the run as Jacksonville. Pitt got away from the running game against Jax, but for good reason. The game plan for Pitt was to obviously attack the Jax defense at their weakest point which would be in the secondary. Jacksonville probably has the best run defense in the league. I would take their two DTs and MLB over anybody's. Their secondary played above themselves. Del Rio definitely realized where the Steelers might attack and had his defense ready. It was a great defensive gameplan. Marvin Lewis coached over Del Rio for a couple of years at Baltimore, but he doesn't have the weapons to stop Pitt's offense like Del Rio does. Jax just matches up well against Pitt's offense. The same can't be said for Cincy. They will miss Odell Thurman more than they have yet up to this point. Their secondary definitely isn't on the same level of Jax's and that's not saying much. The CB's are playmakers, but they give up their fair share of plays as well. All that said, Pitt will struggle with Cincy's offense a lot more than they did with Jax's offense. 2) Pitt will be charged up for Cincy as well. No way this offense comes out so bland again. The energy will be there and the adrenaline will be high. The home game will have them charged up as well. They'll run the ball a lot more this week. The Steelers cannot afford any turnovers. Cincy's offense is too opportunistic. Any mistake by the Pitt offense will probably equal points for the Cincy offense. Pitt is the more talented team when you look at them offensively and defensively. I'm not sure if I'm convinced if Roethlisberger is ready though. He's been through hell this offseason and doesn't look as healthy as he did in the past. He might still be a couple of games away. Three things need to happen for the Steelers to win. A) Willie Parker will need to have a huge game on the ground A few trick plays to help open up the passing game would be very helpful. So now Hines Ward comes into play. Santonio Holmes can hopefully memorize the playbook a little bit better this week and contribute. C) No turnovers by Roethlisberger especially. I think the Steelers defense can keep them close enough for the offense to just need to make a few plays and try to win this game as long as the three above things can happen. Now do I think all three of those things happen this week? Honestly? No... Cincy wins.
Cincy is going into this team with a lot of injurires and their banged up. Their hurting and because of this I like Pitt to rebound. Their at home. The atmosphere will be amazing and I think most importantly they'll be able to run the ball well on Cincinnati. They have a good offensive line and Parker should have sucess behind it. I like Pitt to win this in a close game though.
I'm with Pork on this one. The Bengals "depleted" D is just what the doctor ordered for the Steelers. The crowd will be pumped & Carson may just be too inexperienced to temper his excitement for this one. Steelers 27 Bengals 20
That was just an ugly game for both the Bengals and the Steelers. The Bengals D was definitely suffering due to the injuries and I have no idea WTF was up with the offense. But alas, no matter how ugly a win is a win and my boys pulled it off.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bengals_girl)</div><div class='quotemain'>That was just an ugly game for both the Bengals and the Steelers. The Bengals D was definitely suffering due to the injuries and I have no idea WTF was up with the offense. But alas, no matter how ugly a win is a win and my boys pulled it off. </div> You get us next! I don't feel too confident about our chances down in the jungle lol
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bakes781)</div><div class='quotemain'>You get us next! I don't feel too confident about our chances down in the jungle lol</div> I'm looking forward to the game...it should hopefully be a good one if the Bengals get their act together. Both defense and offense played horribly yesterday. Just the number of times Carson got sacked yesterday had me cringing!
Wow well the Steelers did run well but Ben Roelisberger played awful again. Cincy and Baltimore look to be the class of this divsion this season with Pitt fighting for a wild card again.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bengals_girl)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bakes781)</div><div class='quotemain'>You get us next! I don't feel too confident about our chances down in the jungle lol</div> I'm looking forward to the game...it should hopefully be a good one if the Bengals get their act together. Both defense and offense played horribly yesterday. Just the number of times Carson got sacked yesterday had me cringing!</div> I'm already predicting a double digit loss for the good guys.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bakes781)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bengals_girl)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bakes781)</div><div class='quotemain'>You get us next! I don't feel too confident about our chances down in the jungle lol</div> I'm looking forward to the game...it should hopefully be a good one if the Bengals get their act together. Both defense and offense played horribly yesterday. Just the number of times Carson got sacked yesterday had me cringing!</div> I'm already predicting a double digit loss for the good guys. </div> lol....well, hopefully for you my boys won't be up on the Pats that badly
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bengals_girl)</div><div class='quotemain'>lol....well, hopefully for you my boys won't be up on the Pats that badly </div> im holding out hope that carson some how finds his way on the cinci police blotter aka the bengals bad boys blog.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bakes781)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bengals_girl)</div><div class='quotemain'>lol....well, hopefully for you my boys won't be up on the Pats that badly </div> im holding out hope that carson some how finds his way on the cinci police blotter aka the bengals bad boys blog. </div> Not gonna happen