Lots of “Good, Bad & Ugly” from the Steelers win over the Bengals
AFC North football is always challenging, even if it’s the Browns. It’s a tough division, and the teams within it honestly do not like each other much.
We all know this.
Sunday’s game between the Steelers and the Bengals lived up to that in some ways, but it also made one thing clear. The Steelers, at least to this point of the season, are definitely the class of the division. With a 29-14 win (that shouldn’t have been that close) the Steelers started a little slowly, but totally dominated the Bengals in the second half.
Let’s break down the Good, the Bad and the Ugly from the game.
Good
The Wizard of Boz
Let me start off by saying I can’t believe nobody mentioned this the entire post-game show on SNR. I’m sitting there listening to Steve Savran talk about how Chris Boswell needs a nickname.
HE HAS A NICKNAME! He’s the “Wizard of Boz”! I mean, c’mon, it’s even in his Twitter handle! If that’s not good enough, just call him what I do – “Money”, because that’s what Chris Boswell is – money. 5 for 5 on FG attempts, and perfect on his two extra points. On top of that, three of his kickoffs were touchbacks, and the few that weren’t were covered well.
Boswell is a weapon, and I’ve been saying since last year he deserves to be considered amongst the “Killer Bees”. I don’t think he minds if he’s not though, I mean being a “Wizard” is way cooler than being a “Bee”.
Ben
14 of 24, 224 yards, 2 TDs, Rating of 117.4
Since the Jaguars game, and the resulting commentary, Roethlisberger has shown that he actually still does “have it”. This wasn’t a monster game, but it was a good solid game. Ben was on target, his passes looked like they had zip and more than anything else, he looked comfortable and in control. He made two throws that I think were classic Ben. The first was the TD to Antonio Brown, where it was just a quick-hitting slant, and Ben zips the ball to AB just out of reach of the trailing DB.
The second was a throw Ben made to AB when he was boxed high and low by two DB’s. He had to get the ball over the first, and into AB without overthrowing him. Even Tony Romo called that throw out as a great throw and one that is difficult to make.
Toss out the frustration of the red zone struggles because for once I don’t think we can put that all on Ben’s shoulders. The play calling was, well, disappointing. If this is the kind of performance we can expect from Ben throughout the rest of the season, we will be just fine.
Bell
35 carries, 134 yards, 3 receptions, 58 yards, 192 total yards from scrimmage.
Workhorse. Offensive focus.
Say what you will, Bell is back to being Bell, and the Steelers are ringing up yards by funneling the ball into his hands. Bell was active in both the run game and the passing game. He posterized Dre Kirkpatrick and, as one Twitterer said, “Took away his manhood” with one of the most dominating stiff arms I have ever seen.
Bell found creases and ran with elusiveness and power. The only tick in his game was not finding the end zone. It may be just me, but it felt like the run game was much more effective while Rosie Nix was involved, and less so when he was off the field. I haven’t gone back to look at the All 22, but my memory tells me that in a lot of those third and short situations, Rosie wasn’t out there.
Things that make you go hmmm.
Bud
Can we stop with the “Bud Dupree is the next Jarvis Jones” nonsense, please?
Bud had two sacks and was disruptive throughout. He has been disruptive all year. His speed around the edge is just amazing to watch, and when he clears the line, it’s not something any quarterback wants to see.
Hey, if Bud Dupree was hitting me all day, I’d throw the ball away on fourth down too!
The Rookie
T.J. Watt continues to impress.
I don’t know how else to say it. He’s so much better than I expected, and I kind of expected a lot. His game is improving as the year progresses, which it should. He’s not a liability in coverage, he motors through and makes an impact. His sack was pure effort, breaking through the middle of the line to get Dalton by the legs and bring him down. Watt has 4 sacks through the first 7 games, which is pretty darn good. He also has 26 total tackles, so he’s making his impact felt beyond rushing the passer.
As Joe Greene once said about Franco Harris, with T.J. Watt – “I think we’ve got us one!”
The Fake
Bless you, Robert Golden.
How awesome was that fake punt? And it all comes from awareness on the part of a guy who should take great pride in being an awesome special teams player. Rob Golden saw that opportunity and made the most of it. Teaming up with Darrius Heyward-Bey for a 44-yard pass on fourth down.
It’s plays like that which make the game a lot of fun.
Excuse Me While I Adjust a Few Things
Second half adjustments were great in this game. The Bengals really looked like they were going to make it a tough game for the Steelers, answering them score for score. It felt like whoever had the ball last was going to be the winner. Their offense was driving, and their defense, while not stopping the Steelers consistently, was being disruptive, especially on the right side of the line.
But that all got cleaned up after halftime.
It was as if a different team took the field. The defense stymied the Bengals offense, and while the offense couldn’t figure out how to get in the end zone, they still came up with 15 points from Chris Boswell and took an insurmountable lead.
That’s just good coaching.
Bad
Red Zone or Just Short Yardage?
I tweeted this out during the game. I am not convinced that what the Steelers have is a red-zone problem.
Here are the gory details.
Red zone efficiency 1 -6 for 17% success rate.
Now some of these were not gimmes, but some were. 3rd-and-1 from the 19 results in a FG. 3rd-and-4 at the 4, FG. 3rd-and-4 at the 10 – you guessed it, FG.
Throw in another 3rd-and-1 at the 31 for a FG and you see a trend. They also had a 3rd-and-1 at their own 13 which resulted in a punt, so you see it’s not just a trend in the red zone, it feels like a problem with short yardage.
I don’t know the answer, I would need to go back and look at the game again (and even then, I am not saying I have the answer). I just walk away with the feeling that maybe the play calling tries to be too cute, and when it’s not being cute, it’s too telegraphed. It always feels like the other team is on the same page as we are.
I know they like going long on third-and-short, but you know what, so does the other team – it’s a tendency. Maybe shelve that one for a while until you prove you can pick it up in other ways? Right now, if I’m an opposing team, third-and-short is exactly where I want the Steelers.
This needs to be fixed.
First Half Chris Hubbard
This is kind of a follow up on the adjustments they made between the first and second half. One of those adjustments was helping Chris Hubbard with Carlos Dunlap, mostly with David DeCastro. Dunlap was not necessarily beating Hubbard badly, the Bengals failed to register a sack in the game; however, he was being disruptive enough that he hit Ben’s arm, and forced him off his spot on more than one occasion.
That disrupts the rhythm of the quarterback, and is a win for the defense in most cases. Dunlap was a problem, and he was a problem because Chris Hubbard is not Marcus Gilbert.
Heal up fast Marcus!
Antonio Brown
Brown gets a call out for one thing. He let a punt go that he shouldn’t have. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. He’s far too experienced of a punt returner to make that kind of mistake.
The result was that the Steelers found themselves pinned well back in their own end of the field. It shouldn’t have been that way. The game was probably beyond the reach of the Bengals to come back and win, but maybe not. It was still possible though, and that was a field position flip that didn’t need to happen.
Other than that, Brown had a blasé kind of game – 4 for 65 yards and a TD. It’s the kind of mistake you overlook if AB is putting up monster numbers, but it could have hurt the team in this instance. Luckily it didn’t.
Oh Yeah – The Refs Stink
I feel like I will just leave this comment here in perpetuity.
The. Refs. Stink.
Ugly
Rosie Nix Meet Vontaze Burfict (or at least his feet)
I cannot fathom how anyone can defend this butt munch at this point. Kicks to the head, smacks to the face. Burfict is the very definition of an asshat!
I honestly believe if you see Vontaze Burfict pointing at a player and saying “Hey Ref, he was bad, throw a flag!” a flag should be thrown immediately – on Burfict.
It’s his modus operandi. Do something dirty, then point at the other guy in hopes he retaliates and draws a flag. He did it when he kicked Rosie Nix in the head, he did it again when he smacked him in the face.
He’s a giant blight on the face of professional football and I don’t know how anyone can see it otherwise.
At this point, as much as I’d like to “Go high when they go low”, I can’t. I am all in favor of someone going all Cobra Kai on Vontaze’s butt. Sweep the damn knee.
Conclusion
5-2 is a solid start. On to the next game against Detroit, in Detroit.
I’m ready to put the Bengals in the rear view until we have to deal with them again. The bye is a week away, and the Steelers can use it to put their house in order, and get ready for the second half of the season.
The first half, pending the next game, looks to be ending well.
