Steelers vs. Bengals Review

I seriously haven't been slacking on this. I just can't think of anything interesting to say about this game.

Sure, we won. That's awesome. 5-2, one game ahead of the hated Ravens and the Browns (to me, the real story is that the freakin' Browns are over .500 and are legitimately in the division race). If we win the next two games (both home dates against the hated Ravens and the Browns), that pretty much wraps up the division.

We'd be 4-0 in the division, 7-2 overall, having beaten every team on the road (except Baltimore). So, we'd have a home game against Cincy (who we'll probably shit-stomp much worse when the game is here in Pittsburgh) and a game in Baltimore to end the season (at which point we'll probably have our playoff seed clinched - provided we win these next two games - so who really cares?)

I have to admit that I wasn't really worried coming into the game and that I wasn't worried when they came out with the level of desperation that they did (seriously, they played that first quarter like it a was a playoff game). As soon as we scored that second touchdown I thought, "Well, that's it, then." I never thought they were coming back. As Cowher would say, we took their best shot in the first quarter-and-a-half and ended up with a 14-3 lead. What else did they have left?

A lot of people have been saying that Marvin Lewis' decision to kick a field goal instead of going for it on fourth and 1 at the 2 yard line. I think the game was over before then. Once the Bengals realized they weren't going to jump out to a quick, early lead, it was over.

Here's where I think we failed: As much as I hate the Patriots for the way they're running up the score on the rest of the league, they really do an excellent job of putting teams away, burying them, then pissing on the grave, defacing the headstone, and enslaving the other teams' surviving relatives. They're very thorough about how they dismantle people and they don't take any prisoners. They... just... take slaves.

At any rate, the point is that I really thought we were going to continue beating on the Bengals in the second half. I think that, as soon as Ben threw that interception (which happened right after the defense made the Bengals go three-and-out to start the half), Tomlin got scared and decided he was going to "hang on" for the victory.

We can hang on against most of the league. Just hanging on against the likes of the Patriots or the Colts ain't gonna cut it. I'm still looking for that signature, complete game from this team, like the Chiefs game last year, the Bears or the Cleveland game from 2005, or the Patriots or Eagles game from 2004.

And, the more I think about it, the more this year's team reminds me of the 2004 team: Lower expectations coming, kinda sneaking up on the rest of the league half-way through the season, capable of beating most teams, but not capable of beating anyone at any time.

Then again, I'm going off of history. Bill Cowher is not walking through that door. The thing is, I'm still waiting for Tomlin to walk through it. All the lip service that the players and coaches have paid Tomlin, saying that this is his team now and he's fully in charge is just that... lip service.

I think he needs to prove that he's truly in charge and that this is really his team. No better way to do that than on Monday Night Football against the hated Ravens.