Steelers vs. Bengals Review

Well, I've actually heard from a couple of regular readers of this blog (yes, two out of three) wondering why there wasn't a "16 Reasons the Bengals Make Me Poop My Pants" post. I didn't forget, I was just going to post it after I got home, but before the game started on Thursday. Then I got tickets to the game and that was that.

Yep. I was at the game on Thursday night and kept things in check (for the most part). My buddy Chris is a champion, because he somehow managed to score two beers before last call, even though he was sitting in his seat when realized there were only 16 seconds left in the third quarter. It was impressive. I think he teleported to the front of the line.

And, of course, most importantly, I notched another W and I'm now 11-1. It still stings that I have a loss in there, but I guess you can't win them all.

And, I guess, it was pretty cool that the Steelers won, too. They're 8-3 now, have a game and a half lead over the hated Ravens, and, if the season ended today, they'd be the #2 seed in the AFC.

But, really, we were huge favorites over the Bengals, they were 1-8-1, and they were still in the game with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Much like the game in Cincinnati, where it was still 17-10 in the fourth quarter, we kind of wore them down and eventually they rolled over.

Good teams don't do that, though. The Colts sure didn't. At the risk of sounding like a I'm beating a dead horse with a broken record, I'm going to say this again: We've got to play better if we're going to beat playoff teams.

We haven't played a complete game yet. We've had a ton of great defensive games, a couple of good offensive games, and a few in there somewhere that the special teams didn't such major balls, but we haven't had a game where we've excelled on offense, defense, and special teams. Nothing where we're kicking ass in all three phases of the game.

This team reminds me a lot of the 2004 team. They're winning games and they're gutting things out with a number of injuries, but they're not really impressive when they do it. That 2004 team played the NFC East and that was Roethlisberger's break-out rookie season. We went 15-1 that season because we played a lot of crappy teams, but that was a very similar team with a very similar feel.

The difference is that the 2008 Steelers haven't had a signature game like the 2004 team -- they had two in a row against the Patriots and especially against the Eagles, where they went on a 64-23 run and became the only team to be undefeated teams in back-to-back weeks that late in the season. That was the point where everyone finally took notice of the 2004 team and they started to become the favorites to make it to the Super Bowl.

Of course, that team faded late, Ben got tired and injured, and the 2004 season was choked away at home. Against the Patriots. In the AFC Championship game. Again.

Now, the 2005 team was very similar to the 2004 team in terms of personnel and character, but they played a tougher schedule and were 7-4 after 11 games. They didn't have their signature game until Week 14, where they beat up on a very talented Bears team in the snow. That game started their eight game winning streak to end the season and, in February of 2006, the Steelers won Super Bowl XL. It had been a while since I mentioned that. Felt good.

Last season, the team kinda limped into the playoffs and their only signature win game in Week 9 against the hated Ravens. And, really, the most significant thing that happened there was that I met Hank Williams Jr.

So... there hasn't been a signature game thus far this season. The bad news is that the only game that has potential for us to crush an overmatched opponent is Week 17 against Cleveland, which, to me, is very close to 2005, when we played Cleveland in Week 16 and Charlie Batch threw a touchdown to Quincy Morgan in the fourth quarter to make it 41-0. I miss Batch almost as much as I miss the Charlie Frye drinking game.

But, there are plenty of opportunities for that signature game to happen:

1. Next week against the Patriots. We'll have had 10 days to rest and they still don't have Tom Brady. If we kick the crap out of them, it'll exorcise some demons from last season and it will also mean that we'll have kicked the crap out of them in their stadium, where we've historically gotten our asses beat down.
2. Week 14 against Dallas. It's at home, they will have had 10 days to rest and prepare, and they may have their shit together at that point. Tony Romo will be coming on strong, their defense is actually pretty well suited to playing in cold weather, and we can see Troy follow Terrell Owens around all game... just like he did in 2004 against the Eagles.
3. How about the week after that? We travel to Baltimore to play the hated Ravens and the division could still be up for grabs. No chance for a Hank Williams Jr. sighting, but still pretty cool.
4. Week 16 against the Titans really only works in two scenarios -- If we haven't lost games 1-3 and they're either 14-0 or 12-2. At 14-0, we can end their perfect season. At 12-2, that means we hold the tiebreaker and makes the last game relevant. Even if we beat the 13-1, 11-3, or 10-4 Titans, it's only a signature game if we win by a lot. If we just beat them, say, 11-10, or something, then we went out and beat a good team on the road. And that's about it. If we thwump them, though, that's a feather in our cap for the season and for the postseason, since we're going to be seeing them again.

My thinking at this point is that we're making the playoffs and we're playing a home game. The Jets still look really unpredictable and could finish out with a better record than us just because they get to play the AFC East, AFC West, and NFC West, which are some of the worst divisions in football, whereas we have to play the AFC South and the NFC East, two of the better divisions.

One thing we need to do before the end of the season. I would prefer that we do this in the next 10 days before the Patriots game:

We need to get Bitch Merger back or find someone else to punt the ball. Paul Ernster's leg belongs in the Smithsonian with all the other old, worthless crap that's only behind glass because it's obsolete.

We need another punter. I don't care if it's Merger. I don't care if it's Vulva (though that might be difficult). I don't care if it's Josh Miller or Gardocki (difficult, but not impossible). I don't even care if it's Reggie Roby (too soon?).

We need someone. Anyone. Not Ernster. I don't want our playoff fate to be tied to his right leg. Or his left leg. Either one of them.