Good News and Bad News: Steelers at Bengals

Given the fact that it was a must-win game, the hated Ravens look shakier than ever, and starting the season 2-4 would've made it extremely difficult for the Steelers to claw their way into the playoffs, I'm very pleased that they won.

Trouble is, there was more bad news in this game than good.

Good news first:

1. Shout out to Ike Taylor!  Tremendous job by Ike.  I will take one catch for eight yards -- even if it was a touchdown -- from AJ Green any day.  Let's hope he keeps it up.  More to the point, let's hope he does somewhere close to as good when these teams play each other again in Week 16.
2. They proved they can win on the road.
3. They proved they protect a fourth quarter lead on the road.
4. They proved they can beat a weak team on the road.  Not entirely sure the Bengals are a weak team just yet, but they looked weak on Sunday night.
5. The offensive line was as solid as I've seen it all season, especially the three guys on the inside (Foster, Colon, and Legursky).  Mike Adams did quite well for his first start and he didn't get as much help from Heath Miller as Chris Collinsworth would have you believe.  Cincinnati has a talented front four and my biggest fear coming into this game was that they'd be able to blow by and out-muscle the replacement guys -- and the regular guys for that matter -- and they'd take over the game.  The starting five on Sunday night didn't allow that to happen and actually turned in a dominant performance.  When you're able to run five or six times in a row and still gain chunks of yardage, the guys up front are doing their jobs.  I don't care if the Bengals came in with a run defense that was ranked in the 20s.  So did the Raiders and Titans, but the Steelers didn't get the kind of push in those games that they got Sunday night.
6. Productive and effective on third down once again, regardless of distance.  The Steelers have converted 53.8 percent of third downs so far this season.  That's a great number for one games, no less through six games.
7. Heath Miller is finally putting up big numbers because the Steelers are finally making a specific effort to get the ball in his hands, and at all depth levels in the route tree.  Good times.  Now, if only they had been feeding him the ball like this since 2005.

Bad News:

1. The penalties, dear God, the penalties.  Special teams was the big loser this week, but it seems like a different unit is wearing the dunce cap every week.  The good news is that special teams penalties are the easiest to fix because the guys that play in the kicking game are the easiest to replace.  Tomlin mentioned in his press conference today that the best way to cut down on dumb penalties is to have the guys that are committing them watching from the sidelines.
2. From the Obvious Department, but I still feel it needs to be said: I would prefer that they do a better job on first down and second down so that they never need to see third down.  It's great that they have the confidence and talent to convert all those third down chances, but it's also not really sustainable.  If they can keep this up, it gives them a big advantage, but I'm thinking they can't.  If they can't keep up that 53.8 percent conversion rate, then they'll be in deep trouble the rest of the season.
3. Zero sacks, two quarterback hits.  They need to get more pressure.  I'm hoping that will come once Woodley and Harrison get healthier, but I'm really not sure.  I think the key will be more blitzes from Timmons and the safeties, but they'd need to get Troy back for that, too.
4. One interception in the end zone, one fumble inside their own 10.  They were able to overcome two pretty costly turnovers, but a better team would've made them pay for those mistakes.
5. Tomlin was the best coach on the field Sunday night, but that's not saying much.  If it hadn't been for the two pointless challenge flags Marvin Lewis threw, Tomlin would've made the dumbest decision of the night.  That would be going for two after that first touchdown.  Kick early, go for two late.  Those are the rules and they are well-tested and have been proven.  They're way better than the chart.  Throw the chart away and stick with that: Kick early, go for it late.  Some say it was a ballsy call, but that's primarily because it worked.  If it hadn't worked, the Bengals would've been down by only six points and could've won it with a touchdown.

There are more items listed under "good news" than there are for "bad news" but the Bad News items are far more cause for worry than the Good News items are cause for celebration.

They had their backs against the wall, they came back on the road, they protected their lead on the the road, and the proved their veteran savvy mettle grit Steelers football (trying to think how many cliche noise words I can stuff into the end of the sentence).

They're also old, the young guys they have a mistake-prone, their receivers (and defenders) drop too many passes, which is another sign of lack of concentration and focus, and they've muddled their way through a pretty easy first six games of the season with a .500 record.  They're lucky that the rest of the division -- and really the rest of the conference -- is just as uneven and disjointed as they are.  That doesn't make them a Super Bowl contender, but it does mean that they can continue to run in place and probably still make the playoffs. 

They just need to make the right plays at the right time, most of the time.  If they want to do better than another one-and-done playoff finish, they need to do better, focus more, and get to the quarterback.

Good News and Bad News: Bengals at Steelers

The best news is that they won and kept pace with the hated Ravens in terms of record (Baltimore holds the tiebreaker since they swept the regular season series).  It's better that they won 35-7 instead of 13-9 or 17-13, but a win is still a win.

Good news first:

1. AJ Green did have six catches for 87 yards and a touchdown, but 43 of those yards came on one play.  He was also targeted 11 times and Ike Taylor picked off one of those targets, so I'm going to declare this one a victory for number 24.  He's continuing a strong season and the Steelers will need him to keep it up if they want to make some noise in January.
2. Special teams contributed a forced fumble, a blocked kick, and a punt return for a touchdown.  The kicking game had been under-performing for the past few seasons and it's nice to see the Steelers play well in all three phases.  When the playoffs start and the games get tighter, having an advantage on special teams gives you a huge edge.  It was also good to see Cameron Heyward contributing in a meaningful way, even if he's not starting.  Curtis Brown had a big day with three special teams tackles and he was all over the place in coverage units.  Kampinos averaged 54.5 yards per punt, showed good hang time, and dropped two punts inside the 20.
3. The Mighty Ginger was held to 5.6 yards per pass attempt and completed 45.8 percent of his passes.  Bruce Gradkowski threw the interception to Taylor, but, for a guy that has been as hot on the road as Dalton, I will take 135 yards passing and 77.6 passer rating.
4. On four trips in the red zone, the Steelers got four touchdowns.  That's huge.  Also huge is that Rashard Mendenhall looked comfortable close to the goal line and Tomlin looked comfortable getting him the ball.
5. Antonio Brown is awesome.  He led the team with 67 receiving yards and kicked in another 65 and a touchdown on three punt returns.  Now that Emmanuel Sanders is healthy, expect him to return kickoffs and Brown to return punts.  That is a winning combination.
6. Hines Ward went over 12,000 yards for his career.  I'd like to congratulate him on a hell of a run.
7. LaMarr Woodley leaving in the second quarter was all part of the plan.  With a Thursday night game coming up and Jason Worilds allegedly rushing the passer well, they didn't feel a need to rush him back and exacerbate his hamstring injury.  Troy played and played well without incident.
8. James Harrison stepped up when the Bengals lost their left tackle.  He had three sacks and three hits on the quarterback.  The Steelers had an aggressive game plan this week after laying off Dalton in the first game.  It sure worked.  If they come after Colt McCoy like that on Thursday night, things could get ugly for the Browns.
9. I still can't believe how well Max Starks is playing.  I guess being forced to take some time off and losing some weight made a big difference.  I just hope he stays healthy the rest of the season.  Jonathan Scott is definitely not an acceptable substitute.  I thought the line played well in general.  I would've liked to have seen fewer sacks and a more efficient running game, but this was really an A-level game for this unit when you factor in the talent Cincinnati has on the front seven.

Not a ton of Bad News, but there is still some out there...

1. New England, Baltimore, and Houston all won, which means the Steelers, at 9-3, would be the #5 seed if the season ended today.  Hated Ravens and Texans hold a tiebreaker, so the only way to improve seeding is to keep winning and hope someone else loses, preferably both Baltimore and Houston, since the Steelers have a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Patriots.
2. Todd Suisham missed a field goal.  Jeff Reed is still available.
3. The Steelers scored 35 points, but were still 2-for-10 on third down.  That's not sustainable.
4. Ben Roethlisberger averaged 7.7 yards per attempt, didn't turn the ball over, and had a 117.3 quarterback rating, but it really seemed to me that this was his second straight ugly game.  He was off on deep throws, his timing on short and intermediate routes wasn't quite right, and his receivers gained a lot of yards for him after the catch.  I'm not sure if it's the thumb or the coverages he's been facing, but he just seems... off.  I know.  Anyone whose quarterback is Tyler Palko or Caleb Hanie or TJ Yates really hates me right about now.  I'll shut up.
5. I am happy for Hines Ward.  I really am.  What bugs me is that they're feeding him the ball when they don't have to.  He needs ten catches to get to 1,000 for his career. Just let it happen.  Let it look like he earned it.  Maybe look for him on third down more often and you'll convert more of those opportunities.  He'll get to 1,000 without trying to fudge it.  If you want to throw a quick screen to a receiver, Sanders, Brown, and Mike Wallace are all considerably better options.
6. Speaking of weird passes, I'm glad that Roethlisberger came out of the game and Charlie Batch went in.  I'm glad that Batch saw the Bengals jump offsides, knew he had a free play, and just chucked it down the field.  I'm not glad that Brown was in the game and got nailed on the play because Batch can only chuck the ball so far.  If you're going to leave players open to injury on those kinds of plays, make sure it's Batch throwing to Cotchery or Battle.

This wasn't a case of Cincinnati finally reverting back to the Bungles we're used to seeing.  The Bengals are a good, young team and they have a bright future.  They're just not good enough to beat the Steelers or hated Ravens yet.  I'm thinking they will be and sooner rather than later.  But, it didn't happen on Sunday, though it hopefully will happen on the last game of the season, when the Bengals host the hated Ravens.

The Steelers made an important announcement to the rest of the AFC yesterday: We're back and the Bengals aren't ready.  We'll see how everything shakes out, but, as of right now, the Steelers are the five seed that no one wants to play.

Good News and Bad News: Steelers at Bengals

In the interest of full disclosure, I will say that I was only able to catch the last 35 seconds of this game.  I got on a plane in Chicago at 12 p.m. Central time and landed in Austin at 2:55 p.m. Central time, which means I was in the air from kickoff to Victory Formation.

I read the recaps and all the Monday morning stuff, checked out the box score, and it looks like a missed a pretty good game.  I didn't see any of the bad stuff, but looking at it from the outside, I can only think of good news.

1. The Steelers were 3-for-4 in the red zone.  That's huge.  Rashard Mendenhall was also able to punch it in twice from inside the ten, which is good news for the goal-to-go offense.  That's an area where they struggled all season and the Cincinnati defense is not a bunch of pushovers.  Their front seven is a big test for any team and the Steelers passed.
2. Suisham didn't miss any kicks.  Jeff Reed is still available.
3. Holy crap, two turnovers!  I think the defense might be on pace to record ten or maybe even 12 turnovers this season.  Seriously, though, both picks came when the Bengals were trying to come back, so they were both huge.  Well done, William Gay.
4. Andy Dalton had two touchdown passes, but he also threw two interceptions and needed 30 pass attempts (completed only 15) to get to 170 yards.  The only real issue is that the Steelers didn't record any sacks.  I talked to a couple of people who said that they didn't blitz much, so that makes sense.
5. Oh, here's some bad news: Ben Roethlisberger was sacked five times and hit another 13 times.  That's pretty ridiculous, especially considering how well the line has been pass blocking lately.  Did Cincinnati blitz a lot and the Steelers didn't max protect and/or keep Heath in to block?  Maybe leave something in the comments and let me know.  I was going to DVR the game, but I don't get back from Austin until late Thursday, so I figured I wouldn't have time to watch it.

Now for the really good news.  Since the hated Ravens lost to Seattle (CALLED IT), the Steelers are in first place in the division.  They have a bye in Week 11 and Baltimore and Cincy play each other.  One of those teams is coming out of that game with four losses and the other will have three losses, which means the winner will be tied with the Steelers for the division lead.  I hope the hated Ravens lose, but I don't think that's going to happen.  If Cincy beats Baltimore, then the Steelers are still in first place because Sunday's win gives them the tiebreaker over the Bengals.

We're ten games into the season and the Steelers are 7-3 with a bye week to get healthy.  That late bye is especially big for them, since they're an old team and it's better for them to rest and recover later in the season.  There's another game with the Bengals looming on the schedule, but there's also two games against the Browns, one against the hapless Rams, and one at Kansas City.  It's a very winnable stretch and the Bengals and hated Ravens have to play each other twice before the end of the year, so I'm liking how the division race is shaking out.

Is it weird that the Monday night game against the 49ers is shaping up to be one of the biggest games of the season (for both teams)?  Yeah, I think it's weird.