RSS Feed
Level 0: Undefined
Posts: 931031Timestamp: Thu Nov 20, 08 3:33 PM
|
| Post URL: Thursday Night Football Bengals vs. Steelers
|   |
|
Thursday Night Football Bengals vs. Steelers
Another Thursday night, another scintillating match-up courtesy of the NFL Network. Don't get
Adam
Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:31:01 +0000
Another Thursday night, another scintillating match-up courtesy of the NFL Network. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate NFL football whenever we can get it, and I enjoy the Thursday night games, especially with Cris Collinsworth adding his expert analysis to the broadcasts. I just wish the games themselves featured better pairings than what we usually get.
Today, the Bengals travel to frigid Pittsburgh for an AFC North division game between two teams with no love for each other. The last time the two teams met, Pittsburgh receiver Hines Ward knocked Cincinnati linebacker Keith Rivers out for the season on a legal but vicious hit. The Bengals have promised revenge, but are a miserable 1-8-1 coming off last week's shameful tie against the Philadelphia Eagles.
To make matters worse for the Bengals, Ryan Fitzpatrick of Harvard is still starting in place of injured Carson Palmer, and Chad Johnson has been deactivated for either missing a team meeting by oversleeping, walking out on the meeting, or getting into a fight with someone. At this point, does it really matter? Johnson has turned the Bengals into his own reality show, and Marvin Lewis is trying too little, too late to act like he has a real backbone and stand up to the diva.
On the offensive side the Bengals are last in the league in scoring offense at 13.8 points per game, and are 24th in the league in points allowed. They are also going up against the league's second best defense in scoring, and the best defense in yards allowed. Somehow I don't see the Bengals scoring much in weather conditions predicted to be freezing with two inches of snow in the forecast.
The Steelers know all they have to do is minimize their mistakes. Willie Parker is back on the field and will need to pound the ball as much as possible to control the tempo of the game and kill the clock. Look for Roethlisberger to try to get some of his confidence back after a few shaky weeks with dump-offs in the flats and short crossing routes to avoid the worst of the cold and wind.
Defensively, the Steelers need to put pressure on Ryan Fitzpatrick and force him into easy turnovers. The Bengals have struggled on the ground and the Steelers are a dominant run defense and should have no issue stopping the Bengals running game on the frozen turf at Heinz Field.
With a defense as dominant as the Steelers and the Bengals on the verge of complete collapse and chaos I don't see much hope for Cincinnati unless everything click's at the last second and they play their best game of the year. It's much more likely the Bengals will fail to score a touchdown than miraculously explode for a surprise victory.
sports « WordPress.com Tag Feed
Feed of posts on WordPress.com tagged "sports" |
|
More Topics
• 
