I honestly didn't really see that coming. I've been a strong advocate of the "Bengals are way overrated" platform. And I still am. Maybe I'm just in denial, but yesterday's game said a lot about the Bengals, and it wasn't all that good.
But first, let's talk about the shitshow that was the Steelers' 6-point loss at home to Cincy yesterday. Everyone, at every position, made some mistake yesterday. Whether it was Ben taking sacks in the red zone twice, or Santonio letting a sure TD slip through his hands, or Stefan Logan getting out of his lane, and letting some chubby, no-name for the Bengals take it to the house.
Actually, I'm going to start there. I remember when the season started and I thought to myself that for the first time in a while, I felt like we really had something going on special teams. I mean, last year, Skippy was near-perfect, but we couldn't find a punter who could kick the ball more than 30 yards, and we had Mewelde Moore and Carey Davis returning kicks. So, with Sepulveda coming back and Stefan Logan in the mix, I was pretty pumped about the idea of having a "legit" returner. Well, my faith is starting to slip. He hasn't done shit on returns this year, and in fact seems to have some trouble understanding when not to return the ball (specifically, when it's kicked 7 yards deep), and if you look at this (start at :40), it looks an awful lot like he is the guy who gets out of his lane and lets whats-his-face-pudgy-dreadlocked-Bengal break one.
I really want to like the guy. Great story. Seems like a hard worker. But man, he's just not getting it done.
The defense looked good, especially for playing without Troy for 95% of the game. (By the way, the word on DVE this morning was that we're looking at 1-2 weeks this time, and then he should be back, which I guess isn't terrible). We need him to be close to 100%, though, if we're going to win number 7 this year. I feel like the guy could win MVP just based on how the team has played without him. I mean, it's a very good defense without him. But he is so fast to the ball, and such a sure playmaker, that it is really tough to go without him. Ty Carter is a decent backup safety, as far as backup safeties go... But there's no one who makes game-changing plays on this defense quite like Troy. Even Big James is limited by the position he plays - he really can only affect passing plays, and plays run to his side. Troy is running free on every play.
The Steelers are still lacking focus a bit, though. We haven't had all 53 guys put it together for 60 minutes quite yet... Well, maybe last week in Denver, but even at that, we somehow gave up a fumble return for TD. Now, I know that you can second-guess and what-if until the cows come home, but let's just look at the season so far, but if the team had played mistake-free... And I know that each play changes how the game subsequently plays out, I'm sure, but let's just look at how many points we gave away or left on the field, and where we might have been if not for those mistakes:
Week 3: at Cincy. Interception returned for TD. Happened early 3rd quarter. Took the game from 13-3 (Steelers dominating and with the ball) to 13-9 in an instant. On top of it, we scored the next points, which would have made it 20-3 in the 3rd quarter. Cincy doesn't rebound from that. Additionally, without those 6 points, it's 20-9 (probably 20-10) when Cincy gets the ball late for its final drive.
Week 4: vs San Diego. Fumble returned fro TD. 12:37 of the 4th. Steelers were up 28-7. San Diego had just broken up the shutout, and had gotten the ball back looking to make it a game. I was at the game, and right before the Chargers drive, they pumped up "Renegade" and the whole stadium went nuts, as usual. Ike Taylor bats down a deep pass to Vincent Jackson on 3rd and 19, and the stadium is losing it, the defense is losing it, the Chargers are all but done for. And then this happens. All of a sudden its 28-14, and San Diego has the momentum. The Chargers went on to score two more TDs, and if not for some solid offense, we might not have escaped this one either. Ben came out on the next drive after the fumble, and shoved it right down the Chargers' throats, but 28-7 or 35-7 mid-4th quarter makes a difference. And 38-21 is never in doubt - there's no need a drive and field goal to seal it.
Week 5: at Detroit. How this was ever a game is beyond me. Another pick-6, at a bad time. Rather than being up 21-6 at the half, and 28-6 in the 3rd, it's 21-13 and 28-13, leaving Detroit with some hope, and Steelers fans with some ulcers.
Week 6: vs. Cleveland. Josh Cribbs KO return for TD in 2nd quarter. The Steelers had just gone up 14-0, and had all the momentum (see a theme). Although we ultimately won 27-14, we dominated Cleveland, and 27-7 would have been a far more fitting score line.
Week 7: vs. Minnesota. Kickoff return for TD. This was right after LaMarr's fumble return TD. We were up 20-10, and they made it a 3-point game again, with barely any time off the clock. Then, instead of it being 20-10 in the waning seconds, its 20-17, with Minny going for the win. Again, we still won, but it was a lot uglier than it should have been.
Week 9: at Denver. Fumble return for TD. Without that, Denver only puts up 3 points.
Week 10: vs. Cincy. Cincy won this game fair and square. But that KO return for TD was the difference. Stings...
So, I look at it, and in 2 of our 3 losses, the difference has been a return TD that should never have happened. In the other games, it kept the other team in it, and made us struggle to get the "W".
We've got to clean that shit up. If we do (and Skippy keeps making FGs), we'll beat everyone we play. If we don't, I'm afraid this will be 2006 (or 2004 or 2002 or 2001 or 1997 or 1996 or 1995 or 1994 or 1993) all over again........
But I do like our playoff chances. A quick look at the remaining schedule.
at KC (2-7)
at BAL (5-4)
vs OAK (2-7)
at CLE (1-8)
vs GB (5-4)
vs BAL (5-4)
at MIA (4-5)
By the time we host Green Bay, if we aren't at least 9-4, we don't deserve to go to the playoffs. Simple as that. KC, OAK and CLE are unloseable games for a playoff team. Playing at Baltimore is always tough. They aren't as good this year as last, but they will definitely be gunning for us, after we took them out 3 times last year. Additionally, they could easily be 5-5, given that they have Indy next week. That would mean that they'd be playing for their lives in that game.
I do like us in every other remaining game. Green Bay is good, but they've had some real issues with good pass-rushing teams. I just don't think they can come to Heinz and get the W. Ultimately, I'm calling 12-4 right now. That may be ambitious, but I honestly think the team is that good, and that Troy will be healthy by the time we get into the tougher games late in the year.
Here are my other thoughts on shit this week:
- If you read Deadspin or Modesi's House, you've seen this already. But just in case you haven't, you really need to check out this little animated short about Doc Ellis' no-hitter on LSD, narrated by Doc Ellis. It might be five of the most entertaining minutes of your life...
- Andrew McCutchen got stiffed on the ROTY award. Cutch, hitting leadoff for the Bucs, had more triples, homers, RBIs and steals. I'm not sure what this dude did, but he did it while being the #3 or #4 option on the team. Cutch has the weight of the franchise on his shoulders, and responded by playing great baseball. But then again, we shouldn't forget that Manny Ramirez lost out to Bob Hamelin in the 1994 ROTY voting, and we know how the rest of that went.
- Everyone's going crazy over Bill Bellichick's decision from the other night. Lot's of people think he did the right thing, including SI's Joe Posnanski. He notes that this blog post by Brian Burke of the NYT found the following: (1) on average, teams score on 4th and 2s about 60% of the time; (2) teams score TDs from the 30 about 53% of the time and (3) teams score TDs from the opposing 34 (or so) about 30% of the time. The result is that Bellichick's call was about 10% more likely to win going for it than sitting on it.
I don't think numbers tell the whole story here, but you gotta credit the guy for having some balls to make a tough call - one that was entirely on him. - LeBron playing in the NFL? What? No, shut the fuck up. ESPN, no. No. No. Has everyone forgotten about MJ trying to play baseball. He hasn't played football since 2002. At his greatest, he may have been an All-State football player. But let me just toss this out. Disappointing outfielder Jeff Francouer was on the USA Today All-American football team in 2001 (the year that James was supposedly All-State). Where are the calls for him to get a shot in the NFL? Cause they have about the same amount of proven football talent. So, seriously, LeBron. STFU and just play basketball. Please. You are no longer being called "the next Jordan", because you have established yourself as great in your own right. Jordan was never the physical freak that you are. But please, please, don't make that same mistake, humiliate yourself, and taint your legacy.
- I can be overly defensive of my teams. It's this weird kind of little-brother dynamic, where I believe that I have free reign to criticize and hate on them, but I take serious offense if anyone else does it. That happened today. Listening to Barry Melrose's NHL Podcast. The comments were regarding the Pens playing like shit for about 5 games. Now, admittedly, they shouldn't have been that bad under any circumstance. But, they were missing, in some combination, Geno Malkin, Chris Kunitz, Max Talbot, Sergei Gonchar, Brooks Orpik, Kris Letang and Alex Goligosky. You know what Melrose's response was? "Adversity doesn't make character, it exposes it."
What the fuck Melrose? Did you miss the Cup Finals last year. Yeah, they're playing like shit, but where does that comment come from? They were losing a starter every night for about 2 weeks. Their top 2 lines/defensive pairings were missing 7 guys from how the lines were set in last year's playoffs. Only 10 guys play on those lines/pairings. I don't care who you are, but you lose that many guys, it's going to take a few games to rebound/adjust to your new guys, etc.
So, I knew that the mullet (he has it because he has a cowlick on the back of his head) hated the Pens, but it still pissed me off. - Bengals fans burned a terrible towel. That's a new way of doing it, but they best start fitting Ben for number 3.
- Back in college, I got a special sports package with the cable. Included was Fox Soccer Network. I watched a lot of soccer. A lot of Sky Sports Report (which was on each evening). I got really into soccer. The team I picked was Arsenal. Why? I dunno, they seemed cool, red uniforms, nicknamed the gunners. Plus, they had Thierry Henry (Tee-air-ee On-ree), probably the most talented forward in the world at the time.
Well, apparently, Thierry handed a ball down, and scored, giving France a 1-1 tie with my native Ireland, giving France a birth in the World Cup and knocking Ireland out.
I don't know how to feel. I was frankly surprised that France didn't forfeit the game before it even started (didn't see that one coming, I bet, right?? Haha. Awesome.
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