The Cincinnati Bingles, as Phil Simms calls them, left Pittsburgh with a victory for the 2nd consecutive year. The game was a highly-anticipated shootout in the competitive rivalry of Ben Roethlisberger and Carson Palmer. Today's match featured a back-and-forth struggle between the young signal callers, with each trying to top the other in the "backbreaking turnover" category. Roethlisberger would laugh last, as his interception with 22 seconds to go would complete his hat trick for the day. If nothing else, the quarterback play proved that Anthony Morelli does have a future in the NFL.
It's time for a new treat. Bill Cowher will have some questions to be answered at his weekly press conference as well. I plan on asking the tough questions that I doubt will be asked on Tuesday. Here's a little preview of what I will ask our beloved coach:
"Bill, why do you think you could trust a punt returner who can't even pronounce his last name right?"
"On Willie Parker, do you plan on giving him the ball every play, or does it just seem that way?"
"After his performance today, any second thoughts on letting Plaxico Burress sign with the Giants?"
"Is Hines Ward on the team this year, or is he still touring Korea?"
"Seriously, how awesome was that Ryan Clark hit?"
"Are you aware Ben is on pace for 0 touchdowns and 38 interceptions this year?"
"Any concerns about how far you'll fall in Peter King's Fine Fifteen this week?"
"Was the signing of Najeh Davenport strictly for comedic purposes?"
"This was a rare loss when your team runs for 100 yards. What is your record when your team has five turnovers in a game?"
"Who had the final call on the style of gift wrap of today's game: Colclough or Roethlisberger?"
"Does Duce Staley have some dirt on you, or some naughty pictures? That's the only explanation I have left for why he's still around. Care to shed some light?"
"Are We still Dey? Or are Dey Dey again?"
Other thoughts from a disappointing Sunday:
-Was anyone else as annoyed as I was with Jim Nantz's statistical updates throughout the first half? Every minor milestone was related to last week's game..."They have three 1st downs...do you know how long it took them to get three 1st downs last week?"...no, Jim, please remind us again and again how bad the offense sucked last week.
-We had a Mike Logan sighting, with a timely taunting penalty in the midst of a fourth-quarter comeback attempt. That said, quite a lick put on by McKeesport Mike.
-Willie Parker is on pace for 378 carries. The all-time NFL record for carries in a season is Jamal Anderson with 410 for the 1998 Dirty Birds.
-Ben, the preseason is now complete. Hopefully you'll start to take these games seriously.
-Again, I repeat: the season is not lost. Right now, the issues are many, but there is still time to turn things around.
8 comments:
Let's look at this game objectively taking off the black and gold sunglasses for a minute.
How "Cardinal" of a Cardinal sin was Ben's interception in the end zone in the first quarter? Instead of being up 14-0, the game winds up 7-7. Talk about a momentum killer. Heath Miller was surrounded by about six guys on that pass. What was Ben thinking, that he's an immortal or something?
Defense: Not their greatest effort, but they certainly were playing well enough to win. A lot of nice sacks even though Polamalu is a shell of himself right now. Joey Porter did his "invisible man" imitation yesterday. He talked a good game though.
Offense: Well the line was blocking great, they were certainly able to run the ball, and Ben had 10 minutes at a time to throw. So this leaves: Receivers and Big Ben. No receiver had a good game yesterday with several balls being dropped. Ben should stick with shorter routes until he builds up a rhythm with his offense.
Special Teams: Why do you have one of the college games' best returners sitting on the practice squad while Ricardo Coke-Lee lets balls clang off his hands? I blame this on Cowher...totally.
I also have to question why the Steelers, who were having a lot of success with Parker running the ball, didn't bring in Davenport to let him pound on the Bengals for a while. It sure would have beaten seeing Ben throwing the ball around the lot.
If they could have somehow gotten out of this game with a W, they would then have had two weeks to try getting the passing game together. They'll still have the two weeks, but now they have two teams that they're trailing in the standings. Five turnovers for a team of this pedigree is ridiculous, so are taunting and excessive celebration penalties.
GRADES: Running Game A
Passing Game F
Defense B
Special Teams D
Coaching D
I actually yelled out "Holy Fuck!" when I saw that Ryan Clark hit.
"Are we dey, or are dey dey again?"
This is awesome!
I have to say 1/4 blame goes to cowher for putting "Coke-lee" back there with that wind, then 3/4 blame goes to the man that didnt drop back and jumped up to muff a punt then not just fall on it cause you know he was "over-anxious".
Do not blame Ben remember he did complete TWO passes in the end zone.
Blame the wind since it did effect Carson Palmer throwing FOUR touchdowns.
Even the hit a Chris Henry wasnt satisfying enough since it should have been Chad Johnson getting broke!!!
But in all seriousness lets forget about that and finish the season 14-2.
I put about 60% of this one on the large one they call Benjamin.
25% on Ricardo Cock-loge (that's how it's pronounced... right?).
And 15% on the guy ::cough::Cowher::cough:: that thought putting Ricardo back there to field a crucial, late-game punt at his own 10 was a good idea.
By the way, I can't say enough about Dick Lebeau's halftime defensive adjustments. No sarcasm here, that was about as good as it gets.
"BINGLES"
Glad someone esle noticed it finally. I was prdicting this all week.
Is anyone else upset that we stuck with Nate Washington and Sean Morey instead of Quincy Morgan? What was wrong with Quincy? Did he not drop enough balls? Washington has been crushing him in that department. Appearently, 2 good catches are enough to land you on a team. Great Special teams returner? Nahhhh, I want dropped balls.
Unless he lost a lot of speed from his leg injury that I'm not aware of, I too was shocked that Mr. Bill let him go. Prior to his injury, I thought that Quincy Morgan was terrific on kickoff returns. I would even say that he was one of their best ever...not that he was here that long to pile up great statistics, but that he had a tremendous burst once he got the ball. He was a vertical runner too. He must have been badly impacted by that injury for the Steelers to let him go.
One thing about the Steelers that's so different from their brethren headquartered at PNC Park: They know how to evaluate players and run successful drafts.
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