-LTlabnerIf you can't build a winning team with that core a fire-sale isn't the solution. Selling the franchise, moving them to Nashville and converting GABP into a used car lot is.
I think the biggest key to the game is the Steelers gameplan. If they come out and pound the ball with Parker and Davenport all day, the Bengals don't have a chance.
If they come out like they did against Denver, the Steelers don't have a chance.
I don't see any scenario in which we win this game.
I'm just hoping it's watchable.
Willie Parker will rush for 150+ yards. While I agree that the Steelers are overrated, the Bengals are much worse right now. Any team with a quality running back should run right over the Bengals.
Pittsburgh 35, Cincinnati 14
I mentioned this in Edskin's thread, but the Bengals are a streaky team, so they're now due their annual winning streak that gets them to .500 and gives the fanbase the false impression that it may be a playoff season. Watch them run off three wins in a row, including this Sunday against Pittsburgh, an overrated team.
Hmm... common knowlegde leads me to believe that there is no way we win this game. The whole "rivalry" thing might keep the game close, but I really don't see how we win this game.
I'm sorry to break the news, but Roethlisberger is not a good quarterback. He's average at best. I'm over-simplifying, of course, but all the Bengals have to do is focus on the running game and let Roethlisberger lose the game for the Steelers. He always tries to do something he's incapable of (which is be good), and he's going to cost the Steelers the game.
Get MLBtraderumors Reds updates on Facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Reds-R...33794710005587
http://i.imgur.com/1bCKpaH.jpg
Carson has more talent and ability than Roethlisberger in his pinky toe.
The Bengals have tried that appraoch before with Ben... and lost.
Granted - Roethlisberger didn't shine last year versus the Bengals; but prior to '06, he has had his way with them pretty much.
Here is a comparison between QB's in last years two meetings, which the teams split.....
Overall, since 2004, Ben is 4-2 vs the Bengals, and has never lost at Cincinnati, with a QB rating of 98.4 playing there.Code:C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT Palmer 18/26 193 7.4 4 2 Roethlisberger 18/39 208 5.3 0 3 Palmer 20/38 251 6.6 2 0 Roethlisberger 19/28 280 10.0 1 1
And while I would like nothing more then to see the Bengals beat Pittsburgh, who leads our division...... Ben is not their problem. Ben doesn't have to be spectacular, just good enough.
Can the Bengals stop Willie Parker is the bigger issue.
People talk about how miserable the Bengal's defense is, but they also need to take a good hard look at this offensive line. Palmer has been scrambling and running his butt off. Pitt is going to blitz him terribly I feel.
Last edited by GAC; 10-26-2007 at 09:53 AM.
"In my day you had musicians who experimented with drugs. Now it's druggies experimenting with music" - Alfred G Clark (circa 1972)
Ben is good at the short passes though, which is what seems to really hurt us.
I don't either, but I'm still picking the Bengals, based on history alone. Even in the darkest hours of this franchise's history, they've found ways to beat Pittsburgh.
In 1980, the 0-2 Bengals defeated the 2-0 Steelers. Three weeks later, they met again, this time with the Bengals 1-4 and the Steelers 4-1. Cincinnati won again. They were 2-0 vs Pittsburgh and 0-4 against the rest of the league, while the Steelers were 0-2 against the Bengals and 4-0 against the rest of the league. That Bengals team managed only six wins all season, but they were much better than their 6-10 record indicated, and proved it the next year by going to the Super Bowl.
More recently, in 1998, the Bengals went 3-13. Wanna guess who two of those three wins came against? Yep, the division rivals. They were 2-0 against Pittsburgh and 1-13 vs the rest of the teams on their schedule.
What does all of this ancient history have to do with this Sunday's game? Many would say "Absolutely nothing. The games are played, won, and lost on the field, not in some record book."
However, in my 30+ years of watching this league, I've learned that certain historical trends cannot be ignored, and people who give betting advice will agree. That's probably why the Bengals are only a 3-point underdog.
I'll admit that I cherry picked two specific seasons to make my point, but hopefully it illustrates that, no matter how bad the Bengals season goes, it doesn't necessarily carry over to the Pittsburgh game.
On the other hand, the Steelers have a history of winning at PBS, so maybe one cancels out the other.
You're not "breaking" any news. You're perpetuating a falsehood. Until his injury-plagued 2006 Roethisberger didn't find a way to cost the Steelers many games on his way to helping Pittsburgh grab their fifth Lombardi trophy.
Fast-forward to 2007:
Ben Roethisberger:
63.3% Completion Rate
7.9 YPA (NFL Rank- 7th)
13 TD (NFL Rank- 4th)/5 INT
39.8% First Down per Attempt (NFL Rank- 4th)
19.05% 20+ Yard pass per Completion (NFL Rank- 2nd)
101.1 QB Rating (NFL Rank- 5th)
Average at best? Give me a break. Only Tom Brady has thrown 13 or more TD passes with as few or fewer picks. Nearly 20% of his completions go for 20 or more yards, yet only five tosses have been intercepted. Yeah, he's sure been losing games left and right this year. Could the Steelers' offensive line pass block worth a crap, Pitt wins the Denver game last week. But they couldn't so they didn't. So it goes.
You might not want to believe it, but we're not talking about Kordell Stewart here. We're talking about a guy who has twice before been in the rarified air of top-five rated passers in the game (2004, 2005). While you're apparently surprised to see him there yet again, I'm not exactly sure why.
"The problem with strikeouts isn't that they hurt your team, it's that they hurt your feelings..." --Rob Neyer
"The single most important thing for a hitter is to get a good pitch to hit. A good hitter can hit a pitch that’s over the plate three times better than a great hitter with a ball in a tough spot.”
--Ted Williams
I hate Benny boy with a passion, but you can't dispute the numbers. He's good and should move the ball down the field at will against the Bengals.
The knock on Roethlisberger is that he is a "system" QB, and would struggle in a different system. I tend to believe that, but it's irrelevant. He doesn't play in another system. I'm not sure there's anyone in the NFL that could run that system any better. Their perfect match fell right into their lap.
Now I'm going to go puke.
"The players make the manager, it's never the other way." - Sparky Anderson
Board Moderators may, at their discretion and judgment, delete and/or edit any messages that violate any of the following guidelines: 1. Explicit references to alleged illegal or unlawful acts. 2. Graphic sexual descriptions. 3. Racial or ethnic slurs. 4. Use of edgy language (including masked profanity). 5. Direct personal attacks, flames, fights, trolling, baiting, name-calling, general nuisance, excessive player criticism or anything along those lines. 6. Posting spam. 7. Each person may have only one user account. It is fine to be critical here - that's what this board is for. But let's not beat a subject or a player to death, please. |