Man, I do really hate the Bengals. Well, I guess I should say I really hate Dre Kirkpatrick and, most importantly, Vontaze Burfict. If Kirkpatrick is a dirty player, then Burfict would be a dumpster diver who hasn’t showered in 30 years.
As Marc will tell you here, Burfict was an instigator that was let off easy way too often, and it seemed as though the refs were constantly on the Bengals side.
Even so, it was the effort of both of these men, alongside the rest of the Bengals defense, that held Pittsburgh to 4 field goals. Actually, Dre Kirkpatrick couldn’t really cover anyone, so he can go sit back in the corner.
Anyways, the high powered Steelers offense stalled out 4 times near the red zone. Even though they still had 2 offensive touchdowns and a pick six to help with the score, those potential 28 points could’ve sealed the game up earlier. This was a serious problem last year, and it seems to creep up every once in a while this season.
Now, we can sit back blame everything on the referee’s bad calls (and no one would blame us), but the fact still remains that the Steelers simply need to execute better on that side of the field.
Ben Roethlisberger did an excellent job in distributing the ball to all of his receivers and not letting the Bengals secondary get too accustomed to what play calls they were calling.
The ground game was honest, and it kept the opposition on their toes.
The defense still allowed big plays back deep. It seems as though Antwon Blake and Mike Mitchell forget how to wrap up during a tackle, which ultimately led to an A.J. Green touchdown later in the game.
It still amazes me how the Steelers continue to trust Blake against great receivers, especially ones that are a solid 8 inches taller than him.
I would really like to see Blake being phased out unless his play vastly improves.
All in all though, this was a great road win in the hostile environment of Cincinnati, Ohio. The Steelers played their guts out, and were righteously rewarded.
Looking ahead to next week’s matchup against the Denver Broncos, it seems as though the Broncos will be pretty desperate to beat the Steelers since they were defeated at the hands of the Oakland Raiders.
The Steelers will have another monumental challenge against a great defense like Denver.
The Orange Crush vs. The Steel Curtain.
There’s a headline in there somewhere.
Stats and info courtesy of steelers.com and NFL.com
