Steelers vs Bengals (game day thread)

Yeah, I know it's a bit early, but I figured I'd get it started so we can start posting some pre-game warm-ups before Sunday.

Steelers can eliminate bungals playoff hopes:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/steelers-can-end-bengals-playoff-hopes-with-a-win-at-pbs/2016/12/15/9dd54a2a-c2ef-11e6-92e8-c07f4f671da4_story.html?ref=yfp&utm_term=.49995028ddbf

Quote :

Roethlisberger and Brown have combined for 49 TDs, tied with Terry Bradshaw and Lynn Swann for most in team history. ... Pittsburgh has held each of last four opponents to 100 yards rushing or less. ... Loss would eliminate Bengals from playoff contention. ...QB Andy Dalton threw career-high 54 passes in earlier game in Pittsburgh for 366 yards; most came late in game. ... Dalton had season-high passer rating of 130 vs. Eagles and 112.2 vs. Browns. ... WR Tyler Boyd leads all rookies with 21 third-down catches. ... DE Carlos Dunlap has 14 passes defensed, tops on team and ninth in NFL. ... DT Geno Atkins has 6½ sacks, fourth most by interior lineman in NFL. ... Bengals switched kickers this week, releasing Mike Nugent and claiming Randy Bullock off waivers from Steelers. ... Fantasy Tip: Since entering NFL in 2013, Bell has 1,418 yards from scrimmage in December, fourth most in league over that span.

i want a blowout win and vontaze burfict to be on IR with a broken neck

Bell seems to be going into the game thinking they'll try to hurt him again. He likely plays the game with a big chip on his shoulder...maybe get 250 yds rushing, and 100 receiving this week

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/18279860/leveon-bell-pittsburgh-steelers-cincinnati-bengals-hurt-again

If Ben tosses 3 INT's to the Bengals, we're not winning this game.

Fire Arians wrote:

i want a blowout win and vontaze burfict to be on IR with a broken neck

I would a good trap block on Burfict by a TE, OG, or FB Nix I mean light his ass up on the block.

I just want the Steelers to play an excellent x's and o's game on offense and defense and blow the Bengals out with their offensive yardage come in garbage time.

the Steelers playing like a well oiled football machine and chew the Bengals up into Tiger hamburger.

We just need to play a sound game. Ben can't try to do too much, and we are going to have to be balanced. I guarantee the Bengals are going to be gearing up to stop Bell and it might not be by much, but I think they're a sounder defense than Buffalo, and this is a heated divisional match up so where the Bengals are normally lacking, they usually make up for it through their sheer distaste for us.

Brown and Bell will be getting a lot of the attention I think, so it's going to be on guys like Eli Rogers, and Cobi Hamilton to step up their game. My X-Factor is Ledarius Green, the Bengals didn't have to account for an athletic deep threat at the TE position last time they faced us. I don't remember how the Bengals have fared against TEs statistically this season off of the top of my head, but I think they are pretty susceptible to the TE, so we need to exploit that if we can. It'll be on Ben to be more consistent, and not be careless with the football. We should've blown out the Bills, and instead it ended up being far closer than it should've been because of the careless interceptions.

Defensively we're going to need to continue what we've been doing. Get after the QB, don't let Red Ryder Daisy get comfortable in the pocket. Pressure him, and force him into making mistakes. Play sound, opportunistic football, and capitalize on the Bengal's miscues. Tackling will need to be consistent as well, the poor tackling reared it's ugly head against the Bills. At times these defense looks like world beaters, and at other times they leak like a sieve.

effyou515 wrote:

Fire Arians wrote:

i want a blowout win and vontaze burfict to be on IR with a broken neck

I would a good trap block on Burfict by a TE, OG, or FB Nix I mean light his ass up on the block.

I usually don't wish injury on anyone but if burfict got a career threatening injury i'd laugh my ass off and drink a beer

Fire Arians wrote:

effyou515 wrote:

Fire Arians wrote:

i want a blowout win and vontaze burfict to be on IR with a broken neck

I would a good trap block on Burfict by a TE, OG, or FB Nix I mean light his ass up on the block.

I usually don't wish injury on anyone but if burfict got a career threatening injury i'd laugh my ass off and drink a beer

It would be nice if the O-line dominates so Bell can eat up clock but I don't see that happening. I think Green, Rogers and Hamilton will have to step up. They also bumped Ayers up when they waived Bullock. Maybe we'll see him.

I think Burns can cover A.J. Green but I think they will work the middle with Eifert. That's where we struggle with bad tackling so we will have to tighten up there. Pressure on Dalton is key to disrupting his passing. Oh yeah we can't let run the ball down our throats.

This is not going to be an easy game for us but if we play sound we will beat these guys.

solardave wrote:

It would be nice if the O-line dominates so Bell can eat up clock but I don't see that happening. I think Green, Rogers and Hamilton will have to step up. They also bumped Ayers up when they waived Bullock. Maybe we'll see him.

I think Burns can cover A.J. Green but I think they will work the middle with Eifert. That's where we struggle with bad tackling so we will have to tighten up there. Pressure on Dalton is key to disrupting his passing. Oh yeah we can't let run the ball down our throats.

This is not going to be an easy game for us but if we play sound we will beat these guys.

I'm hoping our run defense stays as stout as they've been the past couple of weeks, we get Gravedigger back so he should bolster the line and add to the pass rush as well. Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard were not effective against us in Week 2, and they're down to just Jeremy Hill now so I'm not particularly scared of their running attack. If Bernard was around I'd be more worried about him because of his speed, shiftiness, and pass catching abilities.

Eifert and Green will be their biggest threats. I'm thinking Shazier should be following Eifert around.

According to Yahoo, there are 3 players who must come up big:

http://steelerswire.usatoday.com/2016/12/16/3-players-who-must-step-up-for-the-steelers-this-week/?ref=yfp

Ladarius Green
Ryan Shazier
Ben Roethlisberger

AJ Green isn't fully back and has been limited in practice this week. IDK if we will see him on Sunday....why would he risk coming back too soon when their playoff hopes are gone at this point.

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

AJ Green isn't fully back and has been limited in practice this week.  IDK if we will see him on Sunday....why would he risk coming back too soon when their playoff hopes are gone at this point.

Because the Bengals hate us and they'd love nothing more than to beat us, and put a damper on our AFC North Title/Playoff hopes.

IowaSteeler927 wrote:

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

AJ Green isn't fully back and has been limited in practice this week.  IDK if we will see him on Sunday....why would he risk coming back too soon when their playoff hopes are gone at this point.

Because the Bengals hate us and they'd love nothing more than to beat us, and put a damper on our AFC North Title/Playoff hopes.

The reports said it was a grade 2 muscle tear, which if true takes more time than this to properly heal. If that is all true, then Tyler Matakevich should have the speed to cover Green this week if he plays.

Cold weather, no playoff hopes, risk of further injury......if that is true then no way his agent should not be whispering in his ear to pull up lame for this Sunday and the rest of the season.

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

IowaSteeler927 wrote:

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

AJ Green isn't fully back and has been limited in practice this week.  IDK if we will see him on Sunday....why would he risk coming back too soon when their playoff hopes are gone at this point.

Because the Bengals hate us and they'd love nothing more than to beat us, and put a damper on our AFC North Title/Playoff hopes.

The reports said it was a grade 2 muscle tear, which if true takes more time than this to properly heal.  If that is all true, then Tyler Matakevich should have the speed to cover Green this week if he plays.

Cold weather, no playoff hopes, risk of further injury......if that is true then no way his agent should not be whispering in his ear to pull up lame for this Sunday and the rest of the season.

Nah, I believe he should come back in week 17 against the ratbirds.

Just beat the crap out of dalton. And Ben needs a good game. I think they're going to try to load up on Bell.

The injury report looks good. DHB and Thomas are the only one that are ruled out.

DWill looks to be returning.


And seems like no AJ Green for the Bungals.

Ben plays TERRIBLE on the road, so I hope he can turn it around against Cincy on Sunday. Iowa you are right, Cincy is awful against TE's, so expect Green to come up big. You can also bet that Bell will be running with a vengeance to control clock and possession.

This has all the signs of a trap game, but if Tomlin, Haley, and Butler can play aggressive football, this should be a solid W for us.

It doesn't look like Green will play

NFL.Com wrote:

7. Bengals wideout A.J. Green (hamstring) is listed as doubtful this week against the Steelers.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000757686/article/injuries-darren-sproles-concussion-ruled-out

IowaSteeler927 wrote:

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

AJ Green isn't fully back and has been limited in practice this week.  IDK if we will see him on Sunday....why would he risk coming back too soon when their playoff hopes are gone at this point.

Because the Bengals hate us and they'd love nothing more than to beat us, and put a damper on our AFC North Title/Playoff hopes.

I agree with what you're saying but Green doesn't impress me as the type of guy who plays into the hype. You never see him trash talking. He is the one guy on their team I respect and if he can't go. I respect that.

LambertWardSteel wrote:

It doesn't look like Green will play

NFL.Com wrote:

7. Bengals wideout A.J. Green (hamstring) is listed as doubtful this week against the Steelers.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000757686/article/injuries-darren-sproles-concussion-ruled-out

Nah, he is going to come back this week and risk further injury and a career setback just to panic paranoid Steeler fans.