Steelers need 'Good' Ben

Starkey: Steelers need 'Good' Ben

By Joe Starkey
Monday, Jan. 4, 2016

I can't get this Marvin Lewis “exorcism” quote out of my mind.

Lewis, the Cincinnati Bengals coach-who's-never-won-a-playoff-game, said it's time to slay the demons against the Steelers.

“It's time to right the ship,” Lewis told reporters Sunday. “You know, exorcism.”

I keep picturing Lewis, if the Bengals win, going to midfield with his head turned all the way round and shaking Mike Tomlin's hand.

But that's my problem. It's one way to analyze this game, too — from the psychological perspective (suffice to say, the Steelers are so far in the Bengals' heads it would take the Jaws of Life to pry them loose).

You could break it down a thousand different ways. I keep coming back to the quarterback matchup: Ben Roethlisberger versus Katherine Webb-McCarron's husband AJ.

That is why the Steelers are favored.

That is why the Steelers should win.

But there's a nagging question here. A fair one, too: Which Ben will the Steelers get Saturday?

Over the past two seasons, we've often seen one of two extremes: Historically Spectacular Ben (six touchdown passes on consecutive weeks) or Reckless Ben (remember the Baltimore game nine days ago?).

Sometimes both emerge on the same day...

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He hasn't been the same since that injury.

SteelerEmpire wrote:

He hasn't been the same since that injury.

The lower abdominal strain caused by the 50 extra pounds of donut weight?

damn AJ mcarron's wife is smokin hot lol

I really hope Bizzaro Ben doesn't show up this weekend. He needs to play smart ball, take what the defense is giving him, and don't try and force feed Brown like he's been doing. Good teams will capitalize on that and make him pay for it. This game is very winnable,  just have to play smart.

Agreed. We need the Ben who was systematically dismantling secondaries by spreading the ball around, going for the short underneath routes when open, and not trying to win the game all by himself.

We don't need the gunslinger Ben who holds onto the ball, bombs it 30 yards downfield when all we need is 2, and wants to make a play happen so badly he throws an INT.

Fire Arians wrote:

damn AJ mcarron's wife is smokin hot lol

Lets hope she weakens him the night before.

Hope Ben wins the battle with his evil self in the junkyard this week.

With no running game, Ben is going to have to shoulder the extra load.

Come on Ben...Lets go Steelers!!!

We need sans INT Ben, the spread the ball around Ben, the use what the give you Ben which then leads to victory Ben :)

SteelersNorth wrote:

We need sans INT Ben, the spread the ball around Ben, the use what the give you Ben which then leads to victory Ben :)

Don't bet the mortgage on that happening

Ben, in effect (paraphrasing) just said on @937theFan, when it comes to his INTs this yr,"Crap happens" when you have a gunslinger mentality

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) January 5, 2016

its the joke of how can you say great twice in the same sentance:
daughter (16) comes home and says to her father daddy I'm pregnant... he says, great, just fuckin' great.

the latter applies to what Ben said lol

I have a feeling Ben comes out and plays a game on Saturday. I can just tell how much his recent struggles have bothered him. He takes that shit to heart. I think he will come out and spread the ball around. 400 yards 3td and 1 INT maybe?

I would guess the coaches are sitting down with Ben and reminding him to take what the defense gives him. Don't force it into double coverage. I would bet the Bengals will try to take away his favorite target: Brown and maybe Wheaton or Bryant. Heath and the RB (hopefully its Williams) should be open all day.

No question this game centers around Ben, as it always does anyhow.

Imperial you're right. I remember him throwing a boneheaded pick vs the Broncos then seeing him with his head down afterwards. Even when we can't score a TD you can see his frustration on the sidelines.

I feel better, in fact much better, about night time big Ben vs day time big Ben. Seems to be doing good in prime time this season. Let's hope that trend continues Saturday night.

Sucks about our RB situation. Football gods hate this team, I swear it.