Will Steelers’ success against Bengals continue?
MEMORABLE SERIES MOMENT
Steelers 23, Bengals 20
Dec. 4, 2017 at Paul Brown Stadium
The Bengals have come from behind in three of their four wins this season, but can’t find a way to finish off the Steelers, particularly in Cincinnati, where the Steelers have won 24 of the last 29 meetings. Last season was yet another blown lead for the Bengals. The Steelers lost Ryan Shazier with a spinal chord injury on the third defensive snap, and struggled just to kick a field goal at the end of the second quarter to cut the Bengals’ lead to 17-3. The Steelers found their motivation in the locker room and the Bengals, by refusing to tackle Le’Veon Bell down the sideline, allowed a 35-yard touchdown pass to open the half. At 20-13, the Steelers crossed midfield with seven minutes left on another pass to Bell, a play in which JuJu Smith-Schuster laid waste to Vontaze Burfict with a blindside block. The Steelers were penalized, and Smith-Schuster was suspended for the next game after standing over Burfict in a menacing manner. Burfict was carted off with a concussion, and on the next play Ben Roethlisberger found Antonio Brown for 24 yards, then Bell for 18, and then Jesse James for 13 to set up a 6-yard touchdown pass to Brown to tie the game. Brown held on despite a brutal helmet-to-helmet blast from George Iloka. The Bengals went three-and-out, thanks to Bud Dupree’s sack on third-and-2, and the Steelers drove 39 yards in eight plays for the game-winning 38-yard field goal at 0:00.
TALE OF THE TAPE
“I’m not sold on Cincinnati as a 4-1 football team. I think Andy Dalton is doing a great job of getting rid of the ball quick. You’re starting to see some of that (coordinator) Bill Lazor influence on their passing game. One thing you notice is they’re moving A.J. Green around a lot more. He seems to look more productive inside the numbers. Part of that is because they know they don’t have a very good offensive line and they have to get rid of the ball quicker. Their line is pretty soft. The only one in the same position as last year is Clint Boling at left guard. They went and got Cordy Glenn from Buffalo and he reminds me of Herman Munster. The right guard is pretty soft. You can collapse the pocket with your tackles and then bring the guys off the edge because there’s going to be no place for Dalton to step up.” — Steelers Radio analyst Tunch Ilkin.
TOP QUESTION
Will Burfict seek revenge?
He’s hailed as an aggressive player in Cincinnati, but in Pittsburgh he’s considered the dirtiest player in the game. David DeCastro will tell you he hates him, Roosevelt Nix will get up and leave the room if his name’s brought up, but Maurkice Pouncey will tell you he likes to play against Burfict. But no one’s ever hit him like Smith-Schuster did in the last meeting. Neither he nor Burfict would talk about the play this week, but in the offseason, after Burfict was suspended for the first four games this season for performance-enhancing drugs, Burfict blamed it on medication for the concussion. Smith-Schuster responded by tweeting, “That dude Burfict been on too much Slurp Juice and now tryna blame me.” Stay tuned.
THREE QUESTIONS: With SS TERRELL EDMUNDS
Q: Did you play against Pitt when they had James Conner and Tyler Boyd?
TE: “I played Pitt with Boyd my freshman year. That was my first game ever starting and I was out there at boundary corner, so I played against Boyd a lot. He was already a big-time star so it was a big-time matchup. Man, I don’t remember him doing anything on me crazy. I think he caught a pass. I think I also got a PBU. But, yeah, that was my freshman year. Then my sophomore year, James, you know, James was doing James things. I had to go get him a few times. We always laugh and joke about it because James is still doing his thing, running over people left and right. I did have to try to hawk him down, caught him at like the 10-yard line a few times.”
Q: So you’re not surprised by their success in the NFL?
TE: “Not at all. Not at all. They’re both good guys. I remember my freshman year when they told me Boyd was the guy. Watching him play my freshman year and then just going out there playing against him, I was like OK I’ve got to get on my stuff because that was the first big-time guy I went against at corner. It was a good experience.”
Q: Last week you looked like you were comfortable. Are you feeling like yourself out there yet?
TE: “Yes sir. Thank you for that. I am getting more comfortable out there. I can be myself. I’m seeing more. My focus level is high every play. Stuff duplicates week by week. If you see a similar pattern from last week, you’re like, ‘OK I’m going to go get that,’ and (claps hands). I think that’s really what’s going on now. Just trying to get better every day, every week.”
GAME BREAKDOWN
What to look for from the Steelers Sunday afternoon in Cincinnati:
ON OFFENSE
The Bengals received some bad news late in the week when their best cornerback聽— the guy who hasn’t allowed a catch while covering Brown, according to Pro Football Focus聽— William Jackson had to miss practice with a sore knee. He’s listed as questionable for the game. The Steelers are healthy on offense and will certainly look to pound Conner into a Bengals front that allows 4.5 per carry. If the Steelers get their run game rolling, they’ll be able to keep a fierce Bengals pass rush at bay and keep Roethlisberger healthy.
ON DEFENSE
The Steelers also have the edge in health on this side of the ball. They’re minus dime backer Morgan Burnett, again, as well as emerging coverage linebacker L.J. Fort. But the Bengals will be without running back Gio Bernard, tight ends Tyler Eifert and Tyler Kroft, center Billy Price, and probably deep threat John Ross. While many are expecting the Steelers to use their best man-coverage corner, Joe Haden, on long-time rival Green, they might also deploy Haden on Boyd and double Green with a safety. Since the tight end and No. 3 WR positions are problematic for the Bengals, the Steelers could be watching fans leave early on the Escaloser, Part 18, if they can contain RB Joe Mixon.
PREDICTION
With their mutual hatred, the emotional edges are even. The Steelers do own the intangibles. They’ve won nine of the last 10 meetings, the last five in Cincinnati, and are 17-3 at PBS since it opened in 2000. Roethlisberger is 12-2 at Cincinnati since being drafted out of nearby Miami, Ohio. That said, the 4-1 Bengals own the on-field fundamentals over the 2-2-1 Steelers due mainly to a leaky Steelers pass defense. The teams are nearly even at the line of scrimmage, and the Bengals have the slight edge in offensive scoring efficiency, but the Steelers allow a dismal 12.6 yards per completion and are going up against an outstanding pair of Bengals receivers. Still, I’m guessing that CB Jackson misses for the Bengals, so in an even matchup I’ll side with the healthier team with better special teams … Steelers, 30-27.
BY THE NUMBERS
5.5: Quarters missed by Eifert, the athletic tight end who’s now on IR. The Bengals’ offense has scored only 20 points since聽— two touchdowns and two field goals.
5.8: Yards per rush against the Bengals last week by the Miami Dolphins. Burfict, the hulking run-stuffer, played in 53 percent of the snaps in that game, his first back from suspension, and the Bengals expect him to return to form in this game.
30: Bengals’ ranking in punt coverage. They also rank 27th in kickoff coverage, so it could mean a big day for Steelers return specialist Ryan Switzer. The Bengals allowed a 71-yard punt return for a touchdown last week and have had a punt and field goal blocked in their last two games.
31: QB pressures by Bengals defensive tackle Geno Atkins to lead the league, according to Pro Football Focus. It puts Atkins on pace for 99, which would be 18 over his career high. Atkins, of course, is tied with the Watt brothers for the NFL lead in sacks with six.
38: Touchdown passes against the Bengals by Ben Roethlisberger are the most in NFL history. Roethlisberger also leads all QBs in completions, passing yards and passes for first downs against the Bengals.
DOWNLOADS
* Vance McDonald and Jesse James have caught 25 passes at 18.2 yards per catch to give the Steelers a big edge at tight end over the Bengals’ C.J. Uzomah, who’s caught nine passes at 13 yards per catch. McDonald, in particular, has become a threat. “He’s a guy that can create some mismatch opportunities and you have to take advantage of it,” said Roethlisberger. “We all saw what can happen when the ball gets in his hand quick enough.” In the offseason, McDonald requested a move next to Roethlisberger in the locker room and they’ve become close friends. “We went on a trip this offseason together,” Roethlisberger said. “It’s good being there and communicating about football things, life things, faith things, whatever it is, and so it’s good having him there and I definitely think it helps us on the field.”
* Haden has a history of covering Green that goes back to their college days in the SEC, and Haden enters this meeting at the top of his game. He shut down Julio Jones last week the same way he shut down DeAndre Hopkins last year. What did last week mean to Haden? “I’m just trying to show the Steelers that I can be here for a while, that I can be a No. 1 corner for several years to come. That’s just what I’m trying to do.”
* It was a terrible call, but last Sunday the Steelers were penalized 15 yards for T.J. Watt’s low tap on quarterback Matt Ryan’s knee. Mike Tomlin complained after the game and was fined $25,000. Watt was fined $20,000 later in the week. “I pulled my hands off and you can see it in the film,” said Watt. “I don’t know what a penalty is anymore, so I just play my game and if a flag is thrown, a flag is thrown.” Watt was asked if Ryan acted a bit in drawing the flag. “I don’t know,” he said. “If I was him I would. Why not? Fifteen yards helps your team a lot. If I’m a quarterback I’m going to sell it too. I can’t blame him for playing the game.”
* Stephon Tuitt on Eifert, a former first-round pick who’s played in only 43 of 85 games and was just put on injured reserve for the fourth time in his six NFL seasons: “I played with Tyler Eifert at Notre Dame for three years, so I’m definitely close to him. He’s a great guy, tremendous athlete. The latest injury was horrible to look at. I hope he comes back healthy. It’s unfortunate the situations he’s been in. It’s so crazy how football can play out. When he got drafted you expected this guy to be great, because when I played with him for three years he was doing things that you never really saw most tight ends do.”
* Shazier’s world changed last Dec. 4 in Cincinnati when he appeared to make a routine tackle on receiver Josh Malone, the former go-to receiver for Steelers backup QB Joshua Dobbs at Tennessee. “He was running a drag and Ryan was covering the dragger,” Dobbs said. “(Malone) said it just felt like a normal hit. And it looked like a normal hit, nothing crazy about it. But, yeah, he said he didn’t even realize it was bad on the field. It was just crazy.”
PARTING SHOT
“It’s a very physical game, to say the least. It’s great for television, great for the NFL. It usually turns out to be a tight game with a lot of exciting plays.” — Steelers C Maurkice Pouncey.