i am just curious. I am 36 years old and have been watching football since I was about 4. I even played football for a while in my school days, have a friend who played in college and with the Bengals and Vikings. Apparently through all of this I still do not understand the rules. I have seen the replay of Cedric Bensons TD run nearly 100 times. I am stilling trying to find a reason that there was no holding on the left guard on that play. Clearly Farrior was reaching to make the tackle when the gaping hole opened up because the O lineman simply wrapped farrior up and tackled him as if Farrior was the ball carrier. If that is not an offensive holding then why even have a rule against offensive holding? I am completely confused, can anyone help me??

Steelers 2 TOs
Opponents 6 TOs
Nuff said

I personally am not sold on Sweed, and he better get it together because I am quickly falling in love with Mike Wallace. Just seems like he has catches in big siutations, one of those players who seems to have a nose for the ball when those types of plays are needed.

I don’t understand when there was 5-6 minutes left why not go to the huddle get down there and score some points. The Bengals could not stop the passing game. When Cincy got the ball back the defense looked tired. Polamalu can’t get back quick enough. Two games behind the Ravens already. Not the start the Steelers needed.

First point is that, if our receivers held on anywhere near as well as their O-line, the game would have been in the bag.

Limas Sweed has to be running out of opportunities to show some potential. I expect he will bypass #4 on the depth chart on his way to #5.

Santonio had some nice catches but some horrible miscues, too. It looked like he ran the wrong route, leading to the interception. Wherever the disconnect came, it was an unacceptable mistake for these two pros.

Does anyone really believe the loss of Troy is not significant. I saw chatter about this on the Post Gazette site. It was easy to see in both losses. Prolific passers require more coverage. Without Troy, linebackers have to drop into coverage more, which reduces the pressure and leads to fewer sacks. That said, the pressure on Palmer was intense. He delivered.

so far it’s been an exciting and entertaining season.

I’m sorry about sneaking in on your forum but, after being in your situation time and time again, you fans are saying the same thing that we say every time we loose. We love are Bengals and always try to find the reason why we lost. However, I figured this out. You can dissect every game but the result is still the same. The best team won today. You talk that receivers drop balls, no run game or the O-line didn’t do their job. Whatever the case is, the better team won. Remember this happens to us a lot. Hopefully we have turned the corner and we will see you guys again in your home!!!!

LOTS OF GREAT POINTS BY EVERYONE but I think that a problem was the offensive strategy at the end.

The team gets the ball back up 5 with 9 minutes left. The team lets the play-clock run down pretty far on several plays. The Steelers ran 7 plays including the punt and let 4:00 run off the clock.

I didn’t agree with this strategy during the game. That drive seemed to emphasize running the clock down as opposed to getting points.

If this was the 1990s then possibly the move is to try and kill the clock. If it was the Jerome and Barry Foster years then yes, you can try and win games by rolling the clock down. More importantly if you had the Steelers secondary during that time then yes bank on that D keeping an opponent from scoring a TD.

With our current personnel (Great QB and no Troy) the better strategy when we got the ball back is to throw the ball.

I really think that teams in this era in the NFL shouldn’t try and burn the clock unless

1- up by more than 2 scores with less than 9 minutes
2- with a lead under 2 minutes.

The team going 3 and out with 2 incomplete passes would have meant that Cincy. gets the ball back with say 7:30. When they score we get the ball back with 2-3 minutes or so.

Right now I think the Steelers need to think like they have the 1980 Chargers as opposed to the 1992 Steelers

As a steeler fanatic. First I want to congradulate the bengals on their win today. They made enough plays to win the game. Secondly, the steeler nation should know that any defense doesnt matter if the offense cant help them out. Our defense is still capable of keeping the games close so the offense can produce everytime they are in the RED ZONE. The defense carried the team for the past three games and now u so called steeler fans are bitching like u BELIEVE when the good is going. when the tough comes u panic like a rookie ur dissing. Polumalu this, the defense that, and what ever else u want to wha wha about. All u crying steeler fans should just shut the fuckk up and take the lumps like REAL STEELER FANS. Just b the black n gold tweleve men/women of the STEELER NATION. If u can diss it out, just remember former steeler anothony davis. So as a Nation let us take lumps like we give lumps.RELAX—RELAX—RELAX.The game is over so let us look foward to san diego.
GOD BLESS TO ALL, Steeler nation and Bengals. From hawaii. good luck n aloha

Just my two cents about the offense…We are a good spread formation passing team why don’t we ever run it out of a spead formation!?? Fewer defenders in the box mean more running lanes for the RB’s…even in the red zone?? That’s basic Football 101!! The few times we’ve done so …we have gashed defenses…WE DO HOWEVER get in a predictable two and three TE set and telegraph to the other team “hey we’re running it!”….No working!! be more creative BA!!

Great recap blitz. I would agree with almost all of your points except your emphasis on defense being the major problem. The entire team, all three units on the field and the fourth unit of coaches on the sidelines, is a little bit out of sync. We tend to notice it more on the defensive side because we have become used to such a high standard of performance. When your Ferrari defense can only go 80 miles per hour you tend to be a bit more upset than when your Honda Civic offense can’t get get over 45.

I would say the one common denominator for all three games has been mental mistakes and poor execution in situational football in all three phases, and by the coaching staff. The compounding factor has been clutch performances by the opposition in key situations in the two losses. Cutler and Palmer made some big plays and did not turn the ball over. Chicago’s receivers made a ton of good catches in traffic. This time, Brian Leonard’s lunge for the first down after being hit by Farrior two yards short of the sticks was a fantastic effort by him. But overall the offense has put up yards and the defense has forced punts. The problem is points, both for and against, in key situations. In those situations we are getting sloppy play and mistakes by veterans and rookies. There have been some strange directives from the coaching staff on offense, defense and special teams. Tomlin’s management of time outs, challenge flags, game situation strategy need to get sharper. One week we go for a TD on fourth down at the goal line, the next week we don’t. One week we think 52 yards is close enough for a FG, the next time we don’t, then we change our minds and find out we were right the first time. The idea of a strategic coffin corner punt is seemingly foreign. We’re so anxious to block for our new world class punt returner, we forget about the possibility of the other team’s punt team running the ball. We are getting some bad luck. For example, if the Bengals don’t screw up their first TD convert attempt, in all likelihood the game yesterday ends up in overtime, or perhaps the Steelers do something more with the ball on their final possession if they’re only leading by three instead of five (although why the team chose to play conservatively after blowing a lead last week and moving the ball well this week is beyond me). We’re not getting any fortuitous bounces, as in the fumble caused by Deebo in Chicago or momentum carrying Wallace just out of bounds on his bomb. We have coaches who regardless of what they decide to do on short-yardage or in long field goal position, the decision they make turns out wrong because of a dropped pass or a missed FG. As someone else has probably said, it’s a very fine line between winning and losing and the Steelers have lost their balance on that line twice in a row.

It’s pointless to go over each little mistake or stroke of misfortune and say THAT was the difference between winning and losing. All of them contribute. But this team is not sharp mentally (from the coaching staff down) nor getting a consistent standard of excellence from its best players. The only cure for lack of sharpness is more work and a sense of urgency tp solve the problem. Coaches and key players have to lead the way in practice and things will fall into place.

The Refs must not have shown up… I was disappointed as a Steelers fan by the poor officiating. We’re supposed to win to keep the merchandising alive. We’re the most overrated team, in one of the weakest divisions in the NFL, but with the most bandwagon fans and fraud fans ever. Heck, who will buy pink Steelers hats if we keep losing?! We need to hold on to our brainless fans in order to survive! I’m sure the NFL will wake up soon and make sure we start winning again, no question. Go REFS!!!! Ooops, I mean Steelers!

A few quick thoughts from DaTruth:

 - Unlike Chicago, this was a BAD loss. Only 2 teams are going to the playoffs from our division, and it might not be the Steelers. They are already behind Baltimore and the Bengals, and both might have a better all-around team. If that doesn’t make you choke on your Cheerios, nothing will.

- Lamarr Woodley, anytime you want to join the party, feel free to do so. Harrison is seeing all kinds of chips and double-teams and extra tackles on his side, Woodley has to beat his man one-on-one to get pressure. The same goes for the rest of the DL.

 - I think LeBeau has to find a way to keep Big Snack on the field, especially when the team goes to nickel. This team is very vulnerable against the run when it goes to its 4-man line with Woodley, A. Smith, Keisel and Deebo. This line usually gets gashed by the run in this D. You have to figure out a way to keep one of your best players on the field, especially one is playing for a new deal.

- Should K. Colbert just take a mulligan for last year’s draft? Mendenhall not knowing his assignments and then gets benched. Limas Sweed doing what he does, dropping passes at crucial moments. Bruce Davis not hitting anyone in two years. That draft is looking pretty bad right now. Still, the time to sit down Mendenhall when he doesn’t know his assignments is before the game. Put someone else in a hat on game day that does. Preferably, someone who can get you a 3rd and 1. Still, there is more here than what has been reported thus far.

 - I remember a time during preseason when I said that M. Wallace is a better WR as a rookie than Sweed is as a second-year player, and someone on this board told me that assessment was idiotic. Their thinking was the WR position is so complex that any rookie is going to struggle coming in and that Sweed has a year in the system and has worked hard on his hands. Well folks, that’s why you don’t buy all the hype during the preseason and all of those stories coming from Wex and others about players showing all of this improvement in shorts and when it doesn’t count. It’s what they do between the white lines on Sunday. The game isn’t too big for Wallace right now. It is for Sweed.

 - Is it me or does Farrior seem to be getting burnt a lot in pass coverage? The first TD in Chicago was actually his fault, and not Ty Carter’s. Farrior was late coming over. His coverage in the 4th Q was a step late as well. Has this proud veteran lost the proverbial step that all players do with age? Just asking.

 - Time to really make a commitment to the running game. Why? Because when you are a passing team, the QB has to be pretty much perfect to win that way. The WR’s have to be precise in their patterns and the OL has to keep the QB clean. In other words, everything has to be on point to function. I don’t think Ben is that type of QB, our OL is that good or our WR’s are at that point. I just think this places too much pressure on Ben’s shoulders to play perfect. Kind of like giving the ball to a Kobe and Lebron in the 4th Q every game and then telling them to go win the game. Even the great ones need some help to get over the hump. And Big Ben needs an effective running game to be at his best this year.

 - Wow, this D can’t get off the field when it matters. Never thought I’d be saying that this early or this year, for that matter. Two leads going into the 4th Q for two consecutive weeks and two losses. And don’t forget this team could easily be 0 and 3 right now.

- On th positive side, the OL is improving weekly. M. Starks did a pretty good job against Antwan Odom, the team has found a 3rd WR that could be a game-breaker for this O, and Willie Gay and Ike played pretty good games at corner yesterday. That’s all the positives you get from me with a loss.

 - I’ve read probably the most negatives posts about Tomlin after a game that I can remember in recent history. That decision to go for it on 4th and 4 with about a minute left was one of those decisions where he’d look like a genuis if they scored a TD and a fool if Cincy gets points. I think I would have punted, to try and pin them deep and make them go a long ways for any points right before the half. The fake punt really hurt this team. Anyone who watched Hard Knocks would know that the Bengals did this a few times in the preseason. My biggest knock for Tomlin was the way Mendy was handled. If he isn’t doing it in practice, just don’t give him a hat for the game. I actually think you hurt the team by having him available but then not using him to try and send a message. What message does that really send? The Steelers need a RB that can get them the tough yards when they need to, and I don’t think that RB is on the 53-man roster right now. Where is Gary Russell when you need him?

- A lot of people are saying its early, but I’m seeing quite a few disturbing trends with this team that you hope don’t become bad habits. I really believe that a team is pretty much what it is and will be by week 8 of the season. It has pretty much cemented its personality by then. Right now, the Steelers are a passing team that makes mistakes at critical times, can’t run the ball when it needs to, isn’t physical like in year’s past, can’t stop anyone when it needs to and is living off of what it done this past year. Might be time for Tomlin to go to the bullpen for some help. Don’t be surprised to see one or 2 roster decisions this week.

- Oh, yeah, one more thing. I know the name of the game is scoring more than your opponent, but when you become a passing team, I think that your players on both sides of the ball take on that personality and you become less physical. And I think this is shown in the redzone when you can’t run the ball effectively or you need to stop teams. I’d like to see this team getting back to physical and mistake-free football. And that is a decision that is solely on Tomlin.

SEEMS LIKE THE BURGH IS PLAYING NOT TO LOSE, RATHER THAN TO WIN.
PLAY SELECTIONS SAY EVERYTHING THAT NEEDS TO BE SAID. LOOK FOR 86!
JUST A SUGGESTION.