GOOD
What can be better than a Steelers win, at home, against the defending AFC North champs? Absolutely nothing. Yes, the offense came up short of their 30-point goal but the defense came up big when it had to to seal the deal. It was an ugly day as QB Ben Roethlisberger struggled with control all day leading to 2 interceptions in the first half. Under much pressure from the Cincy D, Ben finished 19 of 37 for 259 and a 78.5 passer rating. Big Ben did stretch out enough plays to help tally 3 TDs, even rushing for a 1st down on a 14-yard scramble. His favorite receiver, Antonio Brown, also had a rough day, catching just 4 passes for 39 yards and dropping a pass on what would have been a big play. The ball bounced right off AB's numbers. Still, behind an offensive line that allowed 1 sack and 5 QB hits, ageless RB DeAngelo Williams amassed 94 yards rushing on 32 carries. DeWill had a total of 132 yards from scrimmage thanks to 4 catches for 38 yards and a touchdown.Good thing that DeWill was so good since the rest of the offense looked pretty bad.
Honorable mention goes to WR Sammie Coates and his 2 catches for 97 yards, a 48.5 yard average. Coates just needs to consistently catch the ball and the numbers will continue to grow. It didn't help that his QB was off yesterday, or else his stats could have been considerably better. Keep working and keep growing, Sammie.
BAD
The defense deserves some credit for the win, on a day when the offense didn't exhibit their high-scoring ability. The D did allow Cincy to convert just 4 of 16 3rd downs. But the defense was also bad in the fact that they allowed Cincy to come within 1 score of tying the game. Again, the defense came up big when needed. LB James Harrison's forced fumble on Cincy WR Tyler Boyd and the subsequent recovery by S Robert Golden help secure the W. And Bungles star WR AJ Green was held mostly in check. But so many big plays were allowed and except for the aforementioned fumble recovery, the D did not make many big plays. Their loan sack in 2 games was when Bungles QB Andy Dalton fell down and LB Arthur Moats got to him. If this team doesn't start getting to the quarterback the defense may very well break.
UGLY
And if the our favorite Black-N-Gold Football Team continues to whiff on the quarterback, that, my friends, would be ugly. The pace of 1 sack every 2 games is of historically-awful proportions. Now, of course, that's not going to happen? Is it? Is the loss of OLB Bud Dupree, at least for half the season, that bad? Well, considering OLB Jarvis Jones continues to disappoint, yes, it is that bad. Mrs. Black-N-Gold is fairly certain that we'll be hearing interviews tomorrow from DL Cam Heyward again saying that he sucked and the defense sucked. He'll also say that the Steelers need to get to the QB, that he needs to get to the QB. Well, he's right. Not about the part that he or the defense sucked. But the part about not getting to the QB, yes. The defense let Dalton go 31 of 54 for 366 yards and 1 touchdown. Those aren't pedestrian numbers. If the Steelers continue to allow big chunks of yards the way they did, yesterday, they could start to see the loss column fill up real quick. The Steelers will face some QBs in the coming weeks that could take advantage of the cushion up front and pick apart the secondary (Tom Brady, Andrew Luck, Eli Manning, Dalton again). The lack of a pass rush could turn this season ugly.
Still, even an ugly win is a win. The Steelers are 2-0 atop the AFC North division. They are perched at the top with the Baltimorons who won yesterday in comeback fashion versus Cleveland. The loss keeps the Clowns in the cellar at 0-2. And in the middle are the Bungles with a 1-1 record. Next Sunday the Steelers travel across the state for a 4:25pm game against the Philly Iggles. Under rookie QB Carson Wentz, the Iggles won their opener last week against a bad Cleveland team. They'll play Da Bears in Chicago tonight so that gives them a short week to prepare for our boys in Black-N-Gold. Let's Go Steelers!!!!!!
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