Game Notes

[CoolieMan]

So I just finished watching the game...knew the score going in which makes watching much easier

Coates is not Bryant, but he did contribute a couple of big plays...but caused Ben's second int by not finishing out the play

Rogers was not a factor and almost gave the ball back on the one punt....

James was solid again..nice to have a big TE who can go up for the ball

Williams was his usual self

Heyward-bey...typical drop one and catch one later...nice recovery on Rogers fumble also..

Ben was shaky, but with a wet ball it is difficult to be perfect...but some of his passes were.

Lots of drops from both defenses...could have been several more turnovers

Defense was tough against the run, but gave up a lot in the passing game...but only 16 points...overall not a bad day

2-0 to start the season...not bad at all

 

[CoolieMan]

oh and yeah, it was probably not a fumble but none of the replays had an angle that showed that he clearly had the ball when his knee went down

cincy still had to score a TD AND get the 2-point conversion....

 

[Punxsutawney]

Solid perspectives.

The Steelers have not been great by any stretch, but they have held both their opponents thus far to under 20 points and have done some serious damage on offense.

I'm curious to see how much playing time Williams gets once Bell returns. It would seem like a huge waste to just leave him on the sideline for 90% of the game.

Coates is definitely not the kind of player who can impact a game/affect a defense like Bryant can. Coates is good, but he seems to be another Emmanuel Sanders/Markus Wheaton-type receiver. That is not bad, by any stretch, but Bryant is essentially Randy Moss without the elite ball skills.

 

[Stoney]

Didn't look like a fumble to me, but I'm glad the refs saw it differently. Probably making up for failing to call PI when that LB dropped AB twice in the end zone.

I had high hopes for Coates, but he plays lazy. Doesn't fight for the ball, seems to only catch it if it drops right into his arms. When you're a long ball specialist, you should expect to have to fight for the ball occasionally, his lazy attitude causes me concern.

DHB is expendable IMO, he plays like he has eight fingers. Too many f'n drops. I'd rather see Ayers up here learning the system first hand, DHB has no upside, he is what he is; undependable.

And the defensive tackling has been less than desirable, even the usually dependable guys, like Timmons, are missing easy tackles. And zero sack through 2 games is a problem.

I like what I saw of J. James, and the the DB squad today. And Xavier Grimble was a nice surprise.

I'm very happy to be 2-0, but man is there a TON of room for improvement in the way this team is playing. I'm questioning if we can beat the superior teams with this imperfect play? Are we playing well enough to beat NE, or Carolina? We need to tighten **** up.

 

[blitzburghv5]

Didn't look like a fumble to me, but I'm glad the refs saw it differently. Probably making up for failing to call PI when that LB dropped AB twice in the end zone.

I had high hopes for Coates, but he plays lazy. Doesn't fight for the ball, seems to only catch it if it drops right into his arms. When you're a long ball specialist, you should expect to have to fight for the ball occasionally, his lazy attitude causes me concern.

DHB is expendable IMO, he plays like he has eight fingers. Too many f'n drops. I'd rather see Ayers up here learning the system first hand, DHB has no upside, he is what he is; undependable.

And the defensive tackling has been less than desirable, even the usually dependable guys, like Timmons, are missing easy tackles. And zero sack through 2 games is a problem.

I like what I saw of J. James, and the the DB squad today. And Xavier Grimble was a nice surprise.

I'm very happy to be 2-0, but man is there a TON of room for improvement in the way this team is playing. I'm questioning if we can beat the superior teams with this imperfect play? Are we playing well enough to beat NE, or Carolina? We need to tighten **** up.

Cincy is one of the league's best teams...Top 8....Top 5 to some

 

[CoolieMan]

Moats got a sack today......so it is 1 sack through two games...but it is not like they are blitzing a ton...

 

[Spike]

According to Bengals fans, the game was rigged, Uzomah had a knee down TD and Boyd didn't fumble...

Lucky two games in a row?

 

[MTC]

Didn't look like a fumble to me, but I'm glad the refs saw it differently. Probably making up for failing to call PI when that LB dropped AB twice in the end zone.

I had high hopes for Coates, but he plays lazy. Doesn't fight for the ball, seems to only catch it if it drops right into his arms. When you're a long ball specialist, you should expect to have to fight for the ball occasionally, his lazy attitude causes me concern.

DHB is expendable IMO, he plays like he has eight fingers. Too many f'n drops. I'd rather see Ayers up here learning the system first hand, DHB has no upside, he is what he is; undependable.

And the defensive tackling has been less than desirable, even the usually dependable guys, like Timmons, are missing easy tackles. And zero sack through 2 games is a problem.

I like what I saw of J. James, and the the DB squad today. And Xavier Grimble was a nice surprise.

I'm very happy to be 2-0, but man is there a TON of room for improvement in the way this team is playing. I'm questioning if we can beat the superior teams with this imperfect play? Are we playing well enough to beat NE, or Carolina? We need to tighten **** up.

Guys like Coates and James have been with the team for over a year so they should have some concept of the playbook. I come to think these guys are still learning while playing. I do think they can hang with NE and Carolina. The Steelers have a lot of inexperience at skill positions. D Will, AB, Bell, Wheaton, DHB would probably be your only guys who understand the plays right now. Coates, Rogers not amazing but exceptional will get better the more they get their feet wet. To win games while still learning along the way is pretty comforting to know

 

[Harry_BZAC]

According to Bengals fans, the game was rigged, Uzomah had a knee down TD and Boyd didn't fumble...

Lucky two games in a row?

Yeah the game was rigged....dumb Bengals fans should be pissed off their stupid coach didn't throw the red flag on the Uzomah play.

 

[CoolieMan]

Yeah the game was rigged....dumb Bengals fans should be pissed off their stupid coach didn't throw the red flag on the Uzomah play.

Lewis was in on it.

 

[Spike]

Lewis was in on it.

yeah, didn't you see him and Ben walking to the locker rooms together, laughing, before the game?

that and they had the sky sprinklers turned on high to make it a mudbowl game

 

[MTC]

yeah, didn't you see him and Ben walking to the locker rooms together, laughing, before the game?

that and they had the sky sprinklers turned on high to make it a mudbowl game

I knew that was artificial rain. Oh the humanity

 

[Black&GoldenShowers]

According to Bengals fans, the game was rigged, Uzomah had a knee down TD and Boyd didn't fumble..

So is a foot and knee down on the same leg a completion? I can see a foot and the knee on opposite leg being a completion but not sure about the same leg.

 

[Wingman]

Didn't look like a fumble to me, but I'm glad the refs saw it differently. Probably making up for failing to call PI when that LB dropped AB twice in the end zone.

I had high hopes for Coates, but he plays lazy. Doesn't fight for the ball, seems to only catch it if it drops right into his arms. When you're a long ball specialist, you should expect to have to fight for the ball occasionally, his lazy attitude causes me concern.

DHB is expendable IMO, he plays like he has eight fingers. Too many f'n drops. I'd rather see Ayers up here learning the system first hand, DHB has no upside, he is what he is; undependable.

And the defensive tackling has been less than desirable, even the usually dependable guys, like Timmons, are missing easy tackles. And zero sack through 2 games is a problem.

I like what I saw of J. James, and the the DB squad today. And Xavier Grimble was a nice surprise.

I'm very happy to be 2-0, but man is there a TON of room for improvement in the way this team is playing. I'm questioning if we can beat the superior teams with this imperfect play? Are we playing well enough to beat NE, or Carolina? We need to tighten **** up.

I'll bet most of the rest of us have 8 fingers too.

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

The main takeaway to me is that the steelers just beat a top 10 team in the league and it never felt to me like the game was in doubt. The Steelers didn't play that well and they still pretty much dominated the game.

This defense is much improved. They still have some holes but the difference in speed over the last few years is night and day. Speed gives you a bigger margin for error.

Burns is already showing flashes of how great he can be once he knows what he's doing. His speed and those long arms means he can get beat but still make a play as he did today. Sean Davis always seems to be around the ball. Those are 2 great athletes to form the core of the future secondary. Cockrell is not a great athlete but he's very smart and he's a perfect fit with Burns.

Shazier is starting to become a difference maker at LB if he can stay healthy.

This defense is just 1 pass rusher away from being a top defense. Hopefully that will be Dupree later this year. Tuitt and Heyward are good pass rushers but they have other responsibilities . We need an OLB to step up. If Dupree can be that guy that worries an offense, it will lighten the load for all others. Now Jarvis might be a decent secondary rusher. They can also start doing some more creative blitzes since there is better coverage.

 

[madinsomniac]

So is a foot and knee down on the same leg a completion? I can see a foot and the knee on opposite leg being a completion but not sure about the same leg.

No a knee, elbow or any part of the body bu the feet or hands is automatically down.. 1 knee is the same as two feet when it comes to posession.

The way i saw it they had three legit gripes... Grible lost the ball while diving for the end zone.. Thats by stupid rule a continuation of the catch so they could have called that incomplete by the letter of the law... The td called out because their guy didnt get two feet in but ultimately did have a knee down,....
And the boyd fumble.....

But the grimble catch was ruled a td on the field and the decision of whether he established posession then made a leap for the end zone or if ot was a continuation of the catch is a pure judgement call...

Likewise the official had no angle to see the knee down on the other two plays... The first would have been reviewed only if challenged, and the second was ruled a fumble on the field so you had to have definitive proof on film that the ball wasnt moving before harrison's knee hit him... Which no angle showed... Now the logical conclusion is that he was down, but thats not how replay works... You must have absolute film proof...

 

[Stryker]

On the knee down play in the endzone, it appeared to me that part of his knee was out of bounds. Even on review, it probably would not have been a TD. A back angle would have been definitive, but I estimate about 20% of his knee being on the end line when it came down.

 

[slashsteel]

Bengals fans the Steelers won because...


the were the better team






























hi

 

[Troglodyte]

According to Bengals fans, the game was rigged, Uzomah had a knee down TD and Boyd didn't fumble...

Lucky two games in a row?

Yes. Steelers were the better team both games, but nonetheless, they were also lucky.

How about someone had to clue the announcers in about the one knee = two feet rule. It was like 15 minutes after the fact that they were showing the replay and discussing it.

 

[Sarge]

I thought the O-Line, as a unit, was awful yesterday. They didn't really run block all that well until late in the game, and the pass protection was shoddy at best. While the rain was a factor, I think the lack of solid o-line play was a lot of Ben's problem.

 

[bermudasteel]

The main takeaway to me is that the steelers just beat a top 10 team in the league and it never felt to me like the game was in doubt. The Steelers didn't play that well and they still pretty much dominated the game.

This defense is much improved. They still have some holes but the difference in speed over the last few years is night and day. Speed gives you a bigger margin for error.

Burns is already showing flashes of how great he can be once he knows what he's doing. His speed and those long arms means he can get beat but still make a play as he did today. Sean Davis always seems to be around the ball. Those are 2 great athletes to form the core of the future secondary. Cockrell is not a great athlete but he's very smart and he's a perfect fit with Burns.

Shazier is starting to become a difference maker at LB if he can stay healthy.

This defense is just 1 pass rusher away from being a top defense. Hopefully that will be Dupree later this year. Tuitt and Heyward are good pass rushers but they have other responsibilities . We need an OLB to step up. If Dupree can be that guy that worries an offense, it will lighten the load for all others. Now Jarvis might be a decent secondary rusher. They can also start doing some more creative blitzes since there is better coverage.

Excellent points, Tape.

No a knee, elbow or any part of the body bu the feet or hands is automatically down.. 1 knee is the same as two feet when it comes to posession.

The way i saw it they had three legit gripes... Grible lost the ball while diving for the end zone.. Thats by stupid rule a continuation of the catch so they could have called that incomplete by the letter of the law... The td called out because their guy didnt get two feet in but ultimately did have a knee down,....
And the boyd fumble.....

But the grimble catch was ruled a td on the field and the decision of whether he established posession then made a leap for the end zone or if ot was a continuation of the catch is a pure judgement call...

Likewise the official had no angle to see the knee down on the other two plays... The first would have been reviewed only if challenged, and the second was ruled a fumble on the field so you had to have definitive proof on film that the ball wasnt moving before harrison's knee hit him... Which no angle showed... Now the logical conclusion is that he was down, but thats not how replay works... You must have absolute film proof...

And there you have it...

I thought the O-Line, as a unit, was awful yesterday. They didn't really run block all that well until late in the game, and the pass protection was shoddy at best. While the rain was a factor, I think the lack of solid o-line play was a lot of Ben's problem.

Now on to the ELEPHANT in the room...I agree 100% with this statement, Sarge - the OL looked like crap, to me as well, yesterday. Yes, the weather was a factor; and Cincy has some hellified pass rushers and a stout defense; but, far too many times did I see Gilbert and Big Al getting "rag dolled"...that needs to be addressed - post haste!!!

 

[antdrewjosh]

The Steelers were able to beat a playoff team from last year with out Ben, Brown and the OLine not being at the top of their game..and like Tape said it still never felt in doubt. Once again young guys stepped up. Grimble James Coates Cockrell. I will take this win all day. Makes for a good week for the coaches just enough mistakes to give them something to ***** about heading into Philly

 

[Spike]

Yes. Steelers were the better team both games, but nonetheless, they were also lucky.

How about someone had to clue the announcers in about the one knee = two feet rule. It was like 15 minutes after the fact that they were showing the replay and discussing it.

I called it a TD - - it looked easy to call out because his hand was clearly down but going back in frame by frame in super slo mo on my DVR, his knee was down before any part of his body touched the ground out of bounds


Marvin said in post-game that his upstairs people told him he was out of bounds, so no challenge


Dean Blandino defends ruling on Boyd fumble vs. Steelers

http://cin.247sports.com/Bolt/WATCH-Dean-Blandino-defends-ruling-on-Boyd-fumble-vs-Steelers-47599353

 

[Hines57]

Ben should have wore a glove in the wet weather

 

[Spike]

On the knee down play in the endzone, it appeared to me that part of his knee was out of bounds. Even on review, it probably would not have been a TD. A back angle would have been definitive, but I estimate about 20% of his knee being on the end line when it came down.

You need a new TV