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Ben started out wonderfully....then faded

blitzburghv5 said:
We had a chance to win.....but 3 INTs reduce your chances regardless of who you are. I don't believe for a second that Cincinnati is a better football team. Our defense held them out all game save for the second to last drive.

But Ben.....damn, look so sharp early then just faded as the game went forward.........high on a lot of his throws and that's to be expected on a few but those throws in double coverage (Bryant and Brown) and the ill-advised throw on the pick on the sideline is just maddening.

We expect Vick and Landry to manage games and not make costly mistakes. And then our franchise quarterback returns and throws 3 ?

I expect much much better from Ben. I realize Bells injury slightly changes things but with us having to rely more on Ben now, those INTs are unacceptable.

Lets hope this **** is just rust and timing because anymore 2/3 INT games and we are NOT making the postseason.

We NEED you to be better Ben. You HAVE to play better than this going forward.
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Exactly!!!!!!!!!! Amen, Ben blew it.
 
steelhurt said:
It seems as though every damn time this guy comes back from an injury he plays horrible. Its a shame since the defense played their hearts out and deserved better and should have gotten the win but only being able to generate 10 points in this so called high powered offense and two critical interceptions within the last four minutes will kill you against a good opponent like the Bengals or for that matter any team in the NFL. Stupid holding penalties on the OL sure as hell didn't help either. Very poor offensive performance by Ben and his receivers other than Miller.
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Bingo!!!!!!!!!!!
 
slashsteel said:
true but he wasn't alone in blame
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He was 99% of it.

We all know for some here Ben can do no wrong but he absolutely **** the bed today. It wasn't the D, wasn't Haley, wasn't Mikey's clock management, it was Ben.

The stupid picks into double coverage, the over throws, basically pushing matters in a close game where your D is playing great and all you have to do is matriculate.

It happens. You dust yourself off and move on, if this team is in contention in December it will be because of # 7
 
Too. Many. Deep. Throws.

We need 4, 6 yards and we continue to air it out deep. First game back, he was clearly not accurate and the wind was swirling. Not to mention, the Bengals clearly had the deep ball covered, but we continued to try to place a square peg in a round hole and it bit us a few times. That is my gripe, poor decisions. First game back: he played pretty good at times, but looked like a rusty, injured QB, as well. It's unfortunate we had the 6-0 Bengals today, but that's four losses when we were not healthy or at full capacity in key positions.
 
steelhurt said:
Read the last part of Wigs thread. The game's not what it used to be.. Look deeper into what he's saying man. The game has changed so much that its just purely entertainment now and don't get caught up too much into it. None of this **** is earth shattering or going to affect mine or your life. At one time I got really bumed about losing but not anymore. Them winning or losing doesn't affect how I conduct my life or put any money in my pocket. Afterall, they're the mega millionaires, not me. Love to see them win but if they lose its certainly not the end of the world.
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I got ya both. It is entertainment. Pure entertainment. Some players do pour their heart into this game still. But heart can only win so much. That last int by Ben, that look on his face showed he still has heart. Not everyone on this team and numerous NFL rosters have it though
 
Of course they have heart. I'm not denying that. I'm not suggesting the players don't have heart.

I'm saying it's a game, and there are factors that simply can't be controlled, like when the referees call holding and when they don't or whether or not they pick up a flag or whether the league decides to enforce Tom F'n Brady's suspension 8 months after he retires.

The guys at the top of the league have taken a lot of **** out of the hands of the players who pour their heart and souls into the games. So certainly, watch and admire them for their effort and determination and cheer them on. But in the end, and I don't mean this as a cliche - Love them when the win, love them when they struggle.

Truthfully, though we make a lot of fun of them, you can learn a lot from Browns fans. Those ******' guys are warriors. Imagine giving your heart to the factory of sadness for an entire generation or 6...

It's a game, man. Enjoy it as such.
 
Would we have won that game with Landry or puppy slayer? I doubt it. Yes, Ben had a bad game, but there is a LOT of blame to go around.

On the INT on the throw to Will Johnson, I was thinking, DAMN, if he had just come back to the ball a tiny bit, it wouldn't have been an INT. He just sat there waiting for it and the DB made a great catch.

Then there are ALL the penalties. Seriously, we ****** ourselves with stupidity (Mike Mitchell - taunting.. 3 & out turns into a 1st down). Holding, after holding, after holding... Tomlin's clock management.

Like I said, Ben played poorly, but lots of blame to go around.
 
I can enjoy it but it kills me to watch a bad, sloppy football team. If it isn't a coaching mistake, it's a penalty, or a missed tackle, or a terrible play call. It's frustrating to watch a team who has talent get beat because of other reasons than they are just not as talented.
 
If anyone is interested here's how the Steeler drives shook out from a passing perspective. There were 12 drives, the 1st, 4th and 9th were the only ones without a deep throw. The 1st resulted in a TD, the 4th and 5th were 3 and outs. Every other drive had a deep throw and those drives ended in 4 punts, 3 INTs, 1 FG and 1 game over. I'm not saying that the deep balls were the reason for the poor showing in those drives, but it certainly is part of the reason. So, even in drives where Ben hit a deep ball or two they managed only 1 FG and no other points. The 1st drive was run to perfection taking what was given and rushing the football and it ends up with a TD. After that Ben's decision making went to Hades in a hand basket or Haley called the wrong plays. The Steelers never forced the Bengals to stop their short passing game or adjust to it, the Steelers did it for them.

I guess I'm not certain why they got away from what was being successful starting with the 2nd drive.

Papillon
 
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slashsteel said:
yeah the refs picking up the interference flag.........questionable ball spotting, they damn sure gave the Bengals every chance to stay in the game.
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Can't possibly blame the Refs for being biased... both teams got their share of drive changing penalties with an almost equal yardage cost.
 
Take a long look at Bens record coming back from big time injury... It sucks... He tries to play like he did healthy and it leads to these games...

Footwork was way off... He was compensating w arm strength... Led to bad accuracy... Pretty predictable actually
 
steelhurt said:
Read the last part of Wigs thread. The game's not what it used to be.. Look deeper into what he's saying man. The game has changed so much that its just purely entertainment now and don't get caught up too much into it. None of this **** is earth shattering or going to affect mine or your life. At one time I got really bumed about losing but not anymore. Them winning or losing doesn't affect how I conduct my life or put any money in my pocket. Afterall, they're the mega millionaires, not me. Love to see them win but if they lose its certainly not the end of the world.
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It's always been entertainment.

Perhaps, merely getting older has changed your perspective.
 
This loss was on Ben and Tomlin.

Rusty is the word i keep hearing. He started just fine...then he went into stupid mode forcing dumb passes.

Tomlin and his usual worthless clock management.

How bad can a person be at it...
 
madinsomniac said:
Take a long look at Bens record coming back from big time injury... It sucks... He tries to play like he did healthy and it leads to these games...

Footwork was way off... He was compensating w arm strength... Led to bad accuracy... Pretty predictable actually
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He was definitely pressing yesterday. On his second INT, he had 10 yards of open field in front of him PLUS two OL but he tries to force it to Will Johnson. On his last INT, Gilbert got beat around the edge again, Ben steps up, doesn't reset his feet, and throws off his back foot, the ball sails. He read the play right, just didn't get it down because he never reset his feet.

Even on his first INT, he was expecting Brown to do one thing and Brown did another. You could see them talking afterwards, my guess is Ben thought it was more of a post route and Brown was running a go.

I don't know why we went away from what worked the first drive, that is our offense, you chip away and hit a big one later on after the D moves in. We ran that one drive to perfection than started heaving the ball down the field the rest of the game. Sure we had penalties and dropped passes here and there that didn't help them out at all, but why we went away from the first drive is beyond me.
 
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