Nov 21 2008
Steelers defeat toothless Bengals
The Thursday Night game on the NFL network had the Pittsburgh Steelers hosting the Cincinnati Bengals at Heinz Field. Things got off to a bad start for Steeler’s fans when the Bengals scored first with a touchdown. Could a weak 1-8-1 team upset the Steelers? Nope. The Steelers started a slow comeback, that had them leading 17-7 at halftime. This time, Ben didn’t throw an interception in the closing minutes of the first half, as he did in the game against Indianapolis.
The Bengals, with little experienced quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick at the helm, had a difficult time getting much offense going after their early score. The Steelers also struggled a little on offense, but finally managed to score three touchdowns, which, along with two field goals, made the final score 27-10. As usual, the Pittsburgh D did an excellent job of holding the Bengals to few yards, both running and passing. The Steelers have had little problem with their division mates. Back in October, they did even better against the Bengals, beating them 38-10 at Cincinnati.
Ben Roethlisberger had another solid game. He was a little off compared to his performance against San Diego last week, when he managed a 75% completion record and threw for over 300 yards. On Thursday, he was 17 for 30 in passing for 243 yeards. But for a second week in a row, there were no interceptions, and Roethlisberger had great protection from the line, avoiding the many sacks of recent games. There was little apparent evidence of any injury related troubles, and to top things off, Big Ben plowed into the end zone on a short running play to give Pittsburgh its last touchdown. Santonio Holmes was solid as wide reciever, doing very well until he had to leave the game due to a head injury. The running game was not quite up to par. Willie Parker had difficulty in establishing the run, and was injured and replaced by Mewelde Moore, who had a number of solid runs, gaining a total of 56 yards in about a half’s worth of work. The offense still looks like it needs a little work in scoring touchdowns, and the Steelers will definitely need some. With five games left in the regular season, Pittsburgh has one of the toughest schedules in the NFL. They will have to play New England, Dallas, Tennessee and Baltimore, before finishing out the season against Cleveland. They’ll have to be at their best during the next five weeks. The Steelers looked better in their last few games, so time will tell. That’s why they play the game. Go Steelers.
