The Steelers dropped 25 fourth quarter points on the Bengals and kept their division hopes alive! It was a back and forth battle for the first 3-quarters but in the end the Steelers made the big plays.
It all starts and begins with Ben Roethlisberger and Sunday the Steelers lived by that. When Ben struggled the Steelers offense struggled, but he pulled it together and led an on the road fourth quarter comeback. Which included a huge 96 yard Touchdown Pass to Martavis Bryant. (BTW my son Dante called the play before it happened) On the day Ben finished with 350 yards and three touchdowns.
If the offense starts with Ben, Le’Veon Bell is the one who makes it go! He had a monster day and was nearly unstoppable in the second half. He racked up a mind boggling 110 yards in the fourth quarter behind a great pulling scheme with Dave DeCastro and Heath Miller leading the way. The Steelers chewed up the Bengals on the ground and demolished their front seven. Miller also caught a Touchdown!
As great as Bell and Ben were, Antonio Brown is just ridiculous and could be the best player on the Steelers. He makes tough catches, he gets open and is clearly the Steelers go to guy. He racked up another nine catches for the fifth time in seven games. He had well over 100 yards and made the plays that were needed. The WRs had a great day highlighted by Bryant’s bomb and nice contributions by Lance Moore and Markus Wheaton.
The down side is the secondary is clearly the weak link as AJ Green torched the Steelers secondary. Mike Mitchell and Ike Taylor had awful performances as did Troy Polamalu who was caught out of position several times on both the run and on deep passes. Once given the lead the defensive backs held on and played much better.
The Steelers front seven played well and it was a nice showing for Steelhead Heyward and Stephon Tuitt in his first start. Tuitt laid out Andy Dalton and sent him to the bench for a few series. Arthur Moats had the turning point in the game recovering a Dalton fumble. The Steelers also limited the run significantly. This is where stats need help to tell the Story on a Read Option play Andy Dalton scurried for 20 yards to take the lead, Lawrence Timmons and Troy were caught out of position. If you take that play out the Steelers held the Bengals in check and when they went to the Read Option again Arthur Moats was ready for it and forced the turnover.
With all that said, the day belonged to the Coaches who had the Steelers fired up and ready to play. If the Jets and Bucs game were letdowns, this was a must win and the Steelers had the right game plan to deliver on it.
BEER WE GO STEELERS BEER WE GO
My “GAME BEER” goes to: I am going with Le’Veon Bell who had a big day with 185 yards on the ground and 50 catches in the air. Also Considered: Antonio Brown, who caught nine passes, Big Ben who threw for 350 yards and Arthur Moats who had the game changing fumble recovery.
Where I watched the game: At the house, in between decorating! Watched with my little guys, Luc, Dante and Little Miss Tailgate. They were laughing at me because I kept saying “I love that play” when the Steelers were pulling Heath and DeCastro. KGB was in and out and cooked an awesome dinner, Chicken Bruschetta. My beer of choice was Guinness Blonde to start and left over IC Light from last weeks tailgate.
My Stat of the week: 110 yards in the fourth quarter for Le’Veon Bell. Bell now has 200 yards from scrimmage for the third game in a row, joining one other player in NFL history, some guy named Walter Payton! When you are mentioned in the same breath as Walter Payton and it is only you and Walter Payton that is some accomplishment!
My thoughts on Next Week: The Steelers CAN NOT let down against the Falcons, this is easily the most winnable game of the final three. Which is why I am scared. The Steelers match up very well with the Falcons so I don’t think it will be a repeat of the Bucs and Jets.