By Bob Smizik | Sunday 4:35 p.m.
It’s a Pittsburgh tradition: When the Steelers lose, the finger pointing begins.
Not today.
I’m sure Steelers fans won’t see it this way but on this particular Sunday afternoon the Steelers were outplayed. The Cincinnati Bengals were the better team -- not by much -- but by enough to produce an 18-12 win at Heinz Field.
The Steelers did not score a touchdown, something I would have figured virtually impossible by this offense against the Bengals. Although they advanced inside the Cincinnati 20 four times, they failed to score a touchdown and had to settle for field goals by Jeff Reed every time.
Coach Mike Tomlin pointed out the negative significance of those failures.
``When you kick field goals,'' he said, ``you expose yourself to losses.''
The Bengals also did not have an offensive touchdown but they returned a kickoff for a score, as Bernard Scott went 96 yards, and the Steelers special teams problems surfaced again.
``That's a good football team,'' said Tomlin of the Bengals.
The Steelers defense performed extremely well despite playing almost all of the game without strong safety Troy Polamalu, who reinjured his knee in the first quarter. The injury was to the same knee that kept Polamalu out for four games earlier this season. But reports indicate this sprain, to the same MCL, is not as serious. With Kansas City on the schedule Sunday, Polamalu could afford to miss a week to recuperate.
The offense could do little or nothing against the Bengals, accumulating only 226 yards. Despite the recent success of Rashard Mendenhall, the Steelers never emphasized the running game. Mendenhall had 13 carries for 36 yards. As a team, the Steelers gained 80 yards on the ground.
Tomlin and offensive coordinator put the game in the hands of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who is often his best in these situations. That's why even as the game grew late optimism did not fade. Who among us did not expect Roethlisberger to rally the Steelers from the slight deficits they faced in the fourth quarter? After all, that’s what Ben does.
But not on this day, and that’s not a knock on Roethlisberger. It’s praise for the Bengals.
When the Bengals went ahead, 15-12, with about seven minutes remaining, it looked like Roethlisberger time. But it was Bengals time as the Cincinnati defense held, forcing the Steelers to punt after three plays, all passes, and seven yards.
On the next possession, the Bengals move 52 yards on 11 plays, eating up the clock and picking up four first downs to move in for another field goal. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against the Steelers James Harrison provided the Bengals with a major assist on this drive.
Still, we were left expecting some Roethlisberger magic. The deficit was only six points and 1:56 -- enough time -- remained. But once again the Bengals prevailed.
Roethlisberger threw too high to Hines Ward on first down from his own 33 as he faced heavy pressure on the play.
He went deep to Mike Wallace on second down but the pass was underthrown a bit and two Cincinnati defenders covered the play.
His third down pass clanked off the hands of Cincinnati cornerback Jonnathan Joseph and should have been intercepted.
On fourth down, defensive end Michael Johnson, who had applied the pressure on first down, was dragging Roethlisberger to the ground as the pass was thrown. It fell incomplete.
The Bengals have a one-game lead in the AFC North with a 7-2 record. But it’s actually a two-game lead since they own the tiebreaker.
There’s a long way to go in this season and the Steelers are by no means out of the title picture in the AFC North. But on this November afternoon the Cincinnati Bengals were the better team.
Posted
Nov 15 2009, 04:25 PM
by
Bob Smizik