Mark Vader Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 If the Bengals beat the Steelers this Sunday, they will have swept them and the Ravens. Did anybody think at the start of the season that this was a likely scenario? I sure did'nt. It's hard to believe, but the North division is the toughest division in the AFC. What do you all think? Are the Bengals for real or playing over their heads? Will the Bengals go into the big ketchup bottle and complete the sweep? Or are the Steelers back on track and ready to take full control of the division? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H2o Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 I think the Steelers win a close game here, 24-21 or something along those lines. The Steelers seem to have their mojo back with Polamalu out there flying around, Mendenhall turning into a beast, and Ben Ro stepping his game up this season. The Bengals are tough this year, but I think the Steelers are starting to hit their stride. I don't see the Bengals being able to control the ball with Benson this week against that defense. I think he's held around or under 75 yards and they get enough pressure on Palmer to force a couple of turnovers. Gonna be a fun game to watch though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PushthePile Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 The Bengals are for real. They have drafted really well defensively for awhile and it's paying off. Their franchise QB is healthy and playing well. The WR known as Ocho Cinco seems focused and happy. The former bust RB from Chicago is actually carrying the offense at times as well. Solid team that has put it together. The Bills should be taking notes. All that being said, the Steelers are till the Steelers and they are starting to look really nasty again. That defense gets to Carson and they win a close one. Side prediction: Heath Miller has a huge game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 The Bengals are for real. They have drafted really well defensively for awhile and it's paying off. Their franchise QB is healthy and playing well. The WR known as Ocho Cinco seems focused and happy. The former bust RB from Chicago is actually carrying the offense at times as well. Solid team that has put it together. The Bills should be taking notes. All that being said, the Steelers are till the Steelers and they are starting to look really nasty again. That defense gets to Carson and they win a close one. Side prediction: Heath Miller has a huge game. Yeah, the Bengals are intriguing. What happened to them from a few seasons ago, when they were truly coming back and threatening the playoffs? They seemed to fall apart at the seams. Now they appear to be back, and I love seeing a team get it together and rebuild. I feel the same way about the Cardinals. It was great to finally see them get something going. What I see as strikingly similar between the Bengals, Cardinals, and Bills is in ownership. The Bengals are victims of similar market forces, yet are putting together a strong team. The Cardinals have a bone-head for an owner who refuses to pay for talent. And then there is good 'ol Ralphie who gets scared when he thinks about putting a real GM in place of the football operation, thereby nickel-and-diming the front office and staffing it with incompetents. I think that we Bills fans may have to stage a Cleveland Brown Dawg Pound-style of boycott though, to get Ralph to wake up and realize the true changes needed at OBD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zow2 Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 I was watching some breakdown on ESPN and apparently the Bengals are dominating teams in the trenches. They really have built up a solid O-line and D-line. When you have that, you will be in every game. Sprinkle in a solid QB, good RB and some nice WR's and you have a good team there in Cinci. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miyagi-Do Karate Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Side prediction: Heath Miller has a huge game. I hope so--I'm starting him in fantasy this week. The Bengals are legit, but aren't in the same class as the Steelers. The Steelers dominated them during the first game, and had a 4th qtr meltdown to lose (still could have won had they made one of three 4th down stops on the GW drive). Now Mendenhall is playing and playing well. I think it will be something like 27-13. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 If the Bengals beat the Steelers this Sunday, they will have swept them and the Ravens. Did anybody think at the start of the season that this was a likely scenario? I sure did'nt. It's hard to believe, but the North division is the toughest division in the AFC. What do you all think? Are the Bengals for real or playing over their heads? Will the Bengals go into the big ketchup bottle and complete the sweep? Or are the Steelers back on track and ready to take full control of the division? PGH favored by 7 sounds right to me. CIN LB Rivers and G Mathis are probably out, and WR Henry went to IR with a broken arm (freak injury - went down with a tackle and broke both ulna and radius). RB Benson is questionable, but should play. PGH's TE Miller and WR Ward historically give CIN fits, and Polamalu is back in action. Ben R. stymies everybody. PGH has been fortunate this year with injuries - the loss of Polamalu for some games, and the only player of note on IR is DE Aaron Smith. For some reason, through the years, PGH has committed dumb unsportsmanlike fouls against CIN, and it cost them games. They'll have to watch that. In the 1st game this year at CIN, Tomlin (IMO) got greedy and left points on the table. I don't think he'll do so again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numark Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Yea, and don't forget that they win that broncos game if that miracle lucky play doesn't occur to stokely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Vader Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 Yea, and don't forget that they win that broncos game if that miracle lucky play doesn't occur to stokely. Great point. Just how big will that miracle play mean when we get down to playoff tie-breakers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 Does anyone know if they made any changes to the Heinz Field turf? Pitt hosts ND at 8:00 PM this Saturday. I wonder if the field will be a mess... ..."After the 2008 season, a poll of 1,565 NFL players rated the surface at Heinz Field as the worst of the 18 natural surfaces in the League. ...The DDGrassmaster surface was removed in January 2009 and replaced with the old sod placed on top of the DDGrassmaster surface for the AFC Championship also in January of 2009.". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinz_Field Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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