Steelers at Bengals (Game #7)

Steelers at Bengals Preview
By CK Stiller

I don�t think much of the Bungals. I�ve said so plenty of times. The Steelers, coming off another road loss, should be re-focused and angry. You can expect some bum to mouth off, and Palmer may already have. I made a few points above in my comparison of players.

-Roethlisberger > Palmer

-I think a lot of the duo of Holmes/Ward. A whole lot. This is going to be one of the best two in the league. And the 3�s and 4�s the Steelers have aren�t bad.

-The Bungals defense really blows.

It�s the same old story with the Bungals. Their LB�s suck. Their corners aren�t too hot, either. They jump and bite on fakes left and right. This is an undisciplined defense on top of just lacking ability.

Joseph looked promising last year, but he�s been giving up a lot of big plays thus far. He sticks with his man most of the time (though he may lack top end speed - Holmes could get a step or two on him deep). He�s slumping and the Steelers have no reason to avoid throwing on him.

The Steelers should try a few double fakes this week. It was missing from the last gameplan against the Bengals, but the Steelers went unusually conservative in that game (and allowed them to hang around way too long).

The new addition to the secondary is Leon Hall. He�s playing the nickel. Ward and Washington in the slot should make plays. Hall isn�t a bad player, but he�s not going to be worth the pick spent on him based on talent alone. He struggles to defend the deep ball, and stiff hips are a big reason. He�s too slow to rotate and get out of his back peddle. He does best in confined areas, underneath, and in zones.

The TE�s should have huge games against a weak and depleted group of LB�s. Geathers has been starting at SLB. He�s a terror coming off the edge and can make plays in the run and pass game. However, as expected, he can�t cover. The intermediate and short play-action passes should be there all day in the middle of the field.

The Steelers need to be careful throwing the deep ball off the play-action. Teams are coming out ready for it. Roethlisberger has thrown two of his five INT�s off it. The Bengals collected easy picks off similar plays in each of the past two meetings (though Roethlisberger slipped in one). I hope Ben looks before throwing deep. They will bite, but protecting the ball is key. The Bungals can only stay in this game off turnovers. I firmly believe that. The Steelers should be able to do pretty much what they please.

The Bungals don�t have a complicated blitz scheme. They�ve brought more pressure than in the past, but I�ll repeat what I said last year about their blitzes. They�re stale and usually show too much pre-snap. I would expect stunts, because teams continue to have success against the Steelers this way. However, they�ve been unable to apply pressure in the past and that should continue. Colon has the only concerning match-up with Geathers, but Smith may draw him occasionally, as well. He�s very athletic and quick. Colon handled him well in the last meeting. I�m expecting the same.

If the Steelers fail to run the ball, they should be ashamed. There isn�t a poor match-up across the front. Justin Smith is the only member of this line who holds his own consistently. Peko is weak and this should be one of those games Simmons dominates. We all know what to expect here. Parker can and will frequently make these LB�s miss because they�re stiffs.

The Steelers have no reason to get fancy, and unlike last week, I don�t think they will. The offense is good for 30 or more. Just protect that ball.

Teams have been giving the Bungals a lot more looks with their front 7�s. I think the entire league ought to credit LeBeau. Palmer gets rattled and confused with dynamic defenses. Disguise your blitzes properly and he�ll hang on to the ball or put it in the wrong spots. He�s coughing up the ball a lot this year (10 turnovers to him so far). Teams have been walking around, but are usually bringing 4 against them.

Haggans has had a lot of success against Willie Anderson. Anderson will miss this game, though.  He should be replaced by back-up Stacy Andrews. Between Haggans, Farrior, and Woodley (who saw more time last week than normal), there will be a sack or two to be had from the edge. I�m a big fan of Levi Jones. He was dominant in �05. I think he�s still a pretty damn good player, even if he was made the scapegoat against Kansas City. I�m interested in watching him and Harrison. Harrison has a motor. Not the most explosive or strongest guy off the edge. This will be one of the tougher match-ups he�ll draw. Joey Porter always struggled with Jones. Big test here.

The Bengals have had most of their success passing with short stuff, though they haven�t consistently used this to move the ball. I view the Bengals best chance they have of moving the ball and winning this game as using short passes to the RB�s and even their TE�s. Kelly is a good, reliable pass catcher who they just don�t seem to use that much. In the week 17 game, they attacked deep often, but with little success. Anthony Smith had a big game coming over the top and threw some nice hits.

I�m expecting them to throw a lot of bubble screens and hitches. The Broncos had success doing it. They�ve tried it in the past. McFadden is back this week, and I�m glad. He�s a great tackler and hopefully he sees the field often. Ryan Clark really struggled last week. This may be the week where Smith finally takes his job.

The biggest advantage the Steelers have is the lack of Chris Henry. He killed them last year, and no one the Bengals have can fill that void. Henry is a great talent. I�m thanking god he�s not on the field, because he gave every corner the Steelers have fits.

Playing this game without Aaron Smith would normally be a major concern.  The Steelers catch a bit of a break as the Bungals are starting Stacy Andrews.  Andrews is more of a mauler.  He looked good against the Chiefs earlier this year in the ground game.  It'll be interesting to see how much faith they decide to place in him.  You would think they would have to test Eason. 

Watson isn�t a scary runner. He�s not the sort of guy the Steelers usually struggle with. I worry more about a bruising, North-to-South runner like Johnson more than him against this defense.

The Bengals have some of the worst in the league this year. They rank near the bottom in kick/punt returns and net average per punt.

The Bengals only chance of winning is in a shoot-out. I believe the Bengals have all the tools to move the ball against the Steelers, but I don�t think they�ll use them properly. They have only moved the ball in spurts in the past few meetings. LeBeau seems to have their number. They need instant success in this game because they need to keep their ground game in it. They need to test Eason and be in position to run late. The Steelers offense just needs to protect the football, and I doubt they�ll have problems putting up points on this defense.