subject: NFL – Cincinnati hopes to end 4 lost strike at Pittsburg [print this page] NFL Cincinnati hopes to end 4 lost strike at Pittsburg
Tied in last place of the AFC East championship with Cleveland, Cincinnati's error margin gets narrower.
The Cincinnati Bengals are far from being the team that they where last season, when they clinched the AFC North Division, and after Week 8 including BYE Week- they are just one defeat away from the six suffered in 2009. The sun doesn't seem to shine in Cincinnati, whose 4 lost strike clearly speaks about how cloudy things are down there. On Monday Night they will be playing against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are 5-2 in the season, tied in first place of their division with the Baltimore Ravens.
A two strike win against Baltimore and at Carolina- during Week 2 and 3 is the only happiness that their fans have enjoyed this year, and a victory on Monday is urgent if they want to invert this situation. The mistakes committed this past Sunday against the Miami Dolphins can't be repeated. Quarterback Carlson Palmer struggled (17 of 48) to find open wide receivers, despite Terrell Owens' two touchdowns - the second came from an interception attempt that slipped from the hands of Miami defensive back Chris Clemons, and was fortunately picked by him next to the end zone.
The Bengals offense was very poor in the third and fourth quarter, where they let the Dolphins come from behind the 14-12 disadvantage with which they left to the locker-rooms at halftime. After the break, a field goal and a touch down from Miami found no response from Cincinnati, and the Dolphins won 22-14. This result gave the Bengals' its fourth lost in a row, and the Dolphins' fourth road consecutive victory.
The Steelers aren't living the Bengal's situation, but they can't afford to relax if they really want to be the solo leaders of their division, because the race with Baltimore has only begun. The victory is also necessary to recover from the 10-20 defeat suffered against the defending champions New Orleans Saints on Sunday that ended with their two win strike. Their road record has been positive this year, the 3-1 balance reflects it and serves as a boost for the upcoming game at Cincinnati.
Although this defeat has a lot to do with Saints QB Drew Brees' amazing second half -where he threw 20 of 22 for two touchdowns, both in the fourth quarter-, QB Ben Roethlisberger wasn't decisive either, and ended the game with no touchdowns and one interception, throwing 17 of 28 for 195 yards. This wasn't just the Steelers first road lost of the year, but also the first one with Roethlisberger as starter, who missed the first four games of the season due to suspension for violating the NFL player conduct policy.
Versus the Saints only 3 of 10 third downs were converted by the Steelers, which Roethlisberger summarized in: "we just couldn't get into any rhythm". Truth is that choosing passing over running was negatively reflected in the stats, as the team averaged the lowest amount of points per game in the season.
Looking more for running back Rashard Mendenhall's will definitely help increase the rushing yards, and might be a good solution to get the best out of a player that has 6 touchdowns so far, but who has also seen his numbers affected by Roethlisberger's return, being unable to reach the 100 yards rushing per game since then.
