Steelers-Bengals Week 3 postgame: Two-minute drilled

in Sports by griffn — September 28, 2009 at 8:00 am | 2 comments

Bengals 23, Steelers 17

▪ The Steelers defense has squandered 10+ point leads in three of the last four games going back to the Super Bowl.  In the last six games, going back to the playoffs, they’ve allowed 64 points in the 4th quarter.  If the Steelers defense over that time was as bad in the first three quarters as they’ve been in the 4th, they’d be giving up 42.6 points per game.

I don’t think scheme is to blame here, I think the problem is personnel.  When teams get behind late and go four and five wide to catch up, it forces the Steelers into dime.  That takes all our linebackers off the field and replaces them with mediocre defensive backs like Keiwan Ratliff and Ryan Mundy.  If I’m playing the Steelers, I would go two-minute drill at least once a quarter regardless of the situation.  You’re not gonna beat the Steelers defense in an I-formation, but you have a good chance of marching down the field practically escorted and untouched in a five-wide hurry-up.

▪ It really is a shame that Ike Taylor can’t catch, because he’s quietly been one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL the last three years.  He shuts down Ochocinco regularly, and yesterday he broke up at least two touchdown passes.  But he’ll never make the Pro Bowl if he can’t post a few interceptions.

▪ The Steelers defense in general just isn’t making plays.  In three games, they have five sacks and one interception– the lone INT coming on that miraculous one-handed grab by Polamalu in the opener.

▪ A missing persons report has officially been filed for LaMarr Woodley.  Last week, he had zero sacks, zero INTs, zero tackles.  This week: zero sacks, zero INTs, one tackle.  At the beginning of the season, I thought he could be the Defensive Player of the Year.  Now he’s looking more like Kendrell Bell.

▪ I’ve looked at that pick-six a few times, and I can’t tell if it was Santonio’s fault or Ben’s.  Ben saw the linebacker blitzing free from the right and threw what looked to me like a hot read.  But then again, the Bengals were only bringing three (the defensive linemen dropped into coverage) and none of the other receivers cut off their routes.  I don’t know.  If it’s a hot read, I probably put that on Ben, but Ed Bouchette thinks Santonio just ran the wrong way.  Oh, and Willie Colon screwed up the protection by doubling the inside guy instead of picking up that blitzing linebacker.  A three-man rush should not result in a guy coming untouched to the quarterback.

▪ Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians has to take his share of the blame.  At halftime, the Steelers had 83 yards rushing and a 10 point lead.  First possession of the second half: three straight passes, the third one picked and run back for a Bengals touchdown.  After that, 21 yards rushing the entire rest of the game.  In the 4th quarter, the Steelers offense got outgained by the Bengals 139 to 19.  That’s not how you protect a lead.

▪ Limas Sweed has two jobs: one is to get open, the other is to catch the football.  He’s great at the first and terrible at the second, which makes him a terrible receiver.  If you’re Mike Tomlin, you have to start thinking about putting in veteran Shaun McDonald as our #4.  Correction, you don’t have to start thinking about it, at this point you kind of have to do it.  He’s not as explosive as Sweed and he won’t stretch the defense, but he’s a possession receiver who caught 79 balls for the Lions two years ago and looked great in preseason.

▪ After posting 52 yards on 4 touches last week, I don’t think Mendenhall saw a single snap against the Bengals.  The Steelers coaches no doubt have plans for him down the line, but that says a lot about what they think of him right now.  So much for that 2008 draft class.

▪ It’s easy to say this after a few good games, but by the end of the year, Mike Wallace might be the best receiver the Steelers have.  He’s fast, he’s fearless over the middle, and I have yet to see him drop a football.

▪ It’s hard to get on Jeff Reed’s case for missing that 52 yard field goal (wide left again).  But for the second straight week, three points were the difference in the game.  And his 24 yarder in the 2nd quarter barely made it past the left upright.

▪ As bad as the Bengals have been the last six years, I’m absolutely amazed that Marvin Lewis is still coaching in the NFL.  With that said, he outcoached Tomlin yesterday.  That fake punt call was brilliant but only because it worked.  Didn’t lead to any points though.

▪ The Steelers are now two games behind a very, very good Ravens team, and one game behind the Bengals.  They can still win the division, but it’s a long walk to school from here, uphill both ways.

Related posts:

1. Steelers-Chargers Week 4 postgame: First-round knockout
2. Steelers-Lions Week 5 postgame: Getting a little greedy
3. Steelers-Bears Week 2 postgame: Wide left
4. Steelers-Browns Week 6 postgame: “Subpar performance”
5. Steelers-Vikings Week 7 postgame: Drinking Brett Favre’s milkshake

Tags: Ben Roethlisberger Carson Palmer Cincinnati Bengals football NFL Pittsburgh Steelers