Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cincinnati Bengals: Pass Rush Needed To Tame Bengals
The Pittsburgh Steelers will play in their second straight prime time game when they play the Cincinnati Bengals this Monday night.
This game will mark the halfway point of the season for the Steelers, and they need the win to give them some momentum entering the second half of the season.
More importantly, it is another AFC North game, and if the Steelers plan on winning the division, they must win this game.
Since going undefeated in the division during the 2008 Super Bowl season, including a playoff win over the Baltimore Ravens, the Steelers are 3-7 in the division, including a 1-1 record this season with a win over the Cleveland Browns and a loss to the Ravens.
A win will also put the Steelers at 6-2, which would keep the Steelers in the race for one of the top playoff seeds.
One of the keys Monday night will be to contain Cincinnati’s dangerous group of receivers.
Chad Ochocinco, Terrell Owens and rookie Jordan Shipley will present a tough challenge for a secondary that has been shredded over the past few weeks.
Pittsburgh’s pass rush will have to get to Carson Palmer and force him into mistakes.
Offensively, the Steelers will need to rediscover a balance between the run and pass and convert in the red zone. The lack of touchdowns is what’s keeping their opponents close.
Pittsburgh will be motivated coming off a loss to get a road win, but also for some payback against a team that swept them last season.
Pay Attention to Detail
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Pittsburgh’s loss at New Orleans last Sunday night was disturbing.
Not because they got blown out or were exposed (remember, it is well known that teams can pass on the Steelers defense) but rather the Steelers, as poorly as they played and as well as the Saints were clicking, had a chance to win the game.
It was the lack of attention to detail that cost the Steelers, and they cannot afford to make the same mistakes this Monday.
These factors can be traced directly to the coaching staff.
Possibly the biggest flaw was not on the field or the sidelines. Instead it was in the coaches booth where they had the scoreboard game feed on, not the network feed.
This cost the Steelers a horrible challenge by Mike Tomlin that had zero chance of being overturned and another possible challenge on a play where Rashard Mendenhall may have scored.
There was also talk during the week that the team was not prepared for the crowd noise. That is not to be unexpected playing on the road at night, correct?
The team was also ill-prepared to match up against the blitz of the Saints.
Most teams would adjust their offense to include quick slants. Not Bruce Arians. He kept his receivers running long developing deep routes.
Other questionable decisions cost the Steelers field position. They included a 51-yard field goal attempt in a year that Jeff Reed is struggling and going for it on a 4th-and-4 when they were only down by three.
More focus and better decision making on the sideline could have meant a win. The players are not the only ones that need to pay attention to detail, the coaching has to as well.
Pressure Palmer
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A 59.6 percent passer with a quarterback rating of 83.0—it sounds like somebody is ready to have a huge day.
At least what is typical for a quarterback playing against the Steelers defense.
Over the past four games, Pittsburgh’s defense has allowed the opposing quarterback to look like an All Pro.
First it was Joe Flacco driving the Ravens down the field for a win at Heinz Field. Next it was Colt McCoy making his NFL debut and throwing for well over 200 yards. Chad Henne ignited against Pittsburgh’s defense, and Drew Brees lit up the Steelers secondary, connecting on 20-of-22 passes in the second half.
Carson Palmer should be licking his chops to have the opportunity to play against Pittsburgh’s secondary.
If all is right with the Steelers defense, they should be licking their own chops playing against Palmer.
Palmer is not the same quarterback that he was a few years ago when he was recognized as one of the top five quarterbacks in the league.
Now Palmer is slightly above average and mistake prone, throwing costly interceptions over the past few games.
Pittsburgh can force him into mistakes if they can get pressure on him.
Palmer’s mechanics break down when he is under distress, and he will not be able to make a quick move to step up in the pocket like Brees did last week.
The Steelers have to pressure Palmer. They have some of the best pass rushers in the league with James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley on the outside and Lawrence Timmons on the inside.
Add in the cornerback blitz in which Bryant McFadden forced a fumble last week, and the Steelers have quite an arsenal.
Lately they have been sitting back and rushing only three and four and that has not worked. It is time to send some pressure at the quarterback, especially one who will force throws and possibly make mistakes.
A Balancing Act
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The first three weeks of the season were outstanding.
Pittsburgh had a strong ground game and showed a true commitment to the run. Even against Baltimore, though the Steelers did not have much success on the ground, it was not for the lack of trying.
Then Ben Roethlisberger came back to the lineup. Of course this should have meant that since teams had to focus on stopping him and the running game should have opened up.
After seeing mild success against the Browns, the Steelers running game has gone downhill fast, and not in the good way.
Pittsburgh can no longer pick up chunks of yardage with Mendenhall, and at times Roethlisberger is forced to pass.
As teams attack him with the blitz, the Steelers are quickly becoming a one-dimensional passing team, as they were last season.
A big part of the problem is how Bruce Arians is calling the plays.
Run plays are predictable, and if one works, they do not revisit it.
Mendenhall has only had two one-yard yard rushing games with only three games averaging over 4.0 yards per carry, including last week when he had 71 yards on 15 carries. However, take out a 38-yard touchdown run and his numbers are bad.
Pittsburgh has an elite center, Maurkice Pouncey, who has made the entire line better.
It is time for Arians to get back to the early season running success so Pittsburgh can have a balanced offense in what should be a tough divisional matchup against Cincinnati.
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Spotlight Player: Offense
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After feeling the pressure last week, Pittsburgh’s offensive line will once again have to face a pass rush from Cincinnati.
The NFL is a copycat league, and after the Saints had such success blitzing the Steelers last week, it would be a mistake for the Bengals not to.
While the pressure really got to the Steelers offense, the line did an alright job in holding the Saints to only three sacks.
A big part of that was Maurkice Pouncey.
Pouncey will once again be the key factor in slowing down the blitz, giving Roethlisberger time to make plays with his arm.
With the hopes of having a more balanced attack, Pittsburgh should run behind Pouncey as he has become a ferocious run blocker.
Spotlight Player: Defense
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With so many weapons in the receiving game, the Steelers will have to do their best to take at least one of the “Tocho” show out.
That leaves Ike Taylor to silence one of the Bengals top two receivers.
Expect Taylor to match up with Ochocinco as he has had success in the pass shutting him down.
That would leave McFadden on Owens and Gay on Shipley.
While those other two are not ideal matchups, they can receive safety help deep, and Timmons can assist over the middle.
The key, though, is Taylor taking away half the field. If he does, Pittsburgh’s defense will actually have a chance to have a good showing defending the pass.
Game Notes
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- Pittsburgh is 1-1 against the AFC North this season.
- Pittsburgh was swept by Cincinnati last season.
- The Steelers are 39-22 all-time on Monday night.
- Pittsburgh has won five straight Monday night games.
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