Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Sammie Coates (14) hauls in a pass from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger with Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Darqueze Dennard, left, defending during the second half of an NFL football game in Pitts.
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Though Dalton passed for 366 yards, majority were check downs to running backs and tight ends as Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler disguised coverages and seemed to throw Dalton off by having Cockrell trail Green, a departure from last season where cornerbacks largely stuck to one side of the field regardless of the matchup. “Near the end of the Pittsburgh-Cincinnati game, first play after the two minute warning”.
They also don’t have a loss, a trade-off they can live with while their defensive front four searches for consistency.
“No! I am an insurance policy”. After Andy Dalton’s touchdown pass to RB Giovani Bernard made it a one-score game with 3:34 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Steelers offense went three-and-out at their own 29.
“We’re doing a lot of things differently defensively”, Cockrell said. “He’s one of the best punters in the league”.
“No, no, no, no, no”, Cockrell said. “So, we definitely needed him today”.
They essentially made Jets receivers Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker invisible in Week 1, a feat made more notable when they each had more than 100 yards receiving against the Bills in Week 2. “That’s all we wanted to do”. – Dalton on Green’s lack of production. Thanks to the field position, the Steelers were able to get a 49-yard field goal from Chris Boswell without even getting a first down.
Bengals tight end C.J. Uzomah caught what might have been a touchdown in the back of the end zone with his team down 17-6.
For head coach Marvin Lewis and the principal parties involved, the problems there are correctable. Therefore, the call stood.
“I should have done better with ball security, but I believe my knee was down”, Boyd told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “They didn’t see it that way overall, so that’s all that matters”.
The Bengals’ offense has put up gaudy passing numbers, but has failed to move the chains consistently on third down. Through two games Cincinnati is averaging 2.78 yards per carry.
During the long replay review, several Bengals offensive players said they were convinced they were getting the ball back, and apparently some of the Steelers agreed as their defense began walking back on to the field.
The Bengals are looking up at the standings, something they haven’t had to do for two years. “Jordan Berry and that punt group did an awesome job, largely making Cincinnati work with a long field all day”. “We didn’t have enough positives on first down, and we didn’t convert the third downs”. With Brown basically shut down on the day, Roethlisberger threw his three touchdowns to a combination of tight ends and a running back.
Coaching: Mike Tomlin didn’t make any super gutsy calls against the Bengals, but he kept his players disciplined and focused.
“We threw the bus at them”. All were deep balls, and Coates came with up two for gains of 44 and 53 yards, setting up Pittsburgh touchdowns with both catches.
As the most rudimentary fan knows, there are three phases to football: Offense, defense and special teams.
The Steelers will face their in-state rivals in Week 3 when they travel east to face the Philadelphia Eagles. “But Bell is so dynamic when he plays the game I don’t want him to come off the field”.
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Dennard was playing in his first regular-season game since going on IR last November, but he didn’t make excuses.
