So, the Bengals are preparing for the Steelers as if AJ McCarron will start the wild-card round Saturday night at Paul Brown Stadium.
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McCarron’s biggest improvement in his three starts was avoiding the interception, although he fumbled a snap in overtime that ended a 20-17 loss in Denver.
“Everything wasn’t ideal today, that’s the way it’s going to be sometimes”, McCarron said.
Seeing Dalton sporting a black cast on his right hand while watching helplessly from the sideline for the remainder of that game was perfectly indicative of the gloomy fate that the Bengals seemed destined for as a result of his injury. “The footwork and stuff I should have down by now”. He finished 21 of 33 for 376 yards. Roach (6 feet 2, 237 pounds) played in all four Cincinnati preseason games and ranked fifth on the team in tackles (12).
“He said he remembered”, McCarron said.
Coming off a season finale where the Bengals allowed 60 percent conversion rate to the Ravens, finding answers on third down sat as a centerpiece of the game plan preparing for Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Dalton is hoping to get his cast removed on Monday.
Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis meets with Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, right, after an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016, in Cincinnati.
But that doesn’t mean he’ll be ready by Saturday. “If we play the game the way we know how and detail our work, we are a tough defense to beat. He’ll be ready when he’s ready”.
“I don’t know”, McCarron said. I didn’t give myself a big chance with that. He started dying laughing when I told him how I remembered that.
Also, he hasn’t practiced in three weeks, leaving him rusty – a bad combination for playoff time.
“His preparation, his diving into everything, how anxious for this opportunity, I think, in his mind he has been throughout this entire season”, Lewis said, “how he’s gone about it, how he’s directed the football team, how he’s assumed the role of the leader of the offense that way”.
The Steelers will have to bring their “A” game for a full 60 minutes on Saturday to shutdown Green and the Bengals weapons, and pay attention to details, not letting anything slip through the cracks.
One reason this game got away from Baltimore was the vulnerability finally shown by Ravens quarterback Ryan Mallett (30-for-56, 292 yards, touchdown, two interceptions), who is signed to be the team’s backup to Joe Flacco next year. “But we believe in AJ McCarron, and we believe we can win with him”.
“I try to leave myself out of it”, McCarron said.
If the Steelers are going to be a team to be reckon with in the playoffs, the pass rush has to be a factor because the pass coverage in the secondary continues to be problematic.
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The Ravens – authors of the league’s best pass defense during the season’s second half – got off to a fine start defensively, continuing the momentum it had built for itself down the season’s homestretch. Kansas City is on an NFL-best 10-game winning streak, and their only victory prior to Week 7 came against the Texans.
