“Everybody says you win in the trenches”, the Steelers offensive coordinator said last week, “but you really do”.
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It’s easier when lining up behind Casey Hampton, Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel, but these new Steelers learned Sunday, in the Steelers’ 24-16 win, that they too can defend every blade of grass after they held the Cincinnati Bengals to a field goal after a first-and-goal at the Pittsburgh 1. “From the day I stepped in here, I was (in the shadow of) Heath Miller and Matt Speath. I made sure going forward that I would do everything to try to emulate those standards, be the best version of myself”. The tandem of Jesse James and Xavier Grimble combined for five receptions for 65 yards and two of Rothlisberger’s three touchdown passes.
He had been excited to come back here Sunday.
“We converted one or two, but not enough of them that mattered”, Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis said. “In practice he will look for us on certain plays even if we aren’t the first option because he wants us to be ready”.
Unlike the Bengals, the Steelers proved they are capable of coping without star men.
The front is completely slamming the door on the run – the Steelers have given up 101 yards on 30 attempts – but opposing QBs have a 79.2 passer rating. “You can see the knee here, but the problem is we’re blocked from seeing the football by the defender’s legs”.
While no one was claiming to have brokered any truces, the extracurricular activity was essentially non-existent Sunday. Guys have jobs, families. As the weather cleared, the teams started to get untracked.
Cameron Heyward, Stephon Tuitt & Co. measure themselves as much on pass rush as anything else – again, a sign of the times for a unit that never used to collect sacks.
By all accounts, Williams seems to be both.
Neither side, though, was ready to admit that.
Wide Receivers: If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Sammie Coates in his two National Football League games this year, it’s that he’s not a consistent receiver.
“We knew going in we had to stop the run regardless of the conditions”, said linebacker Arthur Moats.
The guys take a look at the DeMarcus Ware news as he is expected to miss Bengals week next week. Matt Ryan threw three touchdown passes, but got lucky on the go-ahead one in the fourth quarter.
With the four-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback suspended, his back-up threw for 234 yards and three touchdowns – two of them to Danny Amendola – but left the game with an injury to his throwing shoulder before half-time.
“How many yards did he have today?”
Jones and his safeties were blanketing Brown and frustrated him for most of the day. Tyler Boyd fumbled after getting hit by James Harrison in Pittsburgh territory with 1:50 to play even though replays appeared to show Boyd – who grew up in suburban Pittsburgh and played collegiately on the same field for Pitt – was down well before the ball came out. If he could, the Bengals thought, good for the Steelers. “I wish I would have played better. I don’t have a number for you, but I know tons of friends and family were here supporting me”. Green, who only caught two balls for 38 yards. Winston also fumbled the ball away once.
DeAngelo Williams rushed for 94 yards on 32 tough carries. Ben Roethlisberger completed 27 of 37 passes for 300 yards and three touchdowns against one interception.
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After the game, he offered a familiar if light-hearted criticism of reporters for bringing up his longevity. “Then I just waited for the ref to make that call”.
