Steelers Pound Bengals Early, Hold On For 30-20 Victory

Was it 2013 or 1978? 

Aided by the honoring of Hall of Famers running back Franco Harris and cornerback Mel Blount before the game, the Pittsburgh Steelers looked from the opening kickoff as if they were going to pound the Cincinnati Bengals like they were in the Steelers way of another Super Bowl title. 

As it stands, the Bengals (9-5) were in the way of the slimmest of playoff hopes. The pounding, though, was the same. 

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw a touchdown pass in his 27th straight game, wide receiver Antonio Brown scored twice, running back Le'Veon Bell had over 100 yards from scrimmage and the oldest defense in the NFL put a whipping on the Bengals Sunday night to gain a much-needed win, 30-20. 

Big Ben's stat line wasn’t show-stopping (he was 20-25 for 191 yards, a touchdown and an interception), but he ended the game with 340 completions which bettered his own franchise-record 337 in 2009 (he also has the Steelers three highest single-season totals).

With nine different starters and 16 different combinations of blockers this year because of injuries and ineptitude, being able to keep Big Ben virtually clean has been almost Herculean. But, due to yet another upright performance by the patchwork offensive line, he stayed mostly clean, suffering only one sack. 

Before Sunday night, the Steelers (6-8) had been 0-11 when Big Ben committed a turnover, which he did late in the second half when Adam Jones intercepted a pass that seemed to get caught up by the wind. Big Ben had gone 207 pass attempts without a pick, a span of more than four games. 

But AB gave Big Ben a bit of a cushion to be able to overcome the turnover when he caught Big Ben's lone touchdown pass - a 12-yarder with 2:16 to go in the first quarter. 

AB once again caught five passes, for 66 yards and the aforementioned touchdown, and now needs just 92 yards in the last two weeks to pass Yancey Thigpen for the most receiving yards by a Steelers player in a season.

AB also returned a punt 67 yards for the Steelers third score of the opening period. One move, aided by a crushing block by West Virginia product Terance Garvin on the Bengals punter Kevin Huber, and AB would not be caught. 

It would also be Huber's final play as the violent hit from Garvin broke his jaw. The hit appeared at first to be helmet-to-helmet, but no flag was thrown on the play. It could still lead to a fine if the NFL determines Garvin used his shoulder or helmet to hit Huber from behind or the side, violating the - wait for it - "Hines Ward Rule" born from a Ward hit against - wait for it - Keith Rivers of the Cincinnati Bengals. (Didn't see that comin', did ya?)

Bell ran aggressively for the most part, but was also a little too patient at other times, ending with just 57 yards and just a 2.4 yards per carry average. But he also caught five passes for 50 yards and again showed glimpses of what the Steelers believe he can be. 

Late in the game, he stiff armed Bengals defensive end Michael Johnson and then trucked more Bengals on one of his best runs of the night. Earlier, Bell hurdled Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick, though the play was called back. 

All-in-all, Bell had 107 yards from scrimmage putting him in fairly elite atmosphere as he joined Franco Harris and Bam Morris as the only rookie running backs in franchise history to gain at least 1,000 yards from scrimmage. He has the chance to be tops as his 1,034 scrimmage yards are the third-highest total for a Steelers rookie behind Franco Harris' 1,235 and Bam Morris' 1,040.

As for the defense, they simply pounded the Bengals. They didn't just beat them, they beat them up. As many as seven Bengals left the game for a while or for good. And it started quickly.

First, a moment of silence for the passing of LaMarr Woodley...into oblivion. Woodley got hurt again. Will the regular-season finale against the Cleveland Browns be his final home game at Heinz Field? 

Back to the game... A mishandled snap by Huber led to the first score, and with the advantage of that early lead, Steelers defensive coordinator was able to say "sick 'em" to his players. They responded by harassing Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton and sacking him in the first half - the first sack he'd suffered since Nov. 10 at the Ravens.  

They completely stymied the Bengals run game holding them to just 57 yards on 22 carries. Bengals receiver A.J. Green was held short of 100 yards, getting nine receptions for 93 yards at less than 11 yards a catch. 

In fact, at one point early in the game the Steelers had accumulated more plays (26) than the Bengals had accumulated yards (23). 

Remember the stat that If It Ain't Steel brought you regarding the Steelers defense allowing 17 plays of 40 yards or more (including 11 of 50 yards or more)? Sunday, the Steelers allowed exactly zero of such plays. In fact, they surrendered no explosive plays (20 yards or more) at all against the Bengals.

The only explosions were the hits the Steelers - on offense and defense - were administering to the Bengals. It was just a good old fashioned beat down led by Lawrence Timmons, Jason Worilds, Cameron Heyward, Vince Williams, Cortez Allen and even Jarvis Jones who batted down a two-point conversion pass in the fourth quarter showing the kind of play he’s capable of making. 

It may not have been a means to Super Bowl berth, but it was still a beat down that should've made Franco and Blount proud. 

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TIDBITS: INJURIES - Aside from Woodley, the Steelers offensive line took another blow when right tackle Marcus Gilbert left late in the first quarter with another right ankle injury. Left tackle Kelvin Beachum, who returned to the starting lineup after missing last week with a knee injury, left the game briefly with what seemed to be an aggravation of the injury. He returned. Ike Taylor had bruised ribs, but the rest were, as HC Mike Tomlin would say, the normal bump and bruises associated with life in the NFL. -  http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/Coach-Tomlin-post-game-vs-Bengals/82ea60a8-aa3b-44b3-860d-902079739102

Jarvis Jones To Help Steelers Renew Monday Night Rivalry With Bengals

It was nearly 43 years ago on November 2, 1970 when the Monday Night rivalry between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers began. It was the first ever contest between the two teams on what would arguably become the NFL's second-biggest stage. 

The Steelers won the seventh-ever Monday Night Football game 21-10. 

The stars of the game were Dick Hoak, long-time Steelers running back and running backs coach, and quarterback Terry Hanratty. There was another Terry also, though, who made his Monday Night debut as rookie Terry Bradshaw went 4-12 for 40 yards. Bradshaw would go on to usurp the reins from Hanratty en route to a Hall of Fame career. 

Fast forward to this coming Monday and not only is the rivalry renewed, but another budding young star will see his time on stage. The nation's eyes will be focused on the increased snaps, and possibly even the start of rookie linebacker Jarvis Jones. 

The first-round draft pick was expected to learn the position, as played by the Steelers in their 3-4 defense coached by Dick LeBeau, behind the heir apparent Jason Worilds. As If It Ain't Steel wrote and as was generally well known, no rookie (especially no rookie linebacker) had ever started in a LeBeau-coached defense. Without going deeply into it, the complexity of the schemes dictated that it wouldn't happen. 

That may change come Monday night. 

"That's the way it is right now," Jones said Wednesday after practice where he confirmed he ran with the first-team defense after being promoted to co-starter. "As long as I continue to keep doing what I'm doing, I hope it stays like that."

Technically, LeBeau's record is still intact. Jason Worilds started the Titans' game and played the majority of the snaps, approximately 46 to Jones' 28 snaps. But, not only has Worilds done his best to move the middle of the class, Jones has done that rare thing of living up to the hype that surrounded him. 

Maybe we will still see both men on more even rotation Monday and for weeks to come. The way things look at present, though, is that Jones' machinations are radioactive whereas Worlids may have reached his half-life.

Each man had sights, starting in Training Camp, of taking over as the heir apparent for former Steelers linebacker, Defensive Player of the Year and enforcer James Harrison. A man they will see when the Bengals are on defense Monday night. 

Make no mistake, Worilds was never going to make people forget Harrison, but he at least had a chance to be a serviceable run stopper and rusher. Still, it was his job to lose.

He likely has. 

The hard-hitting turnover machine that is Jones is becoming the anti-Harrison. Where Harrison was the Silverback - so powerful and disruptive, Jones is the Black Panther - so sleek and sudden. Where Harrison was the massive Deebo from the movie Friday, Jones is stout but more angular Dillon from Predator. 

And maybe with the long dreadlocks, "the Predator" is an apt nickname. Maybe we'll also see him completely usurp the reins from Worilds en route to his own Hall of Fame career. Maybe this will begin where it all began 43 years ago - on Monday night. 

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TIDBITS: Steelers practice report - DNP: Cortez Allen (ankle), Le'Veon Bell (foot) and Curtis Brown (illness).

LIMITED: Steve McLendon (hamstring), Heath Miller (knee) and Shaun Suisham (hamstring/plant leg). 

Neither Le'Veon Bell nor Heath Miller will play this week. Won't return until at least the Vikings' game in London. 

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"I think a consistent running game is really important, not only to be good offensively, but to strike a balance." - Mike Tomlin

Jonathan Dwyer says the release and return changed him. He's more focused. "I definitely have a chip on my shoulder." He was told to be ready to play in whatever capacity, and ran w/ #Steelers 1st team today. Issac Redman said Dwyer's release-return "is going to help him tremendously. You'll see that chip."

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Per Capologist Ian Whetstone (@IanWhetstone on Twitter), whom you've known us to quote many times, the "2013 adjusted {Salary} Cap for Steelers is $124,899,811, with them being $1,385,253 under the Cap. I have them with 40 players signed at about $127.2M (for the 2014 season)." (brackets ours)

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Matt Spaeth has been without crutches since Saturday and is walking freely with boot. 

If It Ain't Steel's 2013 AFC North QB Rankings

by Jayden Matthews

It’s that time of year again when we at If It Ain't Steel rank the quarterbacks. First up, we start with the QBs of the AFC North. This is the division and these are the QBs we know the most about because of playing them twice a year. Though we always endeavor to remain as objective as possible whenever we write, we still realize this list may not go over well will the Raven faithful. But we're neither the NFL Network or ESPN nor am I Ron Jaworski, and you will see that when our Top 12 QBs list comes out. But without further adieu, here we go.

1) Ben Roethlisberger

This is by no means a Black and Gold-blinders pick. This is where Big Ben deserves to be ranked. Yes, I know he got hurt and missed 3 games. But, SO WHAT? He still deserves to be ranked above the other three in this division. Before Big Ben’s injury, he was arguably right in the thick of MVP talks and was putting together what could have been one of his best seasons yet. He was consistent in his play and had the best 3rd down conversion percentage of any QB in the NFL until his injury. He had only thrown four interceptions before his injury. No, he didn’t look like the superstar stud QB we all know when he came back and we lost two heartbreaking games by 3 points and missed the playoffs, but we still give Ben the No. 1 nod because we mainly rank by regular season numbers with a nod to playoff numbers.

Despite missing essentially three and a half games, Big Ben still finished the season with 3,265 yards 26 touchdown passes and only eight interceptions. He had a 65% completion percentage and QB ranking of 97.0. Big Ben may have had his share of injuries over the past couple seasons and this may have been the longest that we have been without him, but he still deserves the No. 1 nod.

Big Ben is still the most consistent of the four in the AFC North. In his nine years, he has two Super Bowl wins under his belt and helped lead the Steelers to a third appearance. That’s pretty good for any QB, but is great for a QB playing in arguably the toughest division in football. It is hard enough to win the AFC North, let alone win the whole shebang. And we don't believe he's done yet.

The other reason I give him the No. 1 nod is because we all know that last season has to be eating at him as much as it does the fans. We believe he will come out and play like the champion we all know he is and that he will get it done. With the Steelers flying under the radar and the talking heads of mainstream media already sticking a fork in them, Big Ben and the Steelers, in one sense, have less pressure on them. That could set up to be a bad thing for the rest of the AFC North.

2) Joe Flacco

Yes, I know Joe Flacco just won the SB and the MVP. Again, SO WHAT? As we said, we mainly base this on regular season numbers and less on playoff and SB numbers. Joe Namath had a great playoff run and beat Baltimore's favorite son, the Colts. Is Namath supposed to be the best ever? Timmy Smith set a SB record by running for 204 yards, while also scoring two TDs, for the Washington Redskins in SB XXII. Did that make him a Hall of Fame running back?

Let’s be real, Flacco was hardly an MVP during the regular season. His inconsistencies reared their ugly heads a lot, in fact. While he had his ups and downs during the regular season, he is still a better player than the other two in the AFC North. Flacco owns the two worst QBR ratings of any QB in the NFL this past season and, might I add, two of the worst ever. Against a stout Houston Texans defense, he had a ranking of 0.3 and against the Denver Broncos he had a ranking of 0.4. Plus, as we'll further bring out in a moment, Big Ben had more TD passes and fewer INTs in less time. So why, again, should we have Flacco ranked higher?

That is what a lot of fans seem to overlook. Yes, again, Flacco had an amazing playoff run, but he had an inconsistent, yo yo-like season. They also leave out the fact that the playoff run was also fueled by the retirement announcement of Ravens great Ray Lewis. A lot also like to blame Cam Cameron and then are praise Jim Caldwell for Flacco's immediate turn around during the playoffs.

Time will tell if that is the case, because I personally still thinking Lewis’ retirement motivation had more to do with it. Plus, if Caldwell was so great, then why did the Indianapolis Colts tank when Peyton Manning was injured and out for the season?

This will be the season for both Flacco and Caldwell to shut critics like myself up. Are they up for the task? We will see. He finished the regular season with 3,817 yards 59.7% completion, 22 TDs to 10 INTs and a QB ranking of 87.7. Flacco is coming off a near historic playoff run, I do give him credit for that, but he is going to have to come out this season and play that good all the time for me to rank him above Big Ben.

Flacco and the Ravens also have the proverbial target on their backs that comes with being the reigning champs, so this season is by no means going to be easy. Because even bad teams show up to play the champs. Frankly, if the Ravens have any chance of taking the North for the third year in a row and making it back to the playoffs they are going to need that Flacco to show up. Especially with all the questions on their retooled defense and how it’s going to come together, more onus is on him. So this will be the year for Flacco to put up or shut up with all the attention and money he is receiving. Will he remain the media darling or the media kick stand? That is yet to be determined.

3) Andy Dalton

Andy Dalton can play and has shown that since being drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals. He is consistently building a nice résumé and his numbers are very good and right up there with the top two. He has helped lead the Bengals to back-to-back winning seasons and playoff appearances but has yet to get his first playoff win.

The Bengals are quietly building a very good offense around Dalton with very good young talent. Again, this is a brutal division and they still have their work cut out for them if they're going to take out the Steelers and Ravens.

Could this be the year the Bengals emerge and do just that? Time will tell, but things are definitely looking up for Bengals fans and they have every right to be optimistic with this young guy under center.

Dalton finished the season with 3,669 passing yards and a 62.3% completion, which is second behind Big Ben. We can't rank him higher than Flacco, though, until he wins some playoff games. He had 26 TDs to 16 INTs and a 87.4 QB ranking. The sky is the limit for young Dalton, and this could be the year he crosses the threshold.

4) Brandon Weeden

Weeden was drafted by the Cleveland Browns last season and was immediately thrown into the fire. He didn’t have the best of seasons, but he didn’t have the worst, either. A lot of the Browns problems are lack of weapons around Weeden. Given the fact that Trent Richardson was also hurt a lot, it just led to disaster again for the Browns offense.

The Browns have somewhat addressed their issues this offseason. It has been reported that Richardson is healthy and should be ready to go by training camp, which will help. But Weeden has felt the heat of the front office this offseason, and has a new coach to impress. This will probably be a make-or-break season for Weeden and his future with the Browns. I personally feel that is wrong because, with the dearth of weapons around him, how can the Browns' brass expect Weeden to succeed in one of the toughest divisions in football?

Will he be able to step up and improve from last season? We believe he will. Weeden finished the season with 3,385 yards 57.4% completion 14TDs to 17 INTs, with that last stat definitely needing to be cleaned up if he wants to do better. He also had a QB rating of 72.6. The best to Weeden in taking the next step, because we really think he can if given a chance. But if his numbers do not improve from last season, and the Browns don’t win a few more games, his time will be up.