When The Dust Finally Settled - Steelers - 24 / Bengals - 17



Big Ben CONTINUES to Lead the Steelers
Through this Rough Patch


SteelerNation was begging for a dominant victory, and even though that might not have been the most dominating performance, it was the closest thing Steeler fans have gotten to this date.  There were some ups and downs in this game, but the more experienced team prevailed in the form of the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Take a look at the first half.  It looked like the same old Steelers that we have grown to HATE this season.  Sloppy play offensively (Mike Wallace...I'll get to him later in my Quick Hitter Post), a defense that gave up an 80yd TD drive, and special teams that can't get out of their own way in terms of penalties.  At one point I thought my phone might explode, or Twitter would just shut down, from all the fuming hatred being thrown towards the Steelers.  At the exact point where SteelerNation thought all hope was lost...they were given a gift from the football gods.  The gift that carried this team to SuperBowl championships in the past.  Andy Dalton goes to throw, decides last second to tuck the football, and the football slips out of his hands....of his lineman's helemet, and directly into the awaiting arms of Steelers' OLB Lamarr Woodley.  That play single handedly changed the game.  The Steelers who were down 14-6 at the time took the field position and scored a TD, and then a 2pt conversion to go into the locker room at halftime tied 14-14.

We all know how the 2nd half played out with the Steelers showing an ability to run the ball that has been lost the past few weeks.  The Offense proves that it is comfortable with 3rd and 6,7,8 or even 10.  Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense is uncanny when it comes to converting on 3rd downs.  The most impressive aspect of the Steelers win came down to to things, in my opinion.  The Steelers' ability to run the football when it counted the most, and the defense showing an ability to adapt and get off of the field on 3rd down.  Combine those two things and that is a good recipe to HOLDING A LEAD as well as winning football games.  I credit the Steelers coaching staff, and surely Mike Tomlin will get the brunt of that.  However, I though Todd Haley called a tremendous game as well as Dick Lebeau.  Lebeau conceded that AJ Green was good, and he wasn't going to keep doing the same thing and getting burnt.  He gave Ike Taylor help and that ultimately helped win the game for the Steelers.  Another coach I give a TON of credit to is Offensive Line coach Sean Kugler.  This guy doesn't have the Cowboys OLine of the 90s.  He often time has a patchwork line put together with duct tape and glue, but he makes the best out of what he has and that wasn't more evident than last night.  The Steelers actually got a great push on the Bengals D-Line and set season highs for rushing yards in a game, as well as rushes per attempt.  Kudos to the coaching staff.

Looking ahead the Steelers come back to Heinz Field for the electrifying Robert Griffin III show.  Oh yeah, the Redskins will be joining him as well on the trip.  There is plenty of time to dissect that game, but for now, enjoy this great AFC North win, and the Steelers going BACK to .500 with a record of 3-3.