On location: Steelers 42, Bengals 21, final

Playing the kids only matters if they simplify the scheme, allowing them to take advantage of their athletic ability and fresh legs. Otherwise, they'll be out there thinking too much and the defense could actually look worse.

Which of course, will prompt the re-signings of Keisel, Harrison, Taylor, and Polamalu next August because "these kids just need more time".

Rinse.

Repeat.

I've been to several Reds and Bengals games in Cincy, and those fans are without doubt some of the very most .... polite and courteous fans I've encountered in any city. Just nice people, IMHO. Polar opposite of Flyers fans.

Im gonna predict a Steeler win here today fella's. I think the Steelers will be better and more focused today. I think the Bengals still dont expect to beat the Steelers and if the Steelers hang around, Dalton will make a mistake and the Steelers will get away from them late.
*
Uncle Steelkings final score :::: PITTSBURGH 28 - CINCINATTI 23

And In turn
Cleveland 24- Indianapolis 20
Colts sleep walk Steeler style into a loss at Cleveland in what proves to be a sloppy turnover fest by both teams.
*
Miami 29 - Baltimore 27
Flacco's furious comeback falls short as last second field goal sails wide left leaving the Ravens in the cellar of the AFC North.

Tomlin's road record is not a vote of confidence here. But a divisional game anything can happen but losing this game places the Steelers in a difficult position to win out. For me I can't see this defense rising to the occasion. Talent or lack thereof tends to be exploited and Cinci has better talent.

Both teams' inactives just announced and posted above.

who dey, we dey, beat them, today

Gonna watch the game (Thanks CBS and DISH for acting like 2 year olds with your dispute), but I will not make any predictions.
I DO eagerly await the post-game press conference, so I can get better Scrabble skills from Coach Cliche.
Could use some long words on certain blocks.

GO STILLERZ !!

How many times will Cincy run it to Cam's side?

Blawnox

Cam Thomas starting. Good Lord.

If the Steelers can somehow bring consistent pressure on Dalton, he'll fold. If not, even a stiff like him will eat us alive.

We shall see if Ray Maualuga's presence really will be enough to slow down the Steelers running game.

- Cam Thomas starting? why? Inexcuseable decision.

- Dri Archer, about time. Problem is not signing a Back to spell Bell. Again inexcuseable a backup has zero NFL carries.

- No Harrison , yikes.

- I don't believe Ben is even close to 100%.

- Bengals 30 - 17. If they do win, they will lose huge to Atlanta next week. But I think no Keisel, no Harrison, no secondary, just too much to overcome. They are playing with fire on Bell. One hit and this team is done.

Great blocking by Adams on the last series--he is awful and great call __Haley--your bubble screen. This never ends with this coaching staff.

WR screen on 3 and 5 vs press coverage.

WR/TE screen on third-and-5. Man.

Todd Haley is an idiot. What kind call is that on 3rd down?

Ah I see! A better place to get sad. Thanks DK!

Marvin takes an early gamble with a fake punt, but Cedric Peerman fumbles the carry. Weirdest part: An official definitely signaled illegal procedure, and everyone seemed to ignore him.

Good stop by D! Waste of a 3rd round pick can't earn a hat! Need to throw down the field!

The other team's No. 23 just got his hand on the ball. In case you thought that was a number thing.

2nd and 10 and you toss backward? Then you go deep on 3rd down? Haley has to go!

I can live with that 3rd down call. Which was Ben's call, obviously.

Cam Heyward being double-teamed. Smart.

Ben can't even throw to the checkdown accurately, that must be why he refuses to go downfield.

Offense throwing away opportunities. Steelers no huddle offense has to be the slowest in NFL history.

Punters' duel?

Pathetic offense! When will the big game QB show up? D with 3 stops in this NFL you can't ask for much more.

Carolina 17 New Orleans 0 . . .

Teams weakness(defense) is giving its so called strength(offense) a chance to get up on a team , and put additional pressure on opposing offense,for 2nd week in a row!

VERY nice third-down play-call and VERY well blocked, 16 yards to Wheaton coming across field. First sign of intelligent life on either offense.

Nice 2nd effort by Wheaton

Excellent work by Ben and Bell to read the Bengals' blitz there and go quick slant. Even if this isn't punched in, best drive in a while.

TOUCHDOWN, Steelers, 7-0, Ben to Heath from 1 yard, and some baby just lost its candy. Smooth drive, great adjustments by Ben/Bell/Haley.

Nice play call and some great offensive sets on that drive. Moore needs to get the ball more.

What the hell were our two stinking safeties doing??

Corners let A.J. Green go, BOTH safeties on him, still completes 56-yard play. Horrific.

My Lord that is some ugly secondary. Gracious.

Best. Secondary. Ever.

Mitchell and Polamalu terrible on that 51 yd play.

Mitchell

William Gay and Mike Mitchell at their finest.

My heart really aches to watch Troy now.
Such a warrior, and a great guy on and off the field.
But....wow.
Hard to watch.

TOUCHDOWN: Bengals, 7-7 2nd, 7-yarder from Dalton to Gresham. Gay bit badly on a play fake. These guys are gold.

My how much this Lebeau defense has fallen.the men who brought in Mitchell to play in this def and give him 5 yr $25 mill contract need fired

I am completely serious when I say that my 48 year old ass could be more effective in pass coverage than Mike Mitchell

DK, and the really horrible thing is that the ball hung in the air and both of them were late. Thinking we may need 2 safeties next year as I think troy should move to linebacker.

I know I'm only re-stating the obvious.... but the secondary can't play any worse. Can we just have our receivers play back there?

Carnell Lake has some explaining ahead. He claimed the Steelers had good depth in the defensive backfield. Same with LeBeau.

Ben is at it again. Can't he throw the damn ball with any accuracy anymore??

Miserable play by Blake. Should have easily pinned bengals deep

Penalty negates the interception but Gay is still celebrating

Can't even pull off a good play without issues

Maybe at some point someone can cover Green

Steelers making Dalton look like Brady - Ben being outplayed again

Looks like Ike took shot on arm. Playing soft all day.

The only way this group has a chance of covering Green is to hope he gets injured celebrating a catch.

Wow, that's embarrassing. This Steeler defense SUCKS!

Wow - nice play call but Cincy but man is that secondary weak

Good job Worilds!!!

TOUCHDOWN: Bengals 14-7, 2nd quarter. Dalton 20-yard keeper after Worilds, Troy bite badly, former on run, latter on ... wow, can't even guess. This defense is beyond adjectives.

Wow - this exotic LeBeau defense is so complex. Maybe they can add exotic tackling to the scheme next year

Let's see if Ben can respond. Need points here and Bengals get ball after halftime

The Safety play on this team really couldn't be any worse. Brady or Manning would hang 50 on these guys without breaking a sweat. As disappointed as I'll be if they miss the playoffs again, I just keep reminding myself of that first point.

No reason to ever take ball out of end zone on kickoffs . Ever.

Next Friday Insider DK I would like to know what wager between AB and Sanders was.

The Steelers have tons of talent on offense - this is readily apparent. They have little talent on defense - this is also readily apparent. Steelers would do well to get in a shootout rather than a methodical, time of possession game. True, the other team's defense may prevent this but play calling is more indicative of a conservative team with a good defense.

Ben has to be held accountable, his throws are bad. He has been as responsible for the last 4 weeks as anyone involved.keep drafting bum lbs in rd 1 and passing up stud corners, bc he is Dick Fin Lebeau he cab make anything work?! That has been the thought process for 5 yeard now and these are your results no playoffs 3 years in a row and get ousted in 1st rd by Tim Tebow! Proud days in Pittsburgh

DK - any data available on how many extra yards Bell averages with his effective stiff-arm?

Now in the zone where Steelers misuse timeout calls and leave Bengals opportunity to answer any score

Need 7 points or bust - no field goals

All Brown does is catch the ball on 3rd down.

Would've spiked the ball held the TO to keep play action and bell as an option

Heath Miller was wiiiiiiiiiiiiiide open there

Ben missed Health underneath wide open. Missed opportunity

Bell wide open on first down and Heath wide open on third - Ben not even in the game mentally

FIELD GOAL: Steelers, Suisham 22 yards, cuts Bengals' lead to 14-10 near end of first half. Awful red-zone series by Ben precedes it.

Red zone offense is still horrific. All the more reason to get rid of Haley. That's unacceptable, but the Rooney's don't care anymore.

Can't blame that series on Haley. That was all Ben missing targets.

Another bad first half by Ben who was an MVP for about 15 quarters and mediocre for the other 35

How about the QB making a play when it counts?

Tomlin loves to be on national tv--his endless babble to skirt the questions never ends.

Nothing surprising here, same story, writes itself. Inconsistent offense and a dreadful defense. Can't pressure the qb, can't cover, can't stop the run. The only debate is whether you use ALL draft picks for defense, or just 5 or 6? Ike and Troy are likely out, Mitchell and Allen should be. Worilds is gone...might be 2017 before this defense gets back to respectability

Ben can't hit an open receiver, and Bill Hillgrove can't identify any players on either team without Tunch's help. Makes for riveting radio.

Can Will Allen be any worse than Mike Mitchell? At this point I'd let Allen play and find out. Cam Thomas and Mike Mitchell might be two of the worst starters to wear that jersey in 30 years.

The timeout with 1:33 to go was stupid. Another in a long line of horrid clock management decisions made by Tomlin over the years. No need to spike the ball, no need for a timeout there. Limited their options on the series from the 4.

Bengals outsmarting themselves with trick plays - just keep passing for 5-10 yards.

Looked like that should have been hands to the face on Ike

Fouts just called Bell "Laverne".

Le'veon and Antonio are unreal - arguably each the two best at their positions in the NFL

This is a huge drive

Hate conservative coaching. Need to stay aggressive. Tomlin forgot what version of his defense he has.

LOL Mike Mitchell

Mitchell should give back his contract money. He does absolutely nothing on the field. He is the worst signing in Steeler history.

Now that was funny

Maybe now the Steelers will decide to cover AJ Green. Maybe.

Mike Mitchell was so excited to be that close to the ball that he slipped

What is Ike Taylor doing??

The rush better get to Dalton; we clearly can't cover Green.

And that right there is my point about the inanity of the run the ball to keep their offense on the bench point that was made earlier this morning. It does you no good to possess the ball if the other offense only needs a play to go 80 yards.

These guys getting really good at the "arms out, head looking back, where was my help" move!

Got home recently. Where's Shazier?

Like I was saying...has to be the entire draft on defense right? Corner, OLB, safety, corner, etc

I wonder if Mitchell will acknowledge any long scoring plays after this game?

Steelers have arguably best running back in the league yet based on ProFootballFocus, rank near the middle of the pack on play action attempts. Roethlisberger's QB rating is 13 points higher when using play action. Why do they not use it more?

Mike Mitchell. I get suck just typing the name.

Great run by Bell and then , they run Harris up the middle. Are you kidding me??

Post game: Mike: how are you going to play next week with two broken ankles?

Field goals, field goals and more field goals--sickening.

That failure was on Haley. You don't give the ball to your rookie RB on 1st down for no gain. STUPID! Throw the ball!

It's not funny, Mike Mitchell is embarrassing but they keep running him out there. Put Ike Taylor in single coverage on one of the best wr in league. Lebeau needs go! His loyalty to these older players that he trusts is not coaching, its called stupidity and stubbornness. But the head coach allows this happen, at end of day it falls on him

Time for exotic matador pass defense

Anyone realize Green has 244 of Daltons 288 yards? Maybe double cover?

RUN THE BALL. Wash rinse repeat = win

mike Mitchell almost had a pick. Almost.

Great play by Blake! He turned around and looked for the ball. What a concept!

Looked like Mitchell was crowing after that failed interception

How fast is Bryant. WOW

Does that count as a Pass Defensed by Mitchell?

Now that is what we call playing to win - what a playcall, what execution!

Does anyone know the rookie record for receiving touchdowns?

Todd Haley is the man, great play call. And Ben has been spot on the whole game! LOL Nice call and throw.

Truitt siting

So, I guess Roethlisberger isn't the worst QB in the league, after all?

He isn't perfect, but considering what we had for the 20 years between Bradshaw & him you'd think more people could recognize the difference between competent QBs and the other 90%.

Saints down 41-3 to the Panthers at home. Who says there's no parity in the NFL? :|

some elite company Bell is keeping with Walter Payton

That's nine catches for Brown and I'm guessing five of those were on 3rd downs.

You think Adam jones is tired of seeing DeCastro yet?

Ben having an MVP half as the offense needs to continue to carry this team. Bell is such a talent and those OL picks have yelled under MM coaching.

536 yards of offense can cover up a lot of defensive warts

@drinelli: Le'Veon Bell (@L_Bell26) is the 2nd player in NFL history to record 200 scrimmage yards in three consecutive games (Walter Payton, 1977).

Tuitt has had a nice game

That's our kind of a fourth quarter!

I have been down on the Steelers most of the season, but all I can say is "WOW"! They needed the win and they got it. I may regret saying this, but I can't wait until next Sunday.

Defense got a lot better once Ike was no longer in

Browns about to dump their game to the Clots. Ravens won, so Browns back to where they belong. Last in the division. Breaks my heart.

Saints lose 41-10 to Carolina.
Biggest laugh (and cry) I've had all week.
Good gracious.

Game ball today to DK for not "seeing" a win today. (See column and enjoy).

;)

Great fourth quarter. This proves you must throw, throw, throw to give the running game an opportunity. The Patriots have been doing it all year.
Keep it up.

Shamarko needs to start next week. Loyalty be damned. Love Troy and Ike, but like all of us, it's over after a certain point.

Tomlin & Colbert are getting ripped a ton (& very deservedly so) for the recent drafts. But, one of the few drafting bright spots is Le'Veon Bell. He was clearly one of the most inspired RB picks by any team in years. The Steelers saw more in him than any other team, & thankfully they were right.

Now, if they could have just done better with almost every other pick the last few years.

Surprising win with this defense. Bengals Bell has given the Steelers a nice weapon and with needed upgrades on defense Steelers can start to rebuild the roster. Bengals are just so ordinary and Bengals game may be big here the last game. But give credit where credit is due. Nice win.

How did Green's 81 yard touchdown make the Geico play of the game over the Bryant 94 yard touchdown? Is Geico headquartered in Cincinnati? ;-)

"Ring the Bell!" Is the battle cry..,

I have no explanation of the Jekyll and Hyde personality of the offense.

Steelers go to Atlanta next Sunday. The Falcons will be coming off a short week after their game at Lambeau tomorrow night. There is absolutely no reason for a letdown.