The Good, The Bad & The Ugly - Week 7 - Bengals

THE GOOD:
An AFCN win to improve to 5-2 on the season and 3-0 in the division.
Ben Roethlisberger 2TD 0 INT
Le'Veon Bell 35 carries for 134 yards; 3 catches for 58 yards
The Steelers Defense had 4 QB Sacks and 2 INT.
The Steelers Offense gave up 0 QB Sacks - ending a long streak of the Bengals recording at least 1 QB sack in each game.
Boswell was 5/5 FG and 2/2 XP.
Mixon and A.J. Green were "non-factors"
JuJu Smith-Schuster 1TD and down-field blocking.
The Ravens and Browns lost their games.
The Steelers offense did not have a penalty in the game.
Golden to Heyward-Bey for 44 yards

THE BAD:
The Bengals played the Steelers tough in the first half.
FGs instead of TDs
Martavis Bryant 1 catch for 3 yards.
The Packers without Aaron Rodgers look like they are in for a rough season.

THE UGLY:
The Broncos shut out by the Chargers 21-0.

 

I figured they would have a slow start to the season with a couple of awful performances filled with many shenanigans 5 to 6 games in.

But from this point on - Buckle your seat belts our beloved team is going on a la la la lovely run into the AFC championship game.

Remaining QBs on their schedule:

Stafford (Lions)
Brissett (Colts)
Mariota (Titans)
Hundley (Packers)
Dalton (Bengals)
Flacco (Ravens)
Brady (Patriots)
Watson (Texans)
Kiser ? (Browns)

 

The good: we are the top seed in the AFC right now. Keep it that way and we will have a great chance of getting a Lombardi

 

Heck, at this point it might as well be some nobody currently hiding on San Francisco's practice squad.

 

The Good:
JuJu's Touchdown dances are officially my favorite. First, the Dragon Ball Z one from a couple of weeks ago, now the hide and go seek one this week? Had my drunken ass laughing WAY too much.

 

Good to see Ben make a couple of throws that I was questioning whether he could make or not. That 20 yard out late in the game was exactly the type of throw he seemed to be passing up earlier in the year and that it seemed he didn't have the arm strength to complete. He still has accuracy issues deep and its no wonder that Bryant is getting frustrated. He had two steps on that second half deep throw and it was WAY off target. So far off target he couldn't even locate the ball it seemed.

Le'Veon Bell is back.

The defense is really starting to give me hope. They are an exciting unit. If they can keep getting better with their gap integrity in the running game, they can be the best unit in the league. Considering the offense has underperformed to this point, that's pretty exciting.

 

The ugly: more social media shenanigans by M Bryant after a big win.

234 yards receiving and 1 TD after 7 games, a lot less production than most of thought.

 

THE GOOD:
Destroying the scumbag Bengals in the filthy city of Cincinnati! There’s no better feeling for me as a fan than to see that idiot Marvin Lewis and his band of wannabe thugs get their asses handed to them in their own sewer.

THE BAD:
I worry about Bell’s workload. I can’t help but remember Parker’s wheels coming off.

THE UGLY:
Burfict.

 

We played them in Pittsburgh yesterday.

 

lol

 

#Bryant4Picks

 

I sat behind Javon Hargrave's brother and nephew during yesterday's game in PITTSBURGH. Great times listening to him talk about growing up a Steelers fan and how this is all a dream come true for their family.

Good game, but way too many field goals

 

Sitting at 5-2 and 3-0 in the division after 7 games.

The defense is getting to the QB and creating takeaways.

Bell has been really good. The offense is running through him. Hopefully all these carries don't wear him out or lead to an injury that keeps him out of the post season.

Red zone offense wasn't great. That won't cut it.

Fake punt worked out beautifully.

 

Not only does Bryant need to let go of the concept of being traded, the fans need to as well.

He has absolutely ZERO value on the trade market! The team would be lucky to get a 6th or 7th round pick for him at this point. He's one strike away from never playing again AND he's not playing at a high level right now.

Secondly, why on God's green Earth would the Steelers let him go at this point? From all indications he's still working hard and still a good teammate. At some point, he's going to make a big play that helps this team win a game. He's a very talented receiver and this idea that he is some sort of distraction is totally overblown by the media and the fanbase. I'll be pissed if the let him go. It would be stupid!

 

Agree. Bryant will break out big at some point and I think the Steelers need him despite the slow start.

The Good:

Ben. He was efficient and made some good throws. He also checked down when he should have. Bell turned one of those into a nice play. Just ask Kirkpatrick. He could've had another TD but MacDonald dropped a good pass for a TD

Bell. He is back and it's great I don't know what to write other than wow. Don't overuse him though, Connors is pretty good for mop up. Too bad they don't blow teams out enough to use him.

The D: The second half was a thing of beauty. Dalton was so skittish, he actually threw a ball away on fourth down because he was about to get rocked. Under 200 net yards, 4 sacks, 2 INTs, and only 14 points. Gotta keep it up. They need to stop over pursuing vs the run a bit.

Fake punt. Not only the result but just the fact that Golden was aware of what was going on around him. Good, smart play.


The Bad:

Still would like to see some more TDs.

The ugly:

Didn't see it until after but Burfict was at it again yesterday with his cheap shot crap. He can be sure the NFL will take more action. What an idiot.

Three shutouts yesterday. Some awful football, but still, some great games too.

Ravens offense. Hard to be sad about it. I think Matt Moore and the Phins wail on them this Thursday.

Cleveland at 0-6. Almost had one. I hope they win before they play the final game vs the Steelers. Odds are they get one somewhere and I hope it's not us.

Summary:

It's early but the Steelers are the one seed and they control their destiny. NE game looms large but they just need to focus on next week and another road game vs the Lions. It's winnable as long as they keep on ringing the Bell and Ben plays smart like he did yesterday. Hope he's found his 2014 form.

 

Good:
5-2 and in the AFC crow's nest
Big Ben... not Big Dumb
The O-line
Bell/Brown/J2-S2
The Defense, especially the 2nd half Clampdown
Boz

Bad:
Not much... blown coverage on Kroft's TD
1 big ground gainer (25 yds) by Mixon

Ugly:
Vontaze Burfict
Rest of AFC North

 

So now, apparently, Bryant called in sick this morning and didn't show for a team meeting.

Cue the calls from the fanbase to cut him immediately.

I still wouldn't do it, and here's why.

1) He's still a talented player and I would have to hope that the veteran leadership and coaching staff can get this kid to see the light at the end of the tunnel. He may not see it and his agent may not see it, but he has no value to any other team right now and he's far better off sticking where he is for now and playing hard than trying to force his way out of Pittsburgh.

2) As a front office, you don't want to let the players know that they can force their way out of town by behaving badly.

3) Trading him is one thing, but at this point he likely has no trade value so your only option is to release him. Release him and he likely ends up in New England. NO THANKS!

Martavis Bryant needs to remain a Steeler even if he's inactive every week for the rest of the year. Somebody needs to settle this kid down and make sure he understands the bigger picture. He can still help this team win a Championship.

 

The Beautiful: 5-2 on top of AFC!

The Good: Offense and defense were good. This and that can be improved..... but seriously, who the heck wants to peak in October?

The Bad: Field Goals instead of TDS. Broken record every year.

The Ugly: Todd Haley, The Bengals had zero answer for Bell running behind Rosie Nix. So, what does Mr Clever do on third or fourth and short? - That’s right! Single back set, No FB. SMH. Explain to me how in the world that made any sense on any level?

 

My thought was to have him be inactive until the trade deadline is over to teach his immature ass a lesson. What really pissed me off was he claimed he had no help with his suspension, and that he did it all himself. I call some serious BS.

 

That’s truth. It’s the NFL rules.