Steelers at Bengals TNF Comments & Bedwetting

[bradshaw2ben]

Enough time for a barbecue! Have not seen that since prime Ben!

The Bengals—for some unknown reason—only rushed 3 on that play. They couldn’t even get home with 4 so… weird choice.

[bradshaw2ben]

Does tomlin learn?

STOP WITH ZONE against Flacco you idiot

That’s the challenge in this game

Flacco absolutely knows how to beat this D and even with Ramsey and Porter on the field- it’s hard to play man against their receivers

Bingo. You saw what cover 3 zone looked like most of the game—our interior defenders Payton Wilson and Patrick Queen are lost and Flacco beat the blitz and devours zone—and then when they played man… well, good luck covering Chase, even with your best on best. They tried JPJ & Ramsey… nope.

If their edges aren’t killing the OL, then they’re gonna get carved.

[bradshaw2ben]

Difference in Rodgers and Flacco, the Steelers guy actually completes the fade. Their guy throws it hoping for a flag.

If Joey Porter were in the other team, I’d challenge him all day long looking for a flag. He is a penalty machine. NFL leader in defensive penalties since he’s been in the league, and he earns them. He couldn’t be more grabby.

[jebrick]

Difference in Rodgers and Flacco, the Steelers guy actually completes the fade. Their guy throws it hoping for a flag.

If Joey Porter were in the other team, I’d challenge him all day long looking for a flag. He is a penalty machine. NFL leader in defensive penalties since he’s been in the league, and he earns them. He couldn’t be more grabby.

Just like in college.

[bradshaw2ben]

Chase pushes off...Ramsey gets flagged.

Bullshit.

Ramsey was holding him and when Chase broke free, Ramsey acted like he’d been shot to try and buy an OPI call. Apparently you suckers all bought it.

[bradshaw2ben]

Both DPIs on Porter tonight have been bullshit.

He grabbed the back of the receiver’s jersey and pulled as the ball was about to arrive. That’s legit DPI in every league. I’m telling you, JPJ gets his money’s worth on every call.

[K_C_]

Chase pushes off...Ramsey gets flagged.

Bullshit.

Ramsey was holding him and when Chase broke free, Ramsey acted like he’d been shot to try and buy an OPI call. Apparently you suckers all bought it.

No question Chase pushed off to create a whole lotta separation at the end of that play. They were both hand fighting prior to that push off and if Ramsey was grabbing him, that hold was nowhere near as bad as the push off.

[LakecrestSteeler]

Enough time for a barbecue! Have not seen that since prime Ben!

The Bengals—for some unknown reason—only rushed 3 on that play. They couldn’t even get home with 4 so… weird choice.

Was some sort of Jedi mind trick that worked brilliantly to cause them to let off the gas on both sides of the ball.

[bradshaw2ben]

Chase pushes off...Ramsey gets flagged.

Bullshit.

Ramsey was holding him and when Chase broke free, Ramsey acted like he’d been shot to try and buy an OPI call. Apparently you suckers all bought it.

No question Chase pushed off to create a whole lotta separation at the end of that play. They were both hand fighting prior to that push off and if Ramsey was grabbing him, that hold was nowhere near as bad as the push off.

If you're an NFL WR and you throw off or push off the hold, it's never gonna get called as OPI. Either they view it as "both guys hand-fighting" or as DPI. I'll bet that's 95% of the time or more.

[K_C_]

Ramsey was holding him and when Chase broke free, Ramsey acted like he’d been shot to try and buy an OPI call. Apparently you suckers all bought it.

No question Chase pushed off to create a whole lotta separation at the end of that play. They were both hand fighting prior to that push off and if Ramsey was grabbing him, that hold was nowhere near as bad as the push off.

If you're an NFL WR and you throw off or push off the hold, it's never gonna get called as OPI. Either they view it as "both guys hand-fighting" or as DPI. I'll bet that's 95% of the time or more.

You’re probably right that the WR is going to get the benefit of the doubt 95% of the time and that’s what wrong with today’s NFL.

On that play in particular, to me, the hand fighting was equal. The push off was not.

Did I expect to get that call? Not in Cincinnati. In Pittsburgh, I believe that’s called OPI.

[bradshaw2ben]

Refs have it out for JPJ

First call was arguable

Second call on Higgins was bat shit insane

Apparently you missed the second replay.

Also when you grab as much as JPJ does, the officials are paying attention.

[bradshaw2ben]

Plenty of football left. Not time to panic.

Both sides of the ball need to buckle down and make adjustments.

I am with you! Flacco has lost a lot of games vs the Steelers. More than he has won.

I think he’s 12-13 all time vs PIT

[bradshaw2ben]

Watch TJ, he is giving a half assed effort. Really is.

Maybe he's done.

Been saying for a couple weeks now—he’s playing like he’s hurt or pissed off at his own team. Plays really hard for 4-5 snaps a game.

[langer]

Or he doesn't want to get hurt.

[K_C_]

Watch TJ, he is giving a half assed effort. Really is.

Maybe he's done.

Been saying for a couple weeks now—he’s playing like he’s hurt or pissed off at his own team. Plays really hard for 4-5 snaps a game.

I get people are down on Watt right now and for what he's being paid, I don't blame them.

But I absolutely am not seeing a lack of effort from him. He at least gave Flacco some shots and came damn close to getting there on more than a few occasions. Have you dudes been watching Highsmith? Holy shit. I don't know if he's just not trying or what, but that dude is TERRIBLE. Herbig, like Watt, is giving everything he has but I think TJ summed it up well in the postgame press conference.

He said the ball was coming out fast and they know this is Flacco's game. They know how accurate he can be. I'm more pissed off with the d-line than any unit. They couldn't even get their hands on any passes. They damn sure weren't getting any penetration, except Benton early in the game.

No excuses but I think Cincy's o-line simply outplayed the Steelers front 7 in every way possible. Creating running lanes and shutting down literally the entire pass rush. Flacco did a super job seeing single coverage pre-snap and got the ball out fast, to elite receivers.

When a QB is getting the ball out fast, outside rushers aren't going to be much of a factor (and boy they sure weren't last night) and the pressure has to come from the interior and obviously that didn't happen.

It's definitely time to be worried.

Like I said in another thread, I don't think we're going to be trading for a #2 receiver. Not for this offense but I'd damn sure be looking for some defensive help up front.

[Gonzo]

Losing a short week game on the road to a desperate division rival isn’t that bad

But …. A few things we saw are the problem and IMO are not going to be fixed or change

1. Cam and watt borderline dogging it … watch the game replay … Cam was awful and often looked like an effort problem or out of shape to me. Either there is something wrong with watt or he simply doesnt give a shit
2. DBs cannot stack up vs good WRs. Ramsey played ok and is a pro with a lot of savvy … slay was useless, safeties poor and porter just a guy prone to grabbing.
3. Tomlin is so fucking predictable …

The D is NOT going to get better and that means Tomlin will protect it. He will blame this game on INTs and run D and they will become slower and ore conservative in coming games.


Thank god our D has the talent and schematic to be historic …

But Cam says he's mad about how the D-line played:

https://steelersdepot.com/2025/10/they- ... o-its-job/

Maybe he could have stepped up and done something about it.

At this point it's clear Tomlin fears Flacco. Last year against the Colts, he told the D to keep Richardson in the game to avoid Joe. They didn't, and the Steelers lost. This week he whines about the Browns trading Joe, then proceeds to get embarrassed by Joe.

very tomlin thing to do for Cam - partially blame others. it's why he is a team leader - full buy-in to the BS

[Gonzo]

Chase pushes off...Ramsey gets flagged.

Bullshit.

Ramsey was holding him and when Chase broke free, Ramsey acted like he’d been shot to try and buy an OPI call. Apparently you suckers all bought it.

exactly

[Gonzo]

not sure you are really watching TJ / he is not giving a full effort. I do not know why ... maybe Langer is right .., to avoid injury he is giving up on plays when he thinks he can't effect it and avoiding crowded areas.

and to say the front 7 was just dominated by the Bengals OL is a very very bad thing for future outlook

[jeemie]

The scheme is simple garbage despite having more experience and continuity on defense than anyone in the league. I've argued that on many occasions, as well.

But the CB's were just getting their asses handed to them tonight and they're paid too much for that. Too much of the plan for this season relies on those guys being the guys.

We're going to get destroyed by good offenses.

We want to play man with guys who either aren't good at man, or have lost a step. Hoping the pass rush gets there. The top 5-6 teams will boatrace us again.

They have lost a step … tonight showed they are too slow and without pressure toast. Thank watt and cam for that a bunch as they were shit

Joe Flacco was getting the ball out in under 3 seconds.

No pressure in the world is going to get there that fast.

Which is why we had to be disrupting the releases the receivers were getting off the line....and yet didn't.

[bradshaw2ben]

Great example of Arthur Smith getting too cute

If Fautanu is late on that block (WHICH HE WAS) then Washington is a sitting duck

8 yard loss

he BEST part of that call: it's a screen pass in a goal to go situation. the idea of a screen is the defense is backing up to protect against deep plays and they leave the underneath. Calling it in the Red Zone can work if it develops quickly and has misdirection attached. An immediate throw to the flat to a non-shifty target in goal to go is asinine.

[Gonzo]

the pass out time is an average / there were plays when he took more time and still had no pressure

they weren't even close

and my comment was also larger as to general performance from watt and cam

and i do get the absurdity of ... knowing he is getting it out quick vs playing a soft zone and/or not getting up in the WRs

the scheme was shit
the coverage was shit
and the pass rush was shit

[bradshaw2ben]

This is why Tomlin was bitching about Flacco being traded to the Bengals

Tomlin sucks ballsack against flacco

No, he was bitching because he sucks ballsack against NFL QBs. NHALS has been a feast on rookies and backups.

Exactly how I read it—he was planning on seeing as many backups, rookies, & Journeymen at QB as possible, and now he gets a vet QB twice vs vin. Hi dare the Browns make moves for the future like getting to see if their rookie QBs can play or if they need to draft another next year!

[Jtf]

This is good insight. I saw a stat that said Tomlin has faced the most back up qbs in the last 10 years.
I mean he was basically pissed he wasn't getting jake browning and complaining about it. Like how many breaks does he need to be successful.
Over the last few years he has faced many back up qbs and also had teams lose at the end of the year to help him get in the playoffs. What more does he need? Play everyback up qb all season and in playoffs too?

[langer]

I mean he was basically pissed he wasn't getting jake browning and complaining about it.

Ha, perfect. He was more concerned with how he would be viewed on "national tv"

[W&M_Steeler]

This is good insight. I saw a stat that said Tomlin has faced the most back up qbs in the last 10 years.
I mean he was basically pissed he wasn't getting jake browning and complaining about it. Like how many breaks does he need to be successful.
Over the last few years he has faced many back up qbs and also had teams lose at the end of the year to help him get in the playoffs. What more does he need? Play everyback up qb all season and in playoffs too?

The win over the Dolphins in the 2016 Wild Card round (second most recent playoff win) came against a back-up QB, so maybe.

[Orangesteel]

Refs have it out for JPJ

First call was arguable

Second call on Higgins was bat shit insane

Apparently you missed the second replay.

Also when you grab as much as JPJ does, the officials are paying attention.

I saw the replay. The ball was thrown at Higgins feet snd about 2 feet behind him.

They should have picked up the flag.

[Orangesteel]

Herbig played 29 of 76 defensive snaps last night.

Our best pass rusher this season. Why? Well because Mike Tomlin and Teryl Austin that is why.

They like to see Highsmith out there doing jack shit because of that massive contract.

Losing football, shitty coaching.

[bradshaw2ben]

Refs have it out for JPJ

First call was arguable

Second call on Higgins was bat shit insane

Apparently you missed the second replay.

Also when you grab as much as JPJ does, the officials are paying attention.

I saw the replay. The ball was thrown at Higgins feet snd about 2 feet behind him.

They should have picked up the flag.

I think it's much closer to a catch if Higgins wasn't carrying JPJ across the field. The pass missed the way it did because the receiver was carrying a parachute and couldn't re-direct.

I will agree that the officials couldn't make up their minds whether they were letting DBs play with physicality or calling it tight but I honestly thought it cut both ways about evenly. The difference is the Bengals kept throwing to WRs and the Steelers did so only occasionally.