Positive Vibes - The Cincy Match-Up

[Stosh-67]

Steelers (7-5) battle the Bengals (10-2) in Cincy on Sunday in a 5-star match-up.
This is the biggest game of the year for the Steelers, in a rematch with a hated division rival. It's a must win game in my mind as dropping this game puts our playoff fate out of our control.
It will be a playoff atmosphere with several story lines of avenging the earlier 16-10 week #8 loss at Heinz field as well as revenge for the injury to Lev Bell. I do not think the Steelers will be looking to hurt anyone, but could assume they may ramp it up a little more for their lost teammate Lev.

Must win - Playoff Ramifications
I know the Steelers will not be eliminated from the playoffs with a loss, but a loss will make it difficult and will have us relying on other teams to lose a game or two. We know how that can un-fold as teams play for different reasons the last week or two of the season depending on their record, resting or auditioning new players, packing it in or riding out a coaches tenure.

Currently, our main competition for the #5 or #6 Wildcard spot are the Chiefs and Jets, who are both also (7-5) and also have easier remaining schedules.

The Chiefs have the Chargers, Ravens, Browns and Raiders. I have to assume they win their last 4 games with the tuffest game vs. the Raiders who will be looking to play spoilers vs a division rival. That game is in KC as the Chiefs should finish no worse than 10-6.

While the Jets have the Titans, Cowboys, Patriots and Bills. Not as easy as it looked a few weeks ago.
The Titans are playing better and the Cowboys play tuff, week in and week out. The Cowboy game is also in Dallas and a Prime Time Saturday night game, which will give the boys a big boost on top of the Jets having to travel west on a shorter week. Jets play Pats at home, who should be a little healthier by then. The Jets finish on the road against Rex and the Bills who may still have an outside shot at a W.C. or at least looking to spoil the Jets season. I can not see the Jets winning out and can certainly see a 2-2 finish, finishing at 9-7.

Wait, what about a division crown!
The PS can only get to 11 wins if they finish with 4 straight wins, while the Bengals would need to go 1-3 to stop at 11 wins. The season split vs. the Bengals would kick in other tie breakers, as i believe conference record comes next. Swiss seems to be the resident expert on these tiebreakers and will leave it to him in his SBI articles.
I think if the Steelers win on Sunday, they build on their momentum and win out, to finish 11-5. It will then be up to the Bengals to lose 2 of their last 3 games vs. the Niners, Broncos and Ravens, but more importantly, they would need to lose both the AFC game, vs. the Broncos and Ravens, to put their AFC record at (8-4) and continue the tie-breaking process.

Highly unlikely, but, the Bengals would have to come off an epic division battle and loss to the Steelers, then travel to the West coast to play an improving and competing 49er team then play another road game in a Monday night match-up in Denver. Denver and Cincy may both be battling for a higher seed? And then play home on a short week v.s. a division foe and spoiler wanna bee, Raven team. Are you saying there is a chance?

How did these teams get to this point.

The Bengals have certainly had the better season to date. They have consistently played well, week after week, have stayed healthy and won the games they should have won to get to 10 wins. The Steelers, of course, have had much more to overcome than the Bengals can even imagine in losing Pouncey and Beachem off the OL, Ben for 4+ games as well the early season suspensions from Lev Bell and Bryant which was then compounded by the LB knee. The early season kicking carousel was just whip cream on top of the bad luck pie we were fed the first half of the season.

Point taken
Points scored:
PS - 311
CB - 334

Points Allowed:
PS - 240
IC - 196

The Bengals have scored more points than the Steelers and have given up less on defense. In fact the Bengals have given up the fewest points in the NFL and have the best point differential (+138) in the AFC and only bested by the Cardinals (+150).

Ummm. - The Positive Vibes you mentioned?

Like I mentioned, the Bengals have taken care of the teams they needed to beat in going 6-0 vs. teams with losing records, outscoring them 30-13 on average. The point differential in those games accounts for 108 of their +138 point difference. The PS are 5-1 in games vs. teams with losing records, but played 2+ games without Ben and 2 games without Bell in still putting up a +56 point differential in those 6 games.

While the Bengals have padded their record, stats and points vs. weaker teams, I have to believe the Steelers would have had similar numbers if they were healthy in the games mentioned above.

The Bengals are 4-2 in games vs. teams with a .500 record or better. With a 150-120 point point spread or +30 with an average score of 25-20.
The Steelers are 2-4 in games vs. teams with a .500 record or better. With a 144-129 point point spread or +15 with an average score of 24-21

The Steelers have scored 30+ points in 4 straight games and 5 times on the year and most importantly peaking at the right time with 143 points in their last 4 games.
The Bengals are also on an offensive roll with 3 straight 30+ point games and 7 total on the season.

This seems to be shaping up to be an offensive shoot-out, but we can not forget the low scoring, 16-10 match-up of week #8.

Common Contenders
One way to guage the performance of these two teams would be to compare their results vs. common opponents who are playoff caliber teams. The Steelers and Bengals have both played the Chiefs, Cardinals and Seahawks. The Bengals are 2-1 and the Steelers are 1-2 in these games. Shit, where is this going?

The Bengals beat the Chiefs in week #4 before KC started rolling and would imagine it would be a much different re-match. The Steelers lost to KC with-out Ben.
The Bengals, down 17 points after three quarters, stole one from the Seahawks, scoring 20 points in the 4th quarter and OT. I have to imagine it would be a much different match-up. Steelers lost to Seattle in a game that they were controlling against a much improved Seattle team.
The Bengals lost to the Cardinals 34-31 in a game they were down 14 points heading into the 4th quarter. Bengals came back to tie, but lost on a FG. The PS beat Arizona pretty handily with-out Big Ben.

The Bengals were down double digits in two of those games but have shown the fire power to come back. Steelers need a plan to score 40.
The Bengals have lost 2 of their last 5 games.........losing to the 2 playoff contending teams in Houston and Arizona, while pounding seller dwellers to a tune of 99-17.

The Bengals losses and most competitive games of the year all came against playoff contending teams in the Card, Texans, Seahawks and Steelers. More on that later.

Keys to the Game.

The two biggest things to watch for on Sunday will be the Steelers offensive line vs. the Cincy defensive line and the Steelers secondary vs. the Bengals assortment of weapons. The Steelers offense needs to build on its success and start out looking to score 40 as opposed to feeling out the opponent for the first quarter. We know who they are and what they do. We know they score allot of points and our defense has given up allot of points with our secondary woes and lack of pass rush.

The Steelers Offense.
The Steelers offensive line is playing well and protecting Ben as he is being sacked at the lowest rate of his career. Even tho the Steelers have opened up the passing attack, I believe its important vs. Cincy to stay balanced. In the 3 competitive games vs. Seattle, Arizona and Houston as well as the first Cincy / Steeler match-up...........the opponent mixed in the run game to stay balanced. Consider Cincy is giving up 97 yards a game on the ground at 4.5 yards a pop on the year................ when many of their games were blow outs against teams abandoning the run and passing to catch-up.

The Steelers ran well in the first game with Lev (10-45) and Dwill (9-71) finding running room. Staying balanced will keep PA passing as an element of surprise. Yes, the Bengals secondary will be missing pieces and have others banged up, but we do not want to give the Cincy defensive line the opportunity to pin their ears back 45-50 times. Dwill should touch the ball 20-25 times in this game with at least 5-6 passes out of the back field. Keeping the RB and TE involved in the passing game will help slow the pass rush. I would chip and drill Dunlap and Michael Johnson early and often with said RB's and TE's releasing as outlets or designed plays. In a game in which one turnover can be the difference, the Steelers need to protect the ball, as Dwill needs to keep it tight and Ben needs to stay away from double teams and late miss-fires.

Ben needs to play smart and not force throws into double coverage. At times he seems like he makes his mind up in going deep when the double is already there and he has outlet underneath. Making the safeties pay for the double down the sidelines with some strikes up the seem could bring some big plays - Heath, James, Wheaton.

Planning for Dwill, Jesse James, and Heath in the passing game will keep the safeties from firing up in the run game and open things for AB and MB. Marcus Wheaton should have plenty of space to work open as Ben need not force passes to AB and MB. Heavy packages with Nix, Will Johnson and Spaeth, etc.....plays into the Bengals hands as their defensive line and linebackers are active in short areas and the Bengals defensive line rotation stays fresh with a deep rotation. Make that defense have to cover the Steelers best weapons as opposed to our lesser talented offensive options.

Ben completed 17 of his 28 passes in the first game to RB's and TE's as Heath had 10 catches for 105 yards. The Bengals took away and were ready for the deep ball as AB and MB combined for only 10 catches and 96 yards. I would like to see more crossing and horizontal patterns for AB and MB, especially if we are trying to mix up and confuse some reserves playing for the Bengal secondary. I can see a 12-15 yard pass to AB or MB on a crossing pattern hitting home on a long run.

Steelers are probably best suited to stay in a no huddle offense with 3 WR, 1 TE and RB sets that limits the Bengal substitutions. The first game, the Bengals often pulled Dunlap, Atkins and Johnson off the field in early downs to keep them fresh and to bring them back in, on third down passing situations. Limiting opportunities for them to substitute plays to our advantage.

I would mix in some new wrinkles for the Bengals to think about and something the PS do not do much of. I would use a little more motion behind the line of scrimmage in running AB and Wheaton in motion with the threat of a hand-off, jet sweep or simply just the thought of it............ to keep the DE/OLB honest on off tackle runs. Bengals do this well, tho Dalton will also scramble some on these type of plays. Keeping these guys in motion will also create more free releases if the Bengals start getting physical at the line.

The Steelers Defense.

This will be a tuff task. The Bengals have a top three group of offensive weapons along with the Steelers and Cardinals. Dalton, AJ Green, Jones and Sanu are complimented by Bernard and Hill in the run game as well as another deadly TE for the Steelers to match up against in Eifert. Dalton will also tuck the ball in on designed runs and we can expect an end around or trick play from Sanu or Jones. I think the Bengals threw out a pretty vanilla offensive attack in the first game, as they were playing on the road, were 6-0 and may have been holding back some cards. They were more likely to play it safe on the road with a nice lead in the standings over the Steelers at that time.

We kept Eifert in check as well as a potent Bengal run game. They killed us all day with simple 8-10-12 yard outs and curls to AJ Green (11-118), mostly matched up against Blake. Knew they were setting him up all game as they eventually hit a deep one. I am hoping the better ball skills of Gay and Boykin can get their hands on more passes on Sunday.

I think Dalton is still tentative when playing the Steelers as his 23-38-231-1td -2 int day was one of his least effective games of the year. Andy Dalton is having the best season of his young career. 25 TD's only 6 picks and a 107 quarterback rating while completing 66% of his passes. But its no coincidence that Dalton's 4 worst games games on the year and his only 4 games with a qb rating below 100, all came against the playoff contending team I mentioned above, the Cards, Texans, Seahawks and Steelers. With only 5 TD and 4 picks in those games and a 61% completion percentage in those 4 games. He has a history of sub-par performance in bigger games, vs tuffer teams as the playoffs near. He has not fared well at all in the playoffs and this will be a playoff like atmosphere.

The Steelers need to do two things on defense.
1. Continue to play well vs. the run. Stopping the run puts Dalton in longer downs and distances.
The Steeler run defense has been pretty solid this year. I am hoping for a big game out of Steve Mac when he is in the game. He is due for some quick penetration on some runs. Would not mind seeing Big Dan push the pocket into Daltons lap a few times. The lack of depth and rotational players for the Steelers DL can come back and bite us in the 4th quarter in this game. The Steelers have 6 Dline on their roster the Bengals have 9 or 10. Hoping the lack of depth at the DL will be offset by the nice LB rotation we have seen. Timmons, Shaz and Vince Williams / Spence need to make the correct run reads to keep the run game in check.

2. The Steelers pass rush needs to be firece for Dalton to keep his feet moving and keep him tentative and uncomfortable in the pocket. The secondary is what it is and is still working in new parts that need to mesh with one another. The PS need to take away his first read and make him go thru his progressions. That means more bump coverage, tighter to the line and re-directing WR's They need to mix in some more blitzes. If Dalton has time, he will find open targets, he has plenty of them. They need to double load some sides and move players around. No free releases for Eifert. No free releases for Eifert. Get your hands up to bat passes down. One or two passes knocked down at the LOS can be the difference in ending a possession or two. The Steelers need to play their best defensive game of the year. This may be the game in which the speed of Shazier makes a difference. He needs a repeat of the SF game. The Bengals may exploit the slowing feet of Will Allen, hence Golden may need to be on the field on passing downs.

How it unfolds
I think the Steelers win this game if they simply do not turn the ball over as they did in the first game. The injury to Lev Bell in the first game took alot of winds out of our sails and threw the team, specifically the offense into a funk. They are on a roll now and need to play with the confidence that has them rolling up and down the field with ease. No need to come in with a different game plan or mentality. I think the Steelers score 30+ points again as they should move the ball on the ground and thru the air with a banged up Cincy secondary. I do not think Ben needs to force plays as he needs to keep his vision of the field and methodically pick apart that defense. I think DWill has a big receiving day out of the backfield and we eventually strike some deep balls later in the game to seal the deal. Timmons and Shazier need to have big games. Heyward, Harrison and Tuit need to create havoc and hit Dalton hard. Time for Jarvis and Bud Dupree to play like 1st rounders. I think Moats makes a play or two in the pass rush, as I see him scooping up a loose ball for six.

Getting the lead and getting after Dalton will force turnovers. I think the PS get back on the right side of the turnover margin and capitalize with points.

Steelers 36-30

Would love to hear some thoughts and ideas on this game.

Go Steelers!!!!!

[Donnie Brasco]

Keys on offense for me is getting AB involved in the short passing game: slants, stop routes and hope he can break a tackle for big YAC. Bengals are going to be showing a bunch of C2 preventing against the big play...they don't want AB or Bryant catching that long pass. Verses Seatlle it looked like they were trying to work in a different type of a screen to AB but it got picked off

I mentioned in another thread they'll let DW get his yards...big chunks at a time, but they'll hope to stiffen in the RedZone. Steelers skill players have to have a nose for the EZ when they get a chance to score- this is a game where a vintage Hines Ward would be a huge advantage...dude seemed to always drag guys in for the TD.

[Stosh-67]

Keys on offense for me is getting AB involved in the short passing game: slants, stop routes and hope he can break a tackle for big YAC. Bengals are going to be showing a bunch of C2 preventing against the big play...they don't want AB or Bryant catching that long pass. Verses Seatlle it looked like they were trying to work in a different type of a screen to AB but it got picked off

I mentioned in another thread they'll let DW get his yards...big chunks at a time, but they'll hope to stiffen in the RedZone. Steelers skill players have to have a nose for the EZ when they get a chance to score- this is a game where a vintage Hines Ward would be a huge advantage...dude seemed to always drag guys in for the TD.

Good thoughts.
Getting the ball in AB's and MB's hand quickly and letting use their open field skills should result in some big plays.

[Legacy User]

Stosh...I was looking for more detail...a little more effort

Jk

Nice job

[Joe Steeler Fan]

Great article. Thank you!


The Steelers may not win the North this year ... and they may not get in the playoffs, but I'll be damned if the Steelers are going to let the Bengals off easy. Time to play the role of "SPOILER". I want this to be the game where we physically beat them up so badly that it takes it's toll on their team for the remainder of the season and sets them up for an early exit in the playoffs.

OPERATION GINGER SNAP: ..... SWEEP THE LEG!

[bradshaw2ben]

I would like to see more crossing and horizontal patterns for AB and MB, especially if we are trying to mix up and confuse some reserves playing for the Bengal secondary. I can see a 12-15 yard pass to AB or MB on a crossing pattern hitting home on a long run.

one of the keys to the game, along with the fact that Tuitt playing this time around.

[Legacy User]

Bengals are a good team. IFthey beat, I won't be shocked if they go all the way.

I think there are two ways to handle it. Either you go emotional or you take the TCB approach.

[bradshaw2ben]

My bet is on emotional. Mike T had a look of the cat who ate the canary at the presser Tuesday. I think the team has been waiting to avenge the earlier loss. The date is circled on the team calendar, if you will.

[Legacy User]

I kinda see emotional too. Trouble with emotional is how to sustain it.

But Bengals have proven you can beat the shit out them in the first 20-30 mins and they won't fight back. But is that no longer true.

Gonna be a helluva matchup.

[swissvale72]

Good job, Stosh!!

I think you have the keys to the games accurately detailed.
*Seems as though with the combo of Bengals pass rush and playing both safeties deep, Steelers need to get the ball out quickly. Hopefully, with their being somewhat depleted on the corners, we can take advantage.
*We've gotta cover those fuckers on the Bengals receiving corps

As far as the SBI stuff, Stosh......what's too bad as that a couple of those games are likely meaningless:
*Jets at Dallas...would've mattered had the Jets lost to Jints last week, now as long as they lose another AFC game, we win the tiebreaker. If they lose only to Dallas,we lose the tiebreaker. Had they lost to Jints AND Dallas, we had a better shot at beating them out outright. Sucks because it is a national game, Saturday night, now has little appeal to us.
*Bungs at '69ers....in order to take the North, we need them to specifically lose to us, Denver, Baltimore while we win out. If we lose a remaining game, no way can we overtake the Bungs.

[Stosh-67]

Thanks Swiss

*We've gotta cover those fuckers on the Bengals receiving corps

You know Dalton wants to get the ball out quick as I see him trying to utilize the TE as well as some designed dump offs and screens to the RBs.

We know how good Eifert is.....but it's Goivani Bernard out of the backfield that concerns me.

Timmons and Williams need to lay some lumber and punish these guys as well as Mitchell coming up and doing his thing. I'd love to see more bump and right coverage as I mentioned but have to assume we will see more tackle the catch defense

If that's the case it needs to be Punish the catch.

[Stosh-67]

Also.
Last Bengal game was Ben's first game back after missing 4 in a row.
He will be sharper.

[Legacy User]

im hoping for big win and gathered momentum and ginger Dalton strains or sprains something badly in process! ankle; knee or sphincter!! I don't care!!

[jeemie]

My bet is on emotional. Mike T had a look of the cat who ate the canary at the presser Tuesday. I think the team has been waiting to avenge the earlier loss. The date is circled on the team calendar, if you will.

Maybe he can ask for the game to be 60:38 long this time...

[K_C_]

My bet is on emotional. Mike T had a look of the cat who ate the canary at the presser Tuesday. I think the team has been waiting to avenge the earlier loss. The date is circled on the team calendar, if you will.

Well, dumbfuck Tomlin lost the first Bengals game all by himself so.........

[swissvale72]

Thanks Swiss

*We've gotta cover those fuckers on the Bengals receiving corps

You know Dalton wants to get the ball out quick as I see him trying to utilize the TE as well as some designed dump offs and screens to the RBs.

We know how good Eifert is.....but it's Goivani Bernard out of the backfield that concerns me.

Timmons and Williams need to lay some lumber and punish these guys as well as Mitchell coming up and doing his thing. I'd love to see more bump and right coverage as I mentioned but have to assume we will see more tackle the catch defense

If that's the case it needs to be Punish the catch.

It was Bernard out of the backfield on 3rd & 2 that was the big play on the Bungs TD drive.

[swissvale72]

My bet is on emotional. Mike T had a look of the cat who ate the canary at the presser Tuesday. I think the team has been waiting to avenge the earlier loss. The date is circled on the team calendar, if you will.

Well, dumbfuck Tomlin lost the first Bengals game all by himself so.........

And know we're putting stock in how Tomlin LOOKED at the presser. So, we're told to pay no mind to his comments, but now, we're going to win because of his LOOK???

[bradshaw2ben]

Just an inkling. I am trained to hear subtext and see clues in body language-- I am merely saying I detected something different in his demeanor and voice.

[jeemie]

Just an inkling. I am trained to hear subtext and see clues in body language-- I am merely saying I detected something different in his demeanor and voice.

Was there any sense of humility for being such an idiot last time?

[Legacy User]

Also.
Last Bengal game was Ben's first game back after missing 4 in a row.
He will be sharper.

I'm surprised more people aren't mentioning this. Ben threw 3 picks in that first game and the Bengals still needed us to gift wrap it for them.

I have the obvious concerns about our defense, but there isn't a snowball's chance that Ben goes 1 TD, 3 INT again.

[Legacy User]

Great stuff Stosh.

[Stosh-67]

Just an inkling. I am trained to hear subtext and see clues in body language-- I am merely saying I detected something different in his demeanor and voice.

Was there any sense of humility for being such an idiot last time?

Whats the keys to the game........
Or something you want to see on Sunday.

[Stosh-67]

Great stuff Stosh.

Thanks Greek.
Not sure if we have seen four A to A+ quarters of football from the Steelers.............as its hard to do in a game.
If the Steelers can win three of those quarters.............the last three, we will win.

[Legacy User]

Great stuff Stosh.

Thanks Greek.
Not sure if we have seen four A to A+ quarters of football from the Steelers.............as its hard to do in a game.
If the Steelers can win three of those quarters.............the last three, we will win.

Last time we played them, Bengal 4 man front whooped our OLs ass, that better not happen again and I don't think it will. AV for 1 looks like a very quick learner.

[jeemie]

Just an inkling. I am trained to hear subtext and see clues in body language-- I am merely saying I detected something different in his demeanor and voice.

Was there any sense of humility for being such an idiot last time?

Whats the keys to the game........
Or something you want to see on Sunday.

Sorry man.

Things I'd like to see are not forcing it deep and more goal line plays like we saw Sunday night.

[Stosh-67]

Things I'd like to see are not forcing it deep and more goal line plays like we saw Sunday night.

Certainly getting better in the red zone and scoring touchdowns is the biggest area the offense can improve upon.

Wonder how they can have such a high percentage of 2 point conversions on do or die plays............and still have trouble scoring touchdowns.
Hope they can build on last week.

I thought one of the keys was to strike in the endzone before they got close and the defense gets packed in............say from the 12-18-25 yard range

They had one that should have gone for 6 on Sunday night....but Bryant let it go thru his hands. From around the 25.

Hoping Bryant along with Richard Mann have been working with his hands and in traffic.
They should be going to Bryant on redzone passes once every other attempt or at least once every three times inside the 10.

[Stosh-67]

Last time we played them, Bengal 4 man front whooped our OLs ass, that better not happen again and I don't think it will. AV for 1 looks like a very quick learner.

Greek....
on passing downs I'd have Jesse James and Dwill blindly drilling those DE/OLB as they are engaed with the tackles...........early and often so that they are playing with two sets of eyes rather than soley focused on our QB.

[Legacy User]

Last time we played them, Bengal 4 man front whooped our OLs ass, that better not happen again and I don't think it will. AV for 1 looks like a very quick learner.

Greek....
on passing downs I'd have Jesse James and Dwill blindly drilling those DE/OLB as they are engaed with the tackles...........early and often so that they are playing with two sets of eyes rather than soley focused on our QB.

Most pleasant surprise about DWill is how well he pass blocks, he doesn't just chip, hes pancaked a few guys.

[bradshaw2ben]

I think the Steelers should not get overly enamored with running the football. First off, Cincy will play one set of defenders in early downs that are run stoppers and then hope to bring in fresh pass rushers to harrass you on 3rd downs. Secondly, their run defense is pretty solid.

If Pittsburgh tries to run on early downs, they're going to get behind the chains.

Next problem is Cincy is good enough to get pressure with only 4 or even 3, dropping 7 or 8 into coverage. You can't force the football into the usual places, or they'll take the ball away or at least make plays on the football.

To me, you have to attack the two deep by over undering the middle of the pass D, especially by utilizing receivers against tendency. Bryant on underneath crossers, AB on dig routes, Jesse James on deep seam routes. Wheaton and Williams on wheels and out routes. Run against tendency and a few times vs the pass rusher set. Screen passes and PA vs the 3rd down team, vertical routes vs the base run defenders.

Most of all, get one or the other on the field and keep them from substituting by utilizing virtually ONLY no huddle and calling plays at the line.

I think there is a place for the deep ball but it has to be set up by keeping them so off-balance that they get lazy or lulled to sleep.

On the defensive side, as I said on the podcast, I do anything I have to to keep Dalton from rolling right, either on designed half rolls or to escape the pass rush. I load up our left side and force him left and into the throws we want him to make. Dalton doesn't run as well to the left, he doesn't throw so well that direction, and it keeps him from attacking down the field to AJ Green, who generally is lined up to the left-- Dalton has to make those deep throws from the pocket-- he doesn't have the arm to do anything but throw underneath. If you can get him to force the ball under pressure towards, say, Gay, Boykin, or Cockrell on plays where the CBs know the ball is coming out early and under duress-- they're are going to pick one or two. Cincy will counter with running the ball on designed cutbacks to the left and Cam Heyward and James Harrison/Jarvis and Timmons have to stop it well enough that they can't turn the chains.

I'll go as far as to say, from what I see, Dalton is kind of a read-half-the-field QB, or at least he functions that way. Once his feet move off the spot, he's locked in on one side or one receiver. Got to get him moving and get him moving to his left and not right or up into the pocket.

[Legacy User]

I think the Steelers should not get overly enamored with running the football. First off, Cincy will play one set of defenders in early downs that are run stoppers and then hope to bring in fresh pass rushers to harrass you on 3rd downs. Secondly, their run defense is pretty solid.

If Pittsburgh tries to run on early downs, they're going to get behind the chains.

Next problem is Cincy is good enough to get pressure with only 4 or even 3, dropping 7 or 8 into coverage. You can't force the football into the usual places, or they'll take the ball away or at least make plays on the football.

To me, you have to attack the two deep by over undering the middle of the pass D, especially by utilizing receivers against tendency. Bryant on underneath crossers, AB on dig routes, Jesse James on deep seam routes. Wheaton and Williams on wheels and out routes. Run against tendency and a few times vs the pass rusher set. Screen passes and PA vs the 3rd down team, vertical routes vs the base run defenders.

Most of all, get one or the other on the field and keep them from substituting by utilizing virtually ONLY no huddle and calling plays at the line.

I think there is a place for the deep ball but it has to be set up by keeping them so off-balance that they get lazy or lulled to sleep.

On the defensive side, as I said on the podcast, I do anything I have to to keep Dalton from rolling right, either on designed half rolls or to escape the pass rush. I load up our left side and force him left and into the throws we want him to make. Dalton doesn't run as well to the left, he doesn't throw so well that direction, and it keeps him from attacking down the field to AJ Green, who generally is lined up to the left-- Dalton has to make those deep throws from the pocket-- he doesn't have the arm to do anything but throw underneath. If you can get him to force the ball under pressure towards, say, Gay, Boykin, or Cockrell on plays where the CBs know the ball is coming out early and under duress-- they're are going to pick one or two. Cincy will counter with running the ball on designed cutbacks to the left and Cam Heyward and James Harrison/Jarvis and Timmons have to stop it well enough that they can't turn the chains.

I'll go as far as to say, from what I see, Dalton is kind of a read-half-the-field QB, or at least he functions that way. Once his feet move off the spot, he's locked in on one side or one receiver. Got to get him moving and get him moving to his left and not right or up into the pocket.

Nice B2B, Dalton is a classic get the ball out quick..if his read aint there immediately, hes all checkdowns right away or he takes off running, and as you say usually to the right, sometimes up the gut too. I could see shazier having a big role in this game to keep daltons running in check and as FC said in his mini Gospel make Dalton pay the tax for running.