Dress rehearsal in Cincy

It was a sunny fall day along the banks of the Ohio River on Sunday afternoon. What a beautiful day for football at Cincinnati’s Paul Brown Stadium. Unless you were rooting for the Bengals, that is. Or even worse if you’re employed by the Bengals.

After their bye week, the Steelers were happy to have this dress rehearsal to get their legs back together and prepare to return to their NFL season. Clearly, the Bengals are not an NFL team today.

The Pittsburgh defense took advantage of the lying dog called the Bengals by beating them up all day. They held the Bengal offense to a total of 212 yards. Michigan “twins” LaMarr Woodley and Lawrence Timmons, I think they thought they were back in school playing Ohio State. Each of them ended a great afternoon with lively play and 2 sacks each. Lawrence Timmons had 10 tackles, 7 of which were solo. James Farrior also had double-digit tackles with 11, 6 of which were solo. James Harrison continues to prove that he’s the accelerator of the Pittsburgh defense by showing up to Cincinnati quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick all day. By halftime, Ryan Fitzpatrick was rumored to have asked his head coach, Marvin Lewis, if he could carry the clipboard again. In response, Lewis said “hell, you can have my job!”

The offense got some reps with Ben Roethlisberger having a productive afternoon. His 17 of 28 for 216 yards with 2 touchdowns looked very efficient. The big boy received some serious contributions from Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes, and Nate Washington. Ward proves once again that he is a great leader in this league. Holmes, for his part, showed exceptional balance by touching the grass several times to stay on his feet. Washington has solidified his role as a deep threat.

However, the even bigger story for the Pittsburgh offense was Mewelde Moore. Moore showed signs while in Minnesota that he can carry the load in the backfield if called upon. Now with the Steelers he’s proving it again. On Sunday his 120 yards on 20 carries was very impressive. He had 5 receptions for 14 yards. Mewelde scored twice on the run and once on the catch, giving him 3 TDs on the day. Moore has 238 yards this season on 46 carries. That compares pretty well to Willie Parker’s 263 yards on 66 carries. Bringing Moore to Pittsburgh was a result of the Vikings drafting Adrian Peterson and keeping Chester Taylor as their backup. That left Moore as the outsider. Head coach Mike Tomlin had a personal relationship with Moore when he was defensive coordinator in Minnesota. So when Mewelde was looking for a job, Tomlin said “come here”. Now, with injuries to Willie Parker and rookie Rashard Mendenhall out for the year, Moore will take most of the workload out of the backfield. This is his time to shine. And so far she’s taking the opportunity to, well, “run” with him.

All in all, it’s important to note that these are the Bengals. Playing without his starting QB in it. The team is in total dysfunction and from the property to the coaching staff they are becoming incompetent. Chad Johnson at this point should be Eight Stinko!

The Steelers can digest their effort on video over the next day and consider this a dress rehearsal for upcoming games against real NFL-caliber teams led by quality owners and managers. So they should take this game with a grain of salt and get to work nailing down a plan to face the New York Giants when the big blue arrives at Heinz Field this week. (October 27th)

Meanwhile, the Steelers are a solid 5 and 1 and are a serious contender.

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