STEELERS 101

Week 13 will present a great challenge for the Pittsburgh Steelers as they once again will face divisional opponent the Cincinnati Bengals. In the first meeting between these two teams the Steelers were able to hang on for a win, but the Bengals received a great effort from their rookie quarterback Andy Dalton and rookie wide receiver AJ Green.  Will the Steelers be more prepared this time around or will this Bengals offense that is not going away anytime soon be able to overcome the No.2 defense in the NFL?

In that first meeting Dalton was held to just 170 yards passing along with two touchdowns. One of which was a 36 yard bomb to Green when he caught the ball amongst three Steelers defenders for the score.  In all Dalton played decently except for the two key interceptions that sealed the win for Pittsburgh.

On the season Dalton has 16 touchdowns and 12 inceptions while passing for 2,509 yards.  However his biggest feat has been taking over for a former No.1 overall draft pick in Carson Palmer and leading the Bengals to an impressive 7-4 record. He might actually be the front runner for the offensive rookie of the year and if he is this good in just his rookie season, he might be a true star in this league for a long time.

Also in that first game the Steelers were unable to get any sacks of Dalton and with the possibility of them getting LaMarr Woodley back to the starting line up it could be a tremendous lift. It would also be the first time since week four that the Steelers had both their outside linebackers health as James Harrison had suffered from that broken orbital.

Like Dalton, Green has made Cincinnati fans forget quickly about Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens. He also is having an amazing rookie season as he has 44 receptions for 745 yards and six touchdowns.  In last weeks win over the Cleveland Browns he had three catches for 110 yards as he helped the Bengals pick up a much needed win at home.

What all of this means for the Steelers is they are going to have to possibly double team Green to take him out of the equation. That may seem simple, but with the possibility of Troy Polamalu not playing that makes this assignment that much more difficult. The younger players once again may be called upon to step up to fill the void of the AFC defensive player of the year not being in the line up.

Other players the Steelers must contain are John Grisham and Andrew Hawkins who had five catches for 56 yards in the first meeting between these two team. In all the defense will have to be as sharp as they were against the Kansas City Chiefs last week because the Bengals will be looking to hurdle the Steelers in the AFC North standings when they come to Heinz Field on Sunday.  This can also be considered a must win as every divisional game at this point is extremely important. 

 

 

Tags: Andrew Hawkins, Andy Dalton, Chad Ochocinco, Cincinnati Bengals, Football, LaMarr Woodley, NFL, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Steelers, Terrell Owens

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