Injuries piling up on Bengals at the wrong time

It was a few weeks ago, just before Thanksgiving to put the timeline in the context of this holiday season, that one of those advanced metric outfits calculated percentages on a bunch of NFL-related issues, and one of the findings was that the Steelers had a better chance of winning the AFC Championship, and earning the Super Bowl berth that comes with it, than they did of overtaking the Cincinnati Bengals to defend their AFC North Division championship.

Still, what Cincinnati liked about McCarron was his football I.Q. and similar nature to what starter Andy Dalton brings to the offense.

Dalton has been one of the NFL’s most durable quarterbacks, missing only half a game during his five seasons because of injury.

There was a lot to like from McCarron in his relief of Dalton-especially against such an emotionally-charged divisional opponent.

Carr threw two touchdown passes and the Raiders (6-7) beat the Broncos for the first time since September 12, 2011, despite being held to minus-12 yards in the first half – the worst performance by a team heading into halftime in almost a quarter-century. With a total of five touchdown receptions in his previous two games, Baldwin vaulted into the realm of must-start wideouts entering the fantasy playoffs. Well, A.J. McCarron may well have just elevated himself from optimistic to foolish after his post match press conference on Sunday. Green down the sideline.

“He was loose”, Green said of McCarron.

By the fourth quarter, all the drama was gone.

William Gay returned one of McCarron’s passes 23 yards for a touchdown, and Ben Roethlisberger had another good day as Pittsburgh’s resurgent offence kept rolling.

The rivalry between the Bengals and Steelers has been called one of the nastiest in the league, and if Sunday’s matchup is any indication, that’s an accurate assessment.

After Week 14 there were a lot of crucial losses, and several impacted the Steelers. Dominated physically in a game where they were supposed to prove they were the big boy on the block, the Bengals once again found out that the Steelers were not going to be bullied and proved it by playing an absolutely punishing brand of football.

“No matter how many reps you get in a game it’s all about how many reps you get in a game”, McCarron said.

A week ago, NBC analyst and former coach Tony Dungy told a national audience, “right now, as we sit, Cincinnati is the most complete team”.

“We’ve been so impressed with him, and now he’s got to lead us for however long”, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said of the fifth-round pick.

All that said, however, the display from Burfict on Sunday in a 33-20 Steelers win in Cincinnati was downright repugnant.

The Steelers played with their typical array of a frightening weapons, though none went off with accustomed explosiveness. Read his quarterly updates here! The Steelers won by being better on possessions downs, by being more efficient in the red zone, by compiling a better turnover ratio including included takeaways that directly impacted the scoreboard, and by giving as good as they got. I’m not trying to find any excuses.

Bad blood? Yes, I’d say so.

“They swapped coverages on me at the last minute”, McCarron said.

McCarron has big shoes to fill. “It’s good to be in significant ones and good to come out on top”. I always believed when you step between the white lines, I’m the best one out there.

Bad blood lingered from the teams’ first meeting in November when a hit by Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict on running back Le’Veon Bell drew the Steelers’ ire.

But that’s down the road for the time being.