Bengals vs Steelers: A Rematch 10 Years in the Making

Andy Dalton’s passing hand was finally free on Tuesday, liberated from the black cast that has covered his right forearm and his spirits for the past three weeks.

Call it one for the thumb. Like we do in all instances, we will let practice participation be our guide in terms of what to expect from him. It’s clear that he wants to be as ready as possible to play without Dalton, and then, if they get good news and he can play, it won’t be too hard to slip him back into the lineup.

It was an unlikely situation, all of it.

Andy Dalton broke his right thumb while making a tackle on an interception return on December 13 against the Steelers at Paul Brown Stadium. LINE: Steelers -2.5. O/U: 46.5ABOUT THE STEELERS (10-6): While Pittsburgh’s vaunted aerial attack is raring to go, its rushing game could be a sore spot as veteran DeAngelo Williams’ ankle injury may play a major role on Saturday.

Although Dalton got the cast removed on Monday, he has to rebuild the strength in his hand.

But what McCarron and the Bengals are about to try and do isn’t easy.

This team is built for this kind of stuff. “Hue and the offensive coaches have done an outstanding job in that from the start; impressing upon the group that that was going to be a key to becoming a champion”.

The Bengals have enjoyed renewed success under coach Marvin Lewis, reaching the playoffs in six of the last 10 seasons including the last four. Receiver Mohamed Sanu has taken snaps in wildcat formations and could be an emergency quarterback.

That has been the war cry for the Bengals since day one, but more so with McCarron since filling in for Dalton.

– Lewis is tied with the Giants’ Steve Owen (1939-50) for most consecutive playoff losses with one team. And no quarterback with so little starting experience has won a playoff game since 1979, when Gifford Nielsen led the Houston Oilers to a win in San Diego, according to STATS.

So a defense that has turned it over seven times in McCarron’s three starts would be helpful again. “We definitely come to work this week and get ready to go”. “We get a chance to redeem ourselves”. The Bengals entered the first meeting sitting at 6-0 on the season as the Steelers were looking for answers to major personnel challenges after losing Pro-Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey and a knee injury hobbled veteran quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. McCarron took over and threw a pair of interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. Ben was asked whether he expects more of that this week or if it will just be a straight forward game. McCarron says he recounted the story to Roethlisberger after the teams’ last meeting in Week 14, and Roethlisberger remembered the meeting, per the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

“What I’ve seen over the course of that time is that they’re not changing their personality”, Tomlin said. There should be a lot of points scored in this game. Brown is argued to be the best receiver in the league.

This game has the makings of a face-paced, high-scoring affair where the last team that scores wins. They have a good sense of balance with running the ball and passing. The two games couldn’t have been more different. My stronger play is on who will win against the spread and I will post that in the Premium Area. It also was rather telling on Wednesday, when Dalton told reporters he had not yet thrown a football. And the Bengals have just finished a five-year run with the AFC North’s best overall record that has qualified them for the last five postseasons.

After that game, McCarron reminded Roethlisberger of the other time they’d met – when McCarron was a 13-year-old growing up on the Alabama Gulf Coast and Roethlisberger was a star collegiate quarterback.