Bengals playing catch-up with big problems to fix
Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick (27) nearly intercepts a pass intended for Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Sammie Coates (14) during the second half of an NFL football game in Pittsburgh, Sunday, Sept. 18, 20. Bengals’ Vontaze Burfict was suspended this game for his ugly hit on Antonio Brown past year.
The Titans (1-1) ended a five-game losing streak, dating to last December, when Mariota threw two TD passes in the fourth quarter after trailing 15-3.
They also don’t have a loss, a trade-off they can live with while their defensive front four searches for consistency.
The next play was a handoff to running back DeAngelo Williams before Roethlisberger threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Grimble as Pittsburgh took a 7-0 lead.
Boyd became an important part of the offense on a day when the Steelers held Green to just two catches for 38 yards.
“Even though I have so much respect for them, I’m still going to try and punch them in the mouth”, Boyd told Steelers.com. The win wasn’t pretty for the offense but it was handsome watching Williams’ performance. With Washington leading 23-20 late in the game, Kirk Cousins was intercepted in the end zone by Barry Church and Dallas drove downfield to win it 27-23 with Alfred Morris’ touchdown run. Pittsburgh signed him to a futures contract last January, though he understood what he was up against after the Steelers signed Green to a four-year deal in the offseason and brought back Johnson to join James. And yet there he was, marking one of the best players in the league and more than holding his own.
Pittsburgh also was missing its No. 2 overall receiver from a year ago because tight end Heath Miller retired at the end of the 2015 season.
They essentially made Jets receivers Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker invisible in Week 1, a feat made more notable when they each had more than 100 yards receiving against the Bills in Week 2. “That’s all we wanted to do”.
In other words, those things we all take for granted and know are going to carry the Steelers to victory, none of them really happened on Sunday. The Steelers forced Dalton to make quick decisions, and he chose to play it safe rather than force something to Green.
“You can’t focus on the fumble”, Dalton said.
I wondered at the time if they might have abandoned the idea of using an extra lineman because they felt that confident in their tight end group, which seemed unlikely to me given the relative inexperience and unremarkable qualities of the three-man group that they brought with them into the season.
Tight ends Jesse James and Xavier Grimble also caught scoring passes from Roethlisberger as Pittsburgh kept Cincinnati in check at rainy Heinz Field. He’s thriving. The player never known for having the best hands found himself lined up in one-on-one coverage in the second quarter on Sunday, beat his man to the inside, caught the ball at the 5, stepped out of a tackle and had remembered to get the ball over the goal line before his knees touched the ground. “They didn’t see it that way overall, so that’s all that matters”. He added 38 yards and a touchdown through the air.
“There was not evidence to overturn”, Lewis said Monday. “We didn’t have enough positives on first down, and we didn’t convert the third downs”.
The greatest tight end in Pittsburgh Steelers history is retired, off being a dad back in his native Virginia. “As long as we can stop the run, we’re going to play ball”.
DENVER – Von Miller gave the Denver fans a reminder of his Super Bowl 50 MVP performance, sweeping in for the sack-strip of Andrew Luck that sealed the Broncos’ win. This allowed the Bengals to put a few decent drives together, but the defense clamped down in the red zone.