The unsightliness began in the first half. While the Steelers held the ball for nearly 19 minutes and were able to move the ball inside the Bengals red-zone, negative plays (e.g. sack, penalty, fumble) would stifle three of the Steelers' four drives. Furthermore, not only did the negative plays force the Steelers out of the red-zone, they moved them out of field goal range.
Give the Bengals defense credit: they were playing sound defense. But, the Steelers also did nothing to help their own cause. In short, the Steelers were moving backwards in the first half...literally.
Four trips into the red-zone, and all the Steelers came away with was three points!?! At a minimum the Steelers should have had nine more points. Furthermore, I felt that they should have been able to score a touchdown on at least two of those drives.
Roethlisberger passed for a little less than his usual amount (138 yards), but when one figures in the seven sacks by the Bengals, that total is reduced to a mere 84 yards. Again, an ugly day.
Then in the second half, the game became a tad prettier. Bettis, who had worn down the defense, began to move the ball. At which point, I made an interesting statement to my brother (one which I immediately realized sounded rather ridiculous):
"Well, if they stop Roethlisberger, we can always rely on the Bus."
How amazing is it that a team would have the luxury of relying on a future Hall of Famer as its second option?
Speaking of the Hall of Fame, Bettis' 129 yards pushed him past Tony Dorsett on the all time list, and Jerome is currently ranked fifth with 12,863 yards. Bettis needs only 397 yards to eclipse Eric Dickerson for fourth all-time; not counting the playoffs, Bettis would have to average 57 yards per game for the rest of the season. Needless to say, that is a very attainable goal.
Seeing Bettis run reminded me of the good old days of the Steelers, where they ran the ball and played solid defense. Speaking of solid defense...
When Hampton went out with a season ending knee-injury, most Pittsburgh fans, myself included, thought that teams would begin to rack up huge rushing numbers against the Steelers. How wrong we were. Since Hampton's injury, Pittsburgh's four opponents have only rushed for 160 total yards. That is 40 yards per game.
Every good defense needs playmakers, and the Steelers have two: Polamalu and Farrior. Every week, one of them makes a play on defense that captures the momentum and/or wins the game. This week, Farrior was the one to intercept a pass and return it for a touchdown.
Maybe it is because I live in southern California, and watched Troy Polamalu quite frequently while he played at USC, but I really think this kid is special. Pete Carroll was quoted as saying that Troy was the best player that he had ever coached. I repeat, EVER. And, Carroll has coached quite a few extremely good players in his time.
Troy unloaded two more decleating tackles on unsuspecting wide-outs. On another play, he disrupted a running play by launching himself into the pulling offensive guard. Not to mention the fact that Polamalu seems to make every tackle on the football field.
Conversely, Kendrell Bell is injured again. In a related story: water is still wet.
While this game was not the prettiest game to watch, in the end, somehow, some way, the Steelers came out victorious...which is all that truly matters. In short, I will take an ugly win over a pretty loss any day of the week...and twice on Sunday.
