After all the pregame talk about how great Ben is in the state of Ohio, he comes out and takes a crap on everyone’s face by fumbling the first snap. The only other team’s I’ve seen do that this year were Cleveland and Cincinnati. Oh shit…
With the offense in trouble off the bat, Ben goes to Heath for a solid pickup to get to 3rd and manageable where he hits Hines on a crossing route that Hines turns upfield for almost 30 yards. Ben finds Spaeth on the sidelines on the next play and Hines wallops 1st round pick Keith Rivers with a massive (and totally legal) hit that breaks Rivers’ jaw. Yes, Hines Ward broke a linebacker’s jaw. Sick.
Nate Washington took an end around for 6 yards and another first down, but we lost most of the yardage on a Kemoeatu false start. Ben can’t hook up with Hines on a slant route on first and long. After being quiet for the first 6 plays, Mewelde Moore gets his first touch, but doesn’t do much. On 3rd and long, Ben finds Santonio for a huge gain to get the ball down to the Cincy 2. With no fullback in the roster, the Steelers come out with Najeh lined up at fullback and Moore in the I. Ben fakes to Najeh then throws a swing pass to Moore who waltzes into the end zone for the score.
Ben wen right back to work picking on Dahanay Jones and found Santonio on a quick slant for 9. The Mewelde Moore show began as Moore ran for 3, 4 and 5 yards. On 3rd and 1, the coaches send in Gary Russell who gets stuffed. Lob Wedge comes in and punts 43 yards to the Cincy 22.
FitzPatrick fumbled but Housh was there to pick it up as Aaron Smith brought him down for a big loss. Benson got 8 back, but another incompletion on 3rd down brought out the punter. Kyle Larson defies logic by kicking a 15-yard punt. Yes, you read that right. 15 yards.
With the ball on the 30, we were already in field goal range. Moore for 3. Ben finds Hines for the first down. Ben takes a shot at the end zone for Nasty Nate, but he comes up empty. Moore goes around the right end for 16 yards to get down to the 3. With no short yardage back, Arians takes to the air. Leon Hall makes a great diving play to break up a quick slant for Hines. Ben can’t hook up with Hines or Heath, and after 3 pass plays from the 3 yard line, Reed comes on for the chip shot.
If the Steelers could muster up some points here, they could pretty much put the game away. Buzzkill: they went 3-and-out. Ben took a shot deep for Holmes but came up empty. Moore reeled one in for 7 but we were set back by a false start and delay of game. Incomplete Pass. Lob Wedge pins Cincy inside the 10.
The Diesel stops Benson. Erin finds Ocho Stinko for a short gain, but can’t deal with pressure from Harrison and throws an incomplete pass on 3rd down. Punt.
With the ball near midfield, Arians decides we haven’t used the motif offense yet, so we might as well use it now. Moore for 6 and 2. On 3rd and 2, once again defying Steelers football logic, we put the ball in the air on a swing pass to Moore that gets stopped in it’s tracks. Lob Wedge blasts one into the end zone.
Erin goes deep for Jailbird, but Ike was all over it and almost came up with the pick. Benson got stuffed and Farrior brings Erin down with a sack. The 2nd quarter was going great if you were a punting enthusiast.
Moore caught a short one for little, but Santonio came through to pick up a big first down and more. Ben went right back to him for 16 more yards to get to the fringes of field goal range. The first down pass got tipped at the line and fell incomplete. Moore got stuffed in the backfield for a loss of 4 on 2nd down and Ben was under pressure and threw a pass too high for Heath on 3rd down. Rather than try a 55-yard field goal, Lob Wedge comes out and pins the Bungles inside their 10.
Erin finds Stinko for 6 on first down and BUI Benson falls forward for 4 yards and the Bungles first first down of the game with 4 1/2 minutes left in the first half. The crowd goes nuts. With the crowd behind him, BUI goes for 9 yards in 2 carries and Erin finds Housh to convert again. A holding penalty negates their first play, but Erin gets it all back by finding Jailbird for 16 yards as the clock winds down to 2 minutes.
Former Nitany Lion Kenny Watson comes in and picks up the first down to get the ball across the 40. You have that sinking feeling that the Steelers didn’t put the Bungles away when they had the chance and it’s coming back to bite them in the ass. Erin navigates the field by finding Jailbird for 10, Housh for 12 and Jailbird again for 18 to get into the red zone. The Replay Booth challenged the catch, but Hoculi said there wasn’t conclusive video evidence to show that he needs new contact lenses. Erin and Stinko decide to try and put on a show and hook up 3 times, the last one for a touchdown on a lob pass that Erin had to get rid of with Lawrence Timmons in his face.
The Bengals top fans celebrate their touchdown by stealing an airplane.
10-7
Mewelde Moore alleviates some of your fears by taking a handoff on the first play around the left end and dashing for 24 yards. The Mewelde Moore Show continued as he snagged a short pass for 5 then busted another run for 6 to get the ball to the 20. Ben and Santonio can’t hook up, but Ben finds Heath for 7 yards to get the ball down to the 13. On 3rd and 3, when, given their prior play-calling patterns, you expect a pass, Moore takes a handoff around the corner and gets a great seal block from Darnell Stapleton and he has a clear path to paydirt.
Harrison gets a paw on the ball and swats down a pass, but BUI comes back with a 7-yard charge as the third quarter ends.
JD says: B-Mac is out at least 5 weeks.
The run was good for a first down, but with the ball in Steelers territory, the Bungles choke. Timmons is all over the place as he stops BUI on a run, then sacks Erin on 3rd down to force a punt.
As the Steelers got the ball on the 9, we all knew the truth: we needed points of the 7 variety. Badly. Moore responds by taking the first carry for 16 yards to get the ball out of danger. Moore goes for 3, and Santonio pulls in a big catch on 3rd down to keep the drive alive after an incompletion on 2nd down. Moore runs for 5 more to get the ball up to the 50. On 2nd down, when it seemed like we were in for a long drive, Ben finds Nasty Nate on 5th avenue and Nate takes it to the HOUSE.
With the ball near midfield, the Steelers knew they didn’t want to just play field position. Ben takes a shot downfield for Hines, who draws a pass interference call that’s good for 38 yards to get the ball inside the 15. Cue the Mewelde Moore show. He gets 6 yards on two consecutive carries, then seals the deal with a 2-yard touchdown run.
Byron comes in to close things off and, seemingly, just hand off to Gary Russell. But after Russell gets stopped in the backfield on first down, Byron has to go to the air. He finds Nate on 2nd down then hits Limas Sweeeeeeed for his first catch as a pro on a slant route to pick up the first down. Russell gets 2 carries to wind the clock down to 2 minutes to set up 3rd and 7. Byron throws one out for Hines and Jonathan Joseph makes a good play on the ball and is able to make a diving tip of the ball. However, the ball popped up into the air, and Hines pulled it down and was able to waltz untouched into the end zone for the final nail in the coffin.
Offensive Game Ball: Mewelde Moore
Defensive Game Ball: LaMarr Woodley
Honorable Mentions:
James Harrison
Lawrence Timmons
Ben Roethlisberger
Nate Washington
Mr. Yuck Sticker of the Game
Cincy’s offensive coordinator for calling passing plays in the last 2 minutes when we really just wanted the game to be over.
Final Thoughts
- Mewelde Moore is playing great. We just need to not run him into the ground like we did with Willie.
- Nate Washington is turning into a great #3 receiver.
- Hopefully Troy will be okay, he was having a Pro Bowl year.
- Pro Bowl ballots are available on nfl.com. Make sure to vote!
- This was a good tuneup for our big showdown with the Giants next week.
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