6 Reasons I'm worried

1. Ben has been playing bad

2. AJ instead of Andy

3. Blake

4. Williams might not play

5. Bengals haven't won in 25 years, Steelers like to give up records like that.

6. Real Steel has been quieter than normal

 

Here is a paper bag, take deep breaths count to 10....

 

I totally agree...but don't we own Ohio?!

 

You forgot #7. We have Ben and his record in Ohio I will take that anyday hehe

 

thanks. The slow transition into being like Real is tough lol

 

I think the only way to win it this year is to fully commit to pass the ball and stop wasting downs and possessions trying to establish a run game.

 

Do not live in your fears.

 

Oh dear lord baby jesus, we can only take one of him here.

 

Worrying doesn't alter anything. I am just gonna watch, and hopefully enjoy the Win, and hope Tomlin doesn't do anything to lesson their chances. AJ may have played decent so far. But his first playoff game...that is a whole different animal fans. We need to NOT Allow him to make those MANY short little passes...like to their TE Eifert...who almost killed us last game, and take those quick patterns away from AJ and FORCE him to stay in the pocket longer, and make the deeper more tougher pass.



Do that, and get Bryant straightened out, and we should get the W.

 

I believe you are real steel or at the very least in cahoots with him.

 

we will do them a favor and send them home early so andy can heal up during the long off season. your welcome cinci.

 

I'm kinda in this camp too. I'm not saying completely abandon the run game, but for us to win it all our pass offense needs to pretty much go off for the Whole post season. We're gonna live and die in the playoffs on Big Ben's right arm. Hopefully the D can make a few stops/turnovers to help us out along the way.

 

Also, I'm not nearly as worried as some about AJ McCarron. Dalton is probably a top 10 QB in this league (regular season play of course), and McCarron is a young kid who has looked pretty solid in his first few starts. Playoffs are a different beast.

 

Scratch 2, 5 and 6
Add in..... possible rain as a deterrent to the passing game.

 

I tend to agree.

Yes, he looked ok against us, but he is still an NFL tier QB (even if only a back up). Given that my dead grandmother could probably complete a pass or two against out secondary, it didn't surprise me he managed to find Green for a big play. Can he do that consistently against us for a whole game? I don't think so.

 

Reasons against yours that I'm not as concerned and think we win the game.
1. Ben has been playing bad
Big Ben has a lot of success playing in Ohio and his experience in regular season and post season is much greater than either McCarron or Dalton.
2. AJ instead of Andy
I think AJ starts and if he struggles they put Dalton in. Need to blitz them both up the middle and make them move outside the pocket.
3. Blake
Legitimate concern if they put him one on one with Green. Give him help and I think he can do OK. Last game he improved slightly but shouldn't be going against Green although Tomlin loves him for some reason so that will probably be the match up. If he gets burned then have him cover Marvin Jones and put Boykin on Green.
4. Williams might not play
Probably not. Toussaint was very green coming in relief last week. A solid week of practice with the first team should show improvement. He needs to pick up the blitz better which hopefully he will.
5. Bengals haven't won in 25 years, Steelers like to give up records like that.
Get up by a couple scores early and this becomes their big concern and not ours. The pressure will be on them and it will be felt by the home team fans making more difficult for them to overcome.
6. Real Steel has been quieter than normal
I thought this was a good thing, no?

 

Number 6 isn't true lol he is the same level of crazy even though for the penultimate time he has said he is packing it in.

 

The one thing that had me worried in the last game was the fact when red ryder was in there AJ Green was held down. As soon as McCracken came in he went right to Green. This scares me some as we all know how bad our pass D is. I am pretty confident MT and Butler see's this and baits McCracken into some more int's! The other thing is we have been so dominant in Ohio and vs the Bunholes that sooner or later the Blind Squirrel will find the nut. Also in that line of thinking Bunholes lost 7 straight playoff games.........I hope it goes to 8!!!!!!!!!!

 

That's nuttin to brag about.

 

AJ scares me more than Dalton, and they are bound to win sometime.

all holds true hehe

 

Before the Poo stains and Rat game,,they played 3 very tough teams with great defenses and scored a lot of points...Ben thought he could just coast to the end and got lazy. They'll be back to normal on Saturday. If we only had Brown as our receiver, then I would be worried, but we have 3 guys out there who can do some serious damage ( they can't double team 3 receivers) You don't need a huge running game ( take the cheats as example) you only need enough to keep the defense honest

 

My prediction is we lose, probably big too. Hate being pessimistic but I just have that gut feeling.

 

The main concern for me is history.


Tomlin era 1st Round playoff losses.


2007 - Willie Parker injured Week 15

2011- Rashard Mendenhall injured Week 16

2014- Le'Veon Bell injured Week 16