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Steelers Will Baptize New Stadium with Bengal Blood Article by McMillen & Wife Gosh, I feel as giddy as a school girl before the prom! It's finally here, folks... the Steelers' first-ever game at Heinz Field! Best of all, the Sandstress and I will be making the 3-1/2 hour pilgrimage to the Confluence to witness firsthand the baptism of our shimmering new stadium in Bungle blood. In spite of raising the eyebrows of the football world with a 2-0 start, the Bengals have to be dreading this game. Their early-season fairy tale officially ends Sunday, and they know it. As the Steelers and their fans prepare to bask in the dawn of a glorious new era, Cinci fans will be bracing themselves for the grim reality of yet another dismal campaign. Offensively, the Steeler game plan is likely to be a carbon copy of the one they used in Buffalo. No big shock there... with the passing game struggling as mightily as it is, Mularkey's game plan seems destined to be pretty much the same EVERY week: pound the Bus up the gut and pray we don't commit a turnover. On defense, however, it's definitely a whole different ballgame...
Cincinnati has a number of legitimate weapons on offense, the most threatening of which is RB Corey Dillon. In spite of what happened in San Diego last week, the Bengals' ground attack is formidable. Dillon is a game-breaking runner, something the Steelers didn't have to account for in Buffalo. Containing Dillon from the outset will be priority one for Pittsburgh, because if Dillon is effective early, WR's Darnay Scott and Peter Warrick could kill us deep. QB John Kitna will never be mistaken for Terry Bradshaw. But aside from his dismal 3 INT performance against the Chargers, he's played reasonably well this season, and has certainly looked better than our own beloved QB. Back to Dillon. I don't mean run this into the ground (no pun intended), but stopping Dillon is so key to the Steelers' success that I have to come back to it. Assuming the Steeler offense protects the ball, the only way I can see the Bengals coming out on top in this game is with a couple of huge, game-breaking plays. Corey Dillon is capable of that, both directly and indirectly. I think the key player to watch for Pittsburgh in this one becomes Myron Bell, because Bell is our last line of defense if Dillon breaks into the secondary. If Lee Flowers was in there, I wouldn't be so concerned. But I remember Bell when he was with the Steelers before... he was an intense, hard-hitting player, but he missed WAY too many tackles. The other side of this is that if Bell becomes too intent on stopping Dillon, he'll get himself out of position and hang DeWayne Washinton or Chad Scott out to dry, leaving us much more vulnerable to deep passes. Lord knows Darnay Scott has burned us before. But ultimately, if our LBs are flying around the field like they were in Buffalo, much of my worrying becomes academic. I said it following last week's game, and I'll say it again now... the team speed Cowher has assembled on defense, especially at linebacker, is mind-boggling. The loss of Kirkland was addition by subtraction, and the current crop of LBs is the best we've had since '95. I feel pretty darn good about their ability to thwart whatever the Bungles try to dish out... look for another big day for Joey porter in particular. Since I've spent the bulk of this article talking about how our defense matches up, let me throw one comment in there about the offense: Jerome Bettis and the AFC's top rushing outfit (averaging almost 150 yards a game) WILL find some running room against these guys. Takeo Spikes and that traitor Oliver Gibson better have their helmets strapped on. See 'ya after the game, folks (on Monday this time since we'll be in Pittsburgh on Sunday). The bottom line: The Steelers will win. Tims's Prediction: 20-10 Sandy's Prediction: 24-10 Tim McMillen Webmaster, McMillen & Wife |
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Anyhow, this is a winable game for the Steelers, a game we should win, a game we have got to win if there are any hopes of the playoffs this year. Yes, the Bungholes are feeling good lately but it's time they come back to the basement were they belong! Hopefully Corey Dillion's crack dealer will be out of town and he'll be jonesing, oh wait he is the crack dealer, o well, we'll see if he got the good stuff or the bad this weekend!!! GO STEELERS!!! Cincinnati Browns Cleveland Browns... Well It's too late to buy Old Paul some condoms. So the Steelers need to 'smash' the seeds out of the "semi-original Punk'N Heads", but good! Love, Tommy <<< Back to Mac & Wife's
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