Monday, October 24, 2005
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
CINCINNATI -- In the parlance of the day, the Steelers smacked the Cincinnati Bengals in the mouth. Then they smacked them in the mouth again. And again and again and again.
As for the Bengals, they smacked no one.
This game, built as an epic struggle for supremacy in the AFC North, turned into a colossal mismatch. The Bengals weren't up for the fight. In fact, they had no fight.
By virtue of five wins compiled against lightweight competition, the Bengals remain in first place in the division. But the Steelers' 27-13 manhandling of them yesterday at Paul Brown Stadium left no doubt as to which was the better team. Cincinnati might be in first place, but the Steelers (4-2) are the team to beat in the AFC North. The young upstarts weren't ready for the defending champs, weren't close to being ready.
The Steelers maintained this was not a message game, but they sent a clear message of superiority to the Bengals.
The victory was vintage Steelers. A relentless rushing attack, led by Willie Parker's 131 yards, and just enough passing by Ben Roethlisberger provided all the offense that was necessary.
But this was a victory of defense. This was no second-rate outfit the Steelers held without a touchdown for the first 58 minutes. This was the No. 1 offense in the AFC, one that averaged 26 points per game. This was the team that had Carson Palmer, the man, some would have you believe, who is the next great NFL quarterback.
After the Steelers got through with him yesterday, Palmer remains the second best quarterback in the AFC North.
This game may well be remembered as the day Ike Taylor came of age as one of the elite cornerbacks in the NFL. In a move mindful of the way the Steelers used the great Rod Woodson, Taylor lined up wherever Pro Bowl wide receiver Chad Johnson was. Johnson caught four passes for 94 yards -- 47 of those yards came on the meaningless late touchdown drive -- and was not a factor in the game.
But the player the Steelers throttled the most was Palmer, who came into the game with a streak of 148 passes thrown over 18 quarters without an interception. That streak lasted 21 more passes and two quarters. Then on three throws early in the second half, Palmer had two passes intercepted.
The first was returned 58 yards by safety Chris Hope and set up a field goal. The second was snagged by defensive end Aaron Smith after Kimo von Oelhoffen tipped the ball and resulted in a touchdown that gave the Steelers a 17-6 lead.
End of game.
Not only were the Steelers ahead by 11 -- Cowher-coached teams are now 95-1-1 when leading by more than 10 points -- but the Cincinnati offense was finished. On the next three possessions, they gained 16 yards and had one first down.
Palmer came in with a streak of nine games in which he had a passer rating of more than 100. His average rating for those nine games was 114.4. He had 22 touchdown passes and seven interceptions during that stretch. His rating yesterday was 53.8, with two interceptions and one touchdown pass.
"I just didn't play well enough to win," said Palmer, who completed 21 of 36 passes for 227 yards. "I gave them two turnovers, and in both of those situations they had great field position. When you play a championship team, you can't give them anything.
"It's my responsibility to put points on the board. I flat out didn't play well enough to win."
The Steelers' game plan for Palmer was simple: pressure, pressure, pressure.
"He looks awesome when he has time to set his feet and throw," said linebacker Larry Foote.
James Farrior said, "We knew in order to win this game we had to have a lot of pressure and force him to make bad throws. For the most part, we did that. He's a great quarterback. He's going to have better games. Today was our day."
Defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, a former head coach of the Bengals, had some input.
"Coach LeBeau worked his magic and confused them," Foote said.
Confusion helps, but the Steelers won this game with their play, not coaching strategy. They understood the challenge but also refused to allow it to become a dominant theme the week of the game.
"We're just not ready to give it up yet," Farrior said of the Steelers' AFC North dominance.
If they continue to play like this, they'll be dominating a lot more than the AFC North.
(Post-Gazette sports columnist Bob Smizik can be reached at bsmizik@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1468.)
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