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Bengals' season slips and slides away in the muck of Heinz Field
Cincinnati continues to hurt itself with mistakes and blown scoring opportunities. Here's the challenge facing the Bengals after their 24-10 defeat at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night: They must run the table and beat St. Louis, San Francisco, Cleveland and Miami to finish 8-8 for the fourth time in five years. After blowing numerous scoring opportunities, the Bengals (4-8) got buried at the convergence of the Monongahela, Ohio and Allegheny rivers as the Steelers (9-3) smashed Cincinnati for the third straight time and improved to 7-0 at home. Slippin' and slidin' on Heinz Field's soggy grass, the Bengals couldn't take advantage of the absence of Pittsburgh's superstar pair of strong safety Troy Polamalu and wide receiver Santonio Holmes. No problem for the Steelers. They had quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and wide receiver Hines Ward. The two hooked up for a pair of touchdowns as Ward set the franchise record with 64 TD receptions, breaking the old mark of 63 held by Pro Football Hall of Famer John Stallworth.
Here's how bad it was for the Bengals: They scored just three points off four Pittsburgh turnovers as they followed their 2007 blueprint of mistakes and self-destruction. Forced to abandon the run in the second half, the Bengals were at the mercy of the "Blitzburgh" defense. Cincinnati won the coin toss for only the fourth time this year and put together a gorgeous 12-play, 75-yard opening drive that Rudi Johnson finished with a 1-yard scoring plunge at 8:23 for a 7-0 lead. The remainder of the game was ugly for the Bengals as the offense shut down, failing on three straight golden opportunities that would've given them a two-score advantage. Palmer misfired to tailback Kenny Watson on third and 2 at the Steelers' 47. Palmer couldn't convert a third-and-3 pass to Chad Johnson at the Steelers' 46. Then Shayne Graham missed a 43-yard field goal. Star of the game: Roethlisberger rushed for a six-yard score, threw two TD passes and improved his record to 22-5 (.815) as a starter at home. His 25 TD passes are a personal best. Goat of the game: With the score tied at 7, Glenn Holt's fumble on a kickoff return at 8:24 of the second quarter led to a 21-yard Jeff Reed field goal, giving the Steelers a 10-7 lead it wouldn't lose. Quote machine: "Let's just play that (underdog) role and be spoilers. Let's go spoil other people's plans." — Bengals defensive tackle John Thornton. Dayton Daily News http://www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/pro/bengals/2007/12/03/ddn120307bengals.html |
