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| Other Week 12 Game Recaps | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BUF at KC | CAR at ATL | CHI at STL | CIN at PIT | GB at NO | HOU at CLE | IND at SD | MIN at JAX |
| NE at MIA | NYG at ARI | NYJ at TEN | OAK at DEN | PHI at BAL | SF at DAL | TB at DET | WAS at SEA |
Week 12 Game Recap: Cincinnati Bengals 10, Pittsburgh Steelers 27
What you need to know
| Cincinnati Bengals |
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick got off to a good start in the first quarter of this game by leading his team down the field to game's first touchdown but, then proceeded to struggle to move the ball until late in the fourth quarter. Despite only one sack, the Steelers defense got good pressure on Fitzpatrick most of the game and took away his favorite, WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Fitzpatrick missed his receivers at times, and his receivers dropped passes in key situations.
To no one's surprise, RB Cedric Benson and the Bengals' rushing attack was no match for the NFL's number one rushing defense. Benson had only 37 yards on 16 carries and had very little room to run throughout the game.
WR Chad Johnson was deactivated for the game for disciplinary reasons by HC Marvin Lewis. WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh had one of his worse games of the year and had only four catches for 20 yards, this snapped an eight game streak of having at least six catches or more. Houshmandzadeh was covered most of the night and may have been hurt by not having Johnson in the game as the Steelers defense seemed to focus on him.
| Pittsburgh Steelers |
QB Ben Roethlisberger played a solid game and didn't turn the ball over, going 17 for 20 for 243 yards. He had one passing touchdown that went to TE Heath Miller on a short three pass out in the flat. He also added a touchdown run late in the game when he scrambled up the middle of the field for eight yards. Roethlisberger kind got off to a slow start in this one, but played better as the game went on. The Pittsburgh line gave him good protection all game and he was not sacked once.
RB Willie Parker had a disappointing game and had had only 14 yards on 11 carries in the first half and looked very ineffective. Just when it looked like he was getting into a rhythm in the third quarter, he left the game after tweaking his knee. He left the game after a 15 yard run where he was not hit on the play. RB Mewelde Moore took over the running back duties and looked better then Parker in this game. He led the team in rushing and added four receptions for 41 yards. RB Gary Russell got the Steelers' other rushing touchdown on two yard carry.
WR Santonio Holmes was the game's leading receiver catching five passes for 84 yards and he looked more like the receiver of last year, getting separation from defenders and making plays with his speed. WR Hines Ward had a quiet game only catching one pass, but it was the Steelers' longest play of the game and it went for 37 yards and set up a score. TE Heath Miller caught the Steelers only passing touchdown and looked good coming off an ankle injury.
What you ought to know
| QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, Pass: 20 - 37 - 168 - 1 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 2 - 8 - 0 |
Fitzpatrick got off to a good start by completing seven of his eight passes in the first quarter, and hooking up with WR Glenn Holt for a ten yard touchdown. He led the Bengals down the field for 62 yard touchdown drive going three for three on third downs during that drive. Unfortunately for Fitzpatrick, it was all down hill after that first quarter. He went 13 for 29 for 114 yards and one interception after the first quarter. Fitzpatrick was unimpressive in the second half getting passes knocked down and missing receivers consistently. He picked up some garbage yardage late in the game while it was out reach for Cincinnati and he threw an interception deep in Steelers' territory toward the end of the game. He simply did not make very many plays when the opportunity presented itself in the game and, he did not get help from his receivers, who dropped some balls in this game.
| RB Cedric Benson, Rush: 16 - 35 - 0, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (2 targets) |
Benson had some tough plowing going up against the number one run defense in the NFL. He ran pretty hard despite not having too many holes. He had ten carries for 27 yards in the first half. Things didn't get any better for Benson in the second as the offense came to a grinding halt as he only had seven yards on six carries in the half.
| RB Chris Perry, Rush: 2 - 0 - 0, Rec: 2 - 0 - 0 (2 targets) |
Perry had four touches in the game for a total of zero yards. That kind of sums up Perry's season who has given way to RB Cedric Benson and only spelled him a few times in the game.
| WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Rec: 4 - 20 - 0 (11 targets) |
Houshmandzadeh had four catches for 20 yards in the first half and despite getting a lot passes thrown his way he did not have a catch in the second half. He had two defenders on him most of the game and Bengals' dreadful offense was no match for a very good Steelers defense. Houshmandzadeh seems to be a victim of circumstance; a good player, playing on a bad team, with a below average quarterback throwing him the ball. That certainly seemed to be the case in this game as his body language on the field was that of someone sick of losing and not being able to move the football.
| WR Andre Caldwell, Rec: 3 - 26 - 0 (7 targets) |
The rookie caught three passes for 26 yards as he got more playing time after two bad drops by WR Glenn Holt.
| WR Chris Henry, Rec: 2 - 25 - 0 (2 targets) |
Henry had two catches for 25 yards in the first half and did not have a catch in the second half. The Steelers did a good job of taking Henry and WR Houshmandzadeh out of the game.
| WR Glenn Holt, Rec: 2 - 16 - 1 (4 targets) |
Holt got the start for the deactivated WR Chad Johnson in the game, and he caught his first touchdown of the season on a short ten yard post route in the first quarter. He dropped an easy catch when he was wide open on third down play that would have gotten Cincinnati a first down on the next drive. Holt's next pass thrown his way in the third quarter was also dropped pass on another potential first down. Both drops were pretty big plays and he did not get a pass thrown to him after the second drop.
| WR Chad Johnson |
Johnson was deactivated from this game by the Bengals because of an undisclosed team rules violation and Glenn Holt got the start in his place.
| TE Reggie Kelly, Rec: 3 - 41 - 0 (4 targets) |
Kelly had Cincinnati's longest pass play in the game with a nice catch in traffic for 31 yards late in the game. He finished as the Bengals leading receiver in the game.
| TE Ben Utecht, Rec: 3 - 36 - 0 (3 targets) |
Utecht had three catches for 36 yards and all his receptions came late in the game.
| PK Shayne Graham 1 - 1 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 4 points |
Graham made a 26 yard field goal late in the game.
| CIN Rush Defense |
The run defense actually played ok in this game, especially in the first half where they completely shut down RB Willie Parker. Most of the yards they gave up came late in the game.
| CIN Pass Defense |
The Bengals did not get a pass rush on QB Ben Roethlisberger the entire game and did not force a turnover. They really only gave up one big play in the passing game but, they wore down late in the game as the Cincinnati offense could not stay on the field.
| QB Ben Roethlisberger, Pass: 17 - 30 - 243 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 3 - 13 - 1 |
Roethlisberger played very well in this game and seemed to play better as the game went on. After getting off to a slow start, his biggest play of the game came early in the second quarter when he found WR Hines Ward wide open over the middle for 37 yard gain. He would find TE Heath Miller a few plays later on a short three yard touchdown pass, his only passing score of the game. He finished the first half with nice numbers completing ten of 17 passes for 139 yards and a touchdown. Roethlisberger played even better in the second half and made enough plays in the half to take control of the game. His biggest play of the game came with about two minutes left when he scrambled for an eight yard touchdown run.
| RB Mewelde Moore, Rush: 15 - 56 - 0, Rec: 4 - 41 - 0 (4 targets) |
Moore didn't get much playing time in the first half but, saw a lot more action in the second half including a big gain of 22 yards on a little screen play in the third quarter. After a 15 yard carry by RB Willie Parker midway through the third quarter, Moore became the primary back the rest of the way and Parker sat on the sideline the rest of the game. Moore finished the game as the Steelers leading rusher and looked like the better back of the two.
| RB Willie Parker, Rush: 14 - 37 - 0 |
Parker was not that effective in the first half as he had only 14 yards on 11 carries. The Bengals did a pretty good job of shutting down the running lanes and there wasn't much room for Parker to run. The field got a little sloppy in the first half and that probably did not help Parker who relies on his speed and ability to cut up field. He had his biggest run of the game, a 15 yard run down the right side early in the third quarter and did not get come back into the game. It did not appear he got injured and he did not receive any treatment on the sideline. But after the game, HC Mike Tomlin said Parker had tweaked his knee on the run.
| RB Gary Russell, Rush: 3 - 5 - 1 |
Russell got a two yard touchdown run in the third quarter. The touchdown came after RB Willie Parker left the game.
| WR Santonio Holmes, Rec: 5 - 84 - 0 (8 targets) |
Holmes had his best half's of football in some time by catching three balls for 59 yards in the first half. QB Ben Roethlisberger targeted Holmes a lot in the first half and he had six targets compared to WR Hines Ward's one in the half. Holmes got hammered on a quick slant route he caught off the right side. He got up right away but looked groggy after the hit. He did not catch a pass after that play but Holmes played well through the game, and looked more like the player of last year in this game.
| WR Nate Washington, Rush: 1 - 4 - 0, Rec: 1 - 12 - 0 (2 targets) |
Washington was not a factor in this game and only had one catch for 12 yards in the game. His only other target was a dropped passed on a third down early in the game.
| WR Limas Sweed, Rec: 2 - 25 - 0 (2 targets) |
Sweed caught two passes for 25 yards in the game.
| WR Hines Ward, Rec: 1 - 37 - 0 (4 targets) |
Ward's first and only catch came on a big 37 yard play where he got open over the middle and took it deep into the Bengals territory. But Ward did not get anymore balls thrown his way in the first half and only had three targets in the second half.
| TE Heath Miller, Rec: 4 - 44 - 1 (4 targets) |
Miller caught his second touchdown of the season on short three yard pass out in the flat early in the second quarter. He had three catches for 25 in the first half. Miller caught a 19 yard pass and almost had his second touchdown of the game but was tackled on the two yard line. This was one of Miller's best games of the season and not bad considering he's coming off an ankle injury.
| PK Jeff Reed 2 - 2 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 9 points |
Reed made a 37 yard field goal in the second quarter and a 38 yard kick in the third quarter.
| PIT Rush Defense |
The defense line dominated and shut down the run game, only allowing 35 yards to the Bengals' running backs. Not a surprise considering the Steelers defense is ranked number one against the run and the Bengals are one the worse rushing teams in the league.
| PIT Pass Defense |
The Steelers only got one sack in this game but, did get a lot pressure on the quarterback in this game. They did come up with an interception late in the game.
