Steelers topped the Bengals in week 14 and the team has a few things to say about it
The Steelers got the W in what could be called an ugly one against the Bengals Sunday in Cincinnati. A lot of good came out of that game for the Steelers. Some of those things involve the fact that the Steelers won. Most of those things revolve around Andy Dalton being injured. But the Steelers improve to 8-5 regardless
Now obviously, we’re not pulling a Burfict and celebrating Dalton’s injury. I was disappointed he went down. You want to see a great game right? Plus, if you’re going to win you want to do it because you’re the best, not because someone got hurt. This is not to say Dalton’s injury was the reason the Steelers won but it matters, for the future mostly.
The Steelers winning matters because a W is always good in an abstract sense but even more when you’re aiming for the playoffs. Now, the Steelers needed to go 3-1 before they beat the Bengals. Two of their games were against losing teams, the other two against good teams.
To get to the magic number of 10 wins that ordinarily is going to get a team into the playoffs the Steelers had to beat just one of the good teams. Done. They can coast to the playoffs. They’re free to lose to the Broncos even. Just don’t tell them that.
But Dalton going down is a big deal for the division because without Dalton, if the Bengals can’t win and the Steelers win out then the Steelers win the division. Even if the Steelers gain just net two games over the next three they’ll be tied. Now the Bengals don’t have the hardest schedule coming up but regardless, the division is now very much in play.
But enough about the future. This article is no place for speculation. Our guys put the team in a good spot, even if the Dalton injury is unfortunate and anticlimactic. It was a solid game overall on all sides of the ball. Let’s hear what the team had to say.
Rivalry
At this point it’s out there. These two teams don’t like eachother. The Ravens are no longer much of a rivalry with how their season is going and the Browns never were, not since their return anyway. So if you’re looking for a fight and there’s only one guy in the bar then bad luck for him.
But the Steelers don’t generally look for a fights, yet they get in them all the time. They seem to draw a rival. Is it them? … Nah.
Bryan DeArdo of 247 Sports quoted Marcus Gilbert as saying, “Oh, I would love to play them again in the playoffs. They don’t want to see us. They fear us. When a team like that talks a lot of smack, obviously they know that we have their number.”
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Cameron Heyward added a different perspective, saying, “I feel comfortable. It’s a home game for me. It’s a home game for a lot of guys. You have so many guys who are from or played in Ohio, I think we look forward to these things.”
Cameron Wolf of the Denver Post quoted Tomlin as saying, “We’re going to defend ourselves aggressively. Those confrontations occurred on our side of the ball after plays, outside of the ball, or outside of the 50 in pregame. Hey, that’s our side of the 50.”
Defense
The defense had a solid outing. They did give up almost 300 yards to a backup quarterback. But we’ve kind of come to expect that. We’ve also come to expect the Steelers to somehow do well on the scoreboard despite this. I’ll take it.
The Steelers had 3 sacks and 3 interceptions. One of those was William Gay’s sixth career pick six. They also held the Bengals to 64 rushing yards. Also 20 points, which is less than 33 oddly enough.
Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette quoted Stephon Tuitt as saying about his game changing interception, “We worked on that play. I saw that play many times in the week in practice.”
Ryan Shazier said of the play, “That was a game-changer because it was 7-0, and they started driving on us. When Tuitt got that interception, it was real big.”
William Gay said of the interceptions in general, “We wanted our game plan to be better than their game plan”
Heath Miller
Heath Miller had 10 catches for 66 yards in another solid outing for the veteran. He’s not in his prime anymore but he continues to prove what an asset he is. Not only is he a great blocker but he continues to be a threat in the passing game. He’s the top tight end to ever wear the black and goal and he’s still showing why.
David DeCastro said, according to Rob Rossi of Triblive.com, “Oh man, he’s one of those warrior-guys. You just love watching him play. He doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t need to. His actions speak way louder than words.”
Ben Roethlisberger added about his longtime target’s fearlessness in the pass and run game, “Not a lot of tight ends would stick their nose in there. He’s just so selfless about it.”
Next: Steelers vs Bengals: defensive huddle
See you in Pittsburgh for the game against the Broncos.