NFL Week 3 running thread ...

Ok, who won the Super Bowl last year now?

Let's see the Bengals actually win one before they start talking too much, ok?

And a punt bouncing off the return guy's helmet isn't fluky? The Steelers were leading and controlling the game defensively before that.

The Steelers also lost to the Jaguars and at home to the Bengals last season. They're probably going to finish behind Cinci in the division, but that didn't stop them last season, either.

Yes, I'm being a fanboy here, but so are you with the comment about Miller's TD. Ok, he should have been down at the one. So, the Steelers would have had 1st-and-goal at the one on a day that Willie Parker went well over 100 yards.

And "Who Dey?" The Saints fans called. They want their chant back.

 

The Steelers won the Super Bowl in remarkable fashion. I use the term remarkable because Pittsburgh was able to win the Super Bowl without a quarterback.

I'm not talking too much, but there were a few of your brothers on here talking as if the Bengals game was in-hand for Pittsburgh even before they were shut out at Jacksonville.

And Cincy has a helluva schedule ahead of them this year. I'm just surprised they started 3-0 because 2-1 would have been a challenge.

Teams get these things called breaks. See your boy Heath Miller as a prime example. Great teams take full advantage of the breaks when they're awarded to them. Cincy wasted no time in showing a killer instinct.

No, but they don't have Jerome Bettis' leadership or Bettis to spell Willie Parker this year, and as long as Ben Roethlisberger has to throw the ball, the Steelers will be in trouble.

My beef with the Miller TD wasn't the blown call -- though you can't assume Batch wouldn't have fumbled it away again. It was the fact that a tight end scored an 85-yard TE for the first time in like 30 years. But again, that was a break the Steelers took full advantage of on defense because it shut Culpepper down the rest of the night.

The Bengals have used that chant now for more than 20 years. I think they can claim some ownership to it.

And E.A. Diddle called, too, he wants the towel back.

 

Oh, Junkie, Junkie, Junkie ... don't bring a knife to a gunfight.

First, there's this ... the 1965 title game.



Then there's the small matter of the Google-like cache of images somewhere with all of the Browns infamy over the years. I'd post them, but Webby has already given Douglas enough of his money.

Then, just to go dickheadish tit-for-tat, there's this ...

 

Freelance, if your boys ever win a Super Bowl, maybe then you will understand it doesn't matter that they won it even when one of their stars played badly. If...

My point wasn't that the Bengals didn't do a great job taking advantage of the botched punt return. It was that the play was every bit as fluky as Miller's long touchdown. Actually, moreso because you could also see that as the Steelers seeing a weakness (the Dolphins trying to cover Miller with Zach Thomas) and exploiting it.

And I believe we already had the Who Dey/Who Dat debate on this board and everybody but the Bengals fans agreed that the Saints had it first. Frankly, the fact that you are fighting the Saints for ownership of anything says a lot about your team's tradition.

And as far as Roethlisberger throwing the ball, you may be right, but you also seemed to miss all of his playoff performances last year before the Super Bowl. Probably those tears in your eyes getting in the way.

The biggest reason the Steelers are 1-2 and in some real trouble this season is Roethlisberger isn't physically right and he is nowhere near his form of last season. Yes, they definitely missed Bettis Sunday when Verron Haynes fumbled a ball that the Bus would have been carrying, but a solid performance by Roethlisberger would have been enough to win that game for the Steelers.

Anybody who thinks Bettis was more important to the Steelers last year than Roethlisberger bought far too much into the hype.

And if things like leadership and character really mean something, the Bengals are in trouble. They may be 3-0, but given how things are going for them off the field, they should switch their uniforms to prison jumpsuits just to save time.

 

First off, the Bengals aren't my boys. Am I a fan? Yes, but I don't make it a point to live and die with a team, any team. I'm trying to think of the last time I used the word we when talking about one of my favorite sports teams. Maybe I was nine.

Are you seriously trying to say that the Pittsvurgh coaching staff thought they could score on such a play? I could see utilizing a weakness for a potential big gain, but not a scoring play from 85 yards out.

And teams have been waving towels for more than 50 years. The Steelers weren't the first, so don't think you have a monopoly on being original.

There are three things I remember from last year's playoffs:

1. Carson Palmer's horrific injury
2. Ben Roethlisberger's graceful stumble and game-saving tackle in Indianapolis
3. 9 for 21

Something else to consider. Here are Big Ben's stats from his last two regular season games against the Bengals: 47-80-3-6 for 594 yards. Not sure what the passer rating would be for such stats, but it wouldn't be good.

When Roethlisberger leads this team to a Super Bowl let me know.

First off, the Bengals off-season was shameful and the team has taken steps to ensure stupid, reputation-breaking incidents are a thing of the past -- Odell Thurman notwithstanding. But let's look at Pittsburgh.

The Steelers' starting quarterback was so reckless in his offseason that he has put the Steelers post-season chances in jeopardy. Everyone knows Roethlisberger is not OK, and no one knows when he will be.

None of the Bengals' transgressions appear to cost the team any games. You can't say that about Ben's motorcycle ride.

 

Yes, 4th-and-26 ... gave me the following weekend off instead of sending me to Charlotte. 4th-and-26 indeed. :0

 

Not the best situation, for sure, but I think we've seen this before. Last year the Bengals dominated the Steelers, who committed four turnovers, and held on late to win on the road, on their way to a division title. And we saw how far it got them in the playoffs.

As for your comments about Roethlisberger, this is what I remember from the playoffs ...

At Cincy -- 14 for 19, 208 yards, 3 TD, 148.7 rating
At Indy -- 14 for 24, 197 yards, 2 TD, INT, one huge tackle, 95.3 rating
At Denver -- 21 for 29, 275 yards, 2 TD, rushing TD, 124.9 rating

... In other words, he led them to a Super Bowl with seven touchdowns, one pick and the plays you would hope a quarterback would make in big games. He led them there, and any comments otherwise are simply ridiculous to anyone who knows the game.

As for "If not for the fluke Heath Miller TD, Pittsburgh would be 0-3," that comment didn't come as much surprise. Bengals fans have made lots of "If not for ..." comments since that playoff loss. We don't deal with hypotheticals, though.

 

Not sure if this has been posted somewhere yet, but Alexander will miss next week's game at Chicago and maybe more:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_FBN_Seahawks_Alexander.html

 

Hey, that magazine came out the day after I was born!

 

Boy, is your life gonna suck. ;D

 

;D

 

Have the first two MNF's had the same opening sequence? The one with Ashton Kutcher and people running through a city as football players with carefully placed GMC logos?

(I've worked on Monday's the last two weeks.)