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Chidi29
11-10-2010, 03:37 PM
We always make games interesting. It wasn't just one side of the ball that hurt us either. You saw mistakes on both sides of the ball that added up. Be it the interception by Ben, all the penalties on the defense, the missed field goal by Reed. Not a good omen as we face a more talented team like New England.

* I don't have the last five minutes of the 3rd quarter and the whole fourth quarter taped. Forgot to change the clock on my VCR for daylight savings. Arizona is mocking me...

First Half
- Reed's times: 4.15 (7), 3.65 (2 - Ugly kick), 4.1 (9), 4.2 (16 - long return), and a squib

- Good for Sanders to get some revenge, forcing a fumble on the opening kickoff.

- Way to punch it in on the goalline after struggling last week. Really good push from Kemoeatu.

- Ran the defensive version of a stunt on the punt block. Flowed a couple of lineman to the left, and Gay came around to where they orginally lined up. The upback took the bait, providing support to block the lineman and Gay came in free. Power of the 'stache, Al Everest!

- I'm thinking Sanders ran the wrong route on an incomplete pass to the end zone. Looks too close to Ward. He should be running to the outside and corner of the end zone to give one-on-one on both sides.

http://i56.tinypic.com/15ecuiu.jpg

The two blurs at the top of the screen are Ward and Emmanuel.

- Battle had a nice move to get past the wedge and be the first guy down on a kick. A special teamer who doesn't get recognition.

- El and Sanders were sent back to return a punt. First time I've seen that.

- Starks orginally went out the play before Reed's 25 yarder, the play in the link above.

- Chris' leg got rolled into. That's happened countless times this season. We've seen it happen to Starks, Flozell a couple times, Essex, and Scott.

- Pouncey said that was the worst pain he had ever felt in his life. Dodged a bullet.

- We had to move Legursky to C and Scott to LG, who hadn't played there before, after Kemoeatu went out.

- Gay with no chance on Owens' first touchdown. Troy rolled Chad's way and Owens gave Gay a slick double move to get free.

- Looks like Starks ended up playing through his initial injury, possibly worsening it, because it came down to either him or Spaeth play tackle. Once Pouncey came back, Scott replaced Starks.

- Coverage played well except for one blip. Bernard Scott had a long kick return. No one could get off their blocks. Couple of pictures.

http://i56.tinypic.com/258ma1i.jpg
http://i52.tinypic.com/2zjc8k6.jpg

You can see Mundy getting double-teamed into the ground at the bottom of the second picture.

Second Half
- Timmons was on punt coverage.

- Allen's concussion came with 6:40 in the 3rd, making a tackle on a punt.

- Ran a TE screen by design but Ben never looked that way. He threw it to El who never got his head around. Not sure what Ben saw. I orginally thought he was thinking about trying to counter a blitz, but the Bengals backed off their pre-snap blitz look.

- Jonathan Scott struggled as usual. Beat to both the inside and outside and has been a waist bender all season. Buckle up, it's going to be a long ride.

- Farrior had a couple really nice plays: the sack on Palmer and a hit on Benson are examples of that. But Cincy really seems to have his number in general against the run. Their guards really do a great job of getting to the second level and not letting him shed blocks. If you play against him long enough, you'll eventually be able to figure out how to neutralize him. Their running game has more success than most and part of that stems from familarity.

- Jason Worilds was all over the field on special teams. Three tackles on the night.

Ben only had 20-30 yards passing in the second half.

Sacks
- 3rd and 11, 13:33 left in the 3rd: Heavy blitz look pre-snap, and they brought a corner and safety blitz. Ben steps up to avoid the safety but instead of rolling out to the left, he turns back into the safety (who obviously wasn't going to get magically picked up). Interesting to note that despite lining up on the left side, Redman moves to his right to block the corner. Pretty sure he was the safety unless Starks masked him. Would think you'd stay on Ben's blindside, but I'm not really sure how the design works. Randle El also couldn't get open on the slant.

http://i52.tinypic.com/24zx0m0.jpg

What's interesting to note is that I think this is the same play we ran last week which resulted in a sack and I gave Ben flack for not looking to his hot.

http://i51.tinypic.com/fcr9k7.jpg

Looks like the same play with a slant to the left and Ward going down the seam. Ben correctly looks to the slant against the blitz, but the WR (Looks like Randle El) can't get any seperation. Ultimately, I blame it on El and a little on Ben for running back into the rush. I'd rather him go to his left and either wait for something to open up or throw it away than take a sack.

Sack Counter (Week)
1. Ben Roethlisberger: .5
2. Wide Receivers: .5

Sack Counter (Season)
Flozell Adams: 2
Ben Roethlisberger: 2
Chris Kemoeatu: 1.5
Dennis Dixon: 1
Jonathan Scott: 1
Tony Hills: 1
Max Starks: 1
Heath Miller: .5
Mewelde Moore: .5
Wide Receivers: .5

Injuries
There's a lot of them.

Max Starks has a neck injury that landed him on IR.

Chris Kemoeatu has a sprained knee and ankle. Tomlin is hopeful he'll be able to get some practice in late in the week and will be able to play on Sunday night. For what it's worth, Chris was standing and doing interviews after the game.

Maurkice Pouncey has a leg bruise. Returned right before halftime and he'll be fine.

Brett Kiesel aggravated his hamstring injury. Played only the first two series before going to the bench. Tried to work it out on the exercise bike but obviously couldn't. Cold weather didn't help either.

Will Allen, Mewelde Moore, and Issac Redman suffered concussions.

Heath Miller has fluid in his knee. Not much of a concern though.

Formations
Empty: 1
Pony: 2
FB: 8

Roster Moves
Starks was put on IR. Chris Scott, a rookie guard from Tennessee, has been activated from the PUP list after fracturing his foot over the summer.

HollywoodSteel
11-10-2010, 05:15 PM
You say that Chris Scott is a guard. I thought he was a tackle.

Chidi29
11-10-2010, 05:18 PM
You say that Chris Scott is a guard. I thought he was a tackle.

He was mainly a tackle at UT, but he's played everywhere. Even took reps at center in practice.

At his size and lack of mobility, I figure he'll kick inside to guard.

Slanted August
11-10-2010, 07:27 PM
Nice Recap Chidi

Austin87
11-11-2010, 03:12 AM
Good stuff Chidi.

HometownGal
11-11-2010, 05:37 AM
You know your stuff, young man, and I always enjoy reading your analysis', editorials and posts! :drink: Excellent! :applaudit: