T1B

for control of the North. if the bengals win, it puts them 2½ games up on the north. gives a young team a ton of confidence to hopefully finish strong in what is arguably the easiest schedule since the pats cira 2003.

Hopefully Roethlisburger is back and healthy, because I dont want any excuses as to why the bengals beat the steelers. If this team want to be the best, it has to beat the best. and in the north, as much as I like being at the top, pittsburg is the team to beat. and Roethlisburger, I think was held out of this game, to give him a weeks rest so that he is 100% against us. I also think T.J. was held out of the bengals game, so that he is 100%. this should be an epoch battle.

the whole key to this game comes down to TOP. Time of Posession. Who ever controls the running game is going to win. and I dont trust the bengal Run defence. but I think the offence can score enough points to force Cower to have to abandon the run. it all comes down to starting fast. teams havent figured out how to stop us from scoring, but they have slowly (for some reason) figured out that if you run right at us, we cant stop you. look for Willie or Bettis to have a big day if the steelers can get the lead and run the clock. the bengal Defence needs to stop the run, and force Roethlisburger to make bad decisions. (which he rarely does) If we can stop the run and force roethlisburger to win it, I think we have a chance.

as for a sig bet, Im all for it. your thoughts?

I'm in for a week-long sig bet. I'm glad that this game looks competitive. I'm actually tired of seeing PGH stomp division foes...things are better when there is a battle going on.

If Ben and Ward are back, it gets tough for the Bengals. The PGH defense is sick good when the offense is at least passable.

Maddox should be released by the Steelers. His days as an NFL QB are over, whether the coaches agree or not.

I'm in. This has to be some kind of first. A sig bet with a Bengals fan?

Anyway, look for the Steelers to come out PISSED OFF. If I'm still having trouble with what I saw, you can bet the players are puking while watching film this AM. Ben was begging to get in this game and Cowher wouldn't let him. That won't be the case next week. Ben being back in the game should restore some sanity to the turnover stats.

And yes, the Bengals run defense should scare their fans. They don't look so stout. Hopefuly the rest Bettis got this week was so that he'll be ready to take the rock 10-15 times in key spots this comming week.

BTW: I wouldn't be so cocky about putting the game on Ben's shoulders. He's led game tying or game winning drives in the last two games he's played and has not thrown a pick all season.

Steelers 34

Bungles 17

I never knew their was such a classic as Bengals/Steelers week? Sorry for not keeping up with the times. That said, I think it'll be a strong dose of Icky combined with the deadly play action fakes from Boomer. Collinsworth comes down with a big catch on the games final drive setting up a Jim Breech 32 yard Fg for the win.

Cin 27
Pit 24

mvscal wrote:

PSUFAN wrote:Maddox should be released by the Steelers. His days as an NFL QB are over, whether the coaches agree or not.

That really isn't fair. He was rusty and injured. Could you honestly have expected any other result?

If he was too injured to properly throw a football, he shouldn't have been out there. And if he lied about the serverity of his injury to get playing time at the expense of the team, he should be run out on a rail.

mvscal wrote:

BSmack wrote:If he was too injured to properly throw a football, he shouldn't have been out there.

Who made the decision to run him out there? Why should Maddox take the fall for Cowher's ineptitude?

Because he can't play QB in the NFL.

mvscal wrote:

PSUFAN wrote:Maddox should be released by the Steelers. His days as an NFL QB are over, whether the coaches agree or not.

That really isn't fair. He was rusty and injured. Could you honestly have expected any other result?

If you are familiar with the games that Maddox has played for PGH, this is exactly how he looked before Big Ben took over for good. The wheels were coming off badly at that point. He is simply a QB that throws a lot of picks.

Injury? He wasn't injured for this game. You missed the point - he was too injured for the laboriousness of practice. If some rust had accumulated, he has only himself to blame. A number 2 QB needs to stay in shape and be ready to come in. He had plenty of time to prepare himself...the problem is, Maddox just doesn't have the body he needs to be an NFL QB. He's too old, and it's been too long since he was in game shape - probably the last time he belonged on the field was mid-2002.

Spin this into a Cowher bash, if you choose to...those who watch the team more closely than you know better.

Cueball wrote:I never knew their was such a classic as Bengals/Steelers week? Sorry for not keeping up with the times. That said, I think it'll be a strong dose of Icky combined with the deadly play action fakes from Boomer. Collinsworth comes down with a big catch on the games final drive setting up a Jim Breech 32 yard Fg for the win.

Cin 27
Pit 24

PSUFAN wrote:

mvscal wrote:

PSUFAN wrote:Maddox should be released by the Steelers. His days as an NFL QB are over, whether the coaches agree or not.

That really isn't fair. He was rusty and injured. Could you honestly have expected any other result?

If you are familiar with the games that Maddox has played for PGH, this is exactly how he looked before Big Ben took over for good. The wheels were coming off badly at that point. He is simply a QB that throws a lot of picks.

Injury? He wasn't injured for this game. You missed the point - he was too injured for the laboriousness of practice. If some rust had accumulated, he has only himself to blame. A number 2 QB needs to stay in shape and be ready to come in. He had plenty of time to prepare himself...the problem is, Maddox just doesn't have the body he needs to be an NFL QB. He's too old, and it's been too long since he was in game shape - probably the last time he belonged on the field was mid-2002.

Spin this into a Cowher bash, if you choose to...those who watch the team more closely than you know better.

No spin needed. Cowher didn't think he'd have to throw the ball 28 times with Maddox. But the Jags shut down the Pitt run game and Cowher had no answer for that.

jiminphilly wrote:No spin needed. Cowher didn't think he'd have to throw the ball 28 times with Maddox. But the Jags shut down the Pitt run game and Cowher had no answer for that.

The answer is that the Steelers O line is just not moving bodies the way they should. It took Bettis moving the pile to get the job done in Sad Diego, and he is just not going to be able to carry the ball 15 times a week for the whole season. To be fair, Maddox acting like a complete spaz pretty much allowed the Jags to stack 8 guys in the box for the whole game. But even when Ben made the Pats and Chargers respect the deep ball, they still couldn't get much push off the line.

This is a potentialy serious issue that they had better address soon. They might well be able to run on the Bengals, but they will not beat the Colts if they cannot run the ball. And they sure as hell won't make it far in the playoffs without their A running game.

BSmack wrote:
If he was too injured to properly throw a football, he shouldn't have been out there. And if he lied about the serverity of his injury to get playing time at the expense of the team, he should be run out on a rail.

That's right, it was Maddox's fault for Rothlisberger being injured.......

Sheesh, sacrificial lamb much.....

Felix wrote:

BSmack wrote:
If he was too injured to properly throw a football, he shouldn't have been out there. And if he lied about the serverity of his injury to get playing time at the expense of the team, he should be run out on a rail.

That's right, it was Maddox's fault for Rothlisberger being injured.......

Sheesh, sacrificial lamb much.....

2 days before Big Ben gets hurt, Maddox is hobbleing around on an injured calf and expected to miss 2-3 weeks. As soon as it looks like Charlie Batch is going to be given a chance to start, Maddox pronounces himself ready to play.

That is what I am talking about.

mvscal wrote:And that is on Cowher. It was his decision to make not Maddox's. You think Rothlesberger didn't "pronounce himself ready to play" all week long?

Fine, so Cowher made a mistake. But there is a big motherfucking difference between making a personel mistake and Maddox possibly misrepresenting his condition to get out of practice. If that is true, he needs to be shown the door.

Any player worth a fuck is going to try and get in the game. It's up to the coach to figure out whether or not his presence on the field is detrimental or beneficial to the player and the team.

Any player worth a fuck is willing to put aside the pain to show up for practice so that he can be prepared to play.

My guess is that Batch wasn't even remotely ready to play.

It is quite possible that Batch wasn't prepared. It is also possible that Maddox plays a lot better in practice when he knows those big guys on the other side of the ball aren't trying to kill him.

I think Jiminphilly nailed it when he said Cowher didn't think Maddox would be put in the situation where he had to throw 28 times in that game. Cowher is also guilty of being overly loyal to certain players. I think Maddox took advantage of that.

Jerome Bettis should have been in that game. It's inexplicable that he wasn't. Oh well...

mvscal wrote:

PSUFAN wrote:Jerome Bettis should have been in that game. It's inexplicable that he wasn't. Oh well...

I'm sure he will be next week. So much for 'Flash in the Pan' Willie Parker shouldering the load.

So much for you knowing jack shit about Steeler football.

Parker will still get carries, and will still start. Bettis is still to be used as a battering ram late in games. Surely you saw this against SD.

They got away from that gameplan against JAX. The got away from their game similarly during the entirety of Tommy Maddox's starting tenure. Coincidence?

Ben will be back starting on Sunday.

BSmack wrote:
Fine, so Cowher made a mistake. But there is a big motherfucking difference between making a personel mistake and Maddox possibly misrepresenting his condition to get out of practice. If that is true, he needs to be shown the door.

So what your saying here is that Maddox should be shown the door for Cowher's fuck-up, if in fact Maddox was not 100%? Like I say, sacrificial lamb much?

Any player worth a fuck is willing to put aside the pain to show up for practice so that he can be prepared to play.

We didn't practice all week, yet we played

Sincerely,
Thomas Jones and Tory Holt

Felix wrote:So what your saying here is that Maddox should be shown the door for Cowher's fuck-up, if in fact Maddox was not 100%? Like I say, sacrificial lamb much?

No, not at all. I am saying that Maddox could very possibly have misrepresented his condition BEFORE Roethlisberger was hurt.

We didn't practice all week, yet we played

Sincerely,
Thomas Jones and Tory Holt

Comparing a WR or RB to a QB is crazy. Rare is the QB who can sit out and still lead a team on Sunday.

BSmack wrote:
Rare is the QB who can sit out and still lead a team on Sunday.

Yeah, especially one that hasn't taken a snap all year.

No doubt in my mind that Cowher prefers to take the word of a player over the pronouncement of the team physicians, who, generally speaking have the final say over whether a player is fit to play or not. Keep looking for those scapegoats Bri, eventually you'll be able to find some clause that will allow all of the blame to be placed squarely on Maddox's shoulder. Then, and only then, would the Steelers be able to cut Tommy with a clear conscience....

Felix wrote:

BSmack wrote:
Rare is the QB who can sit out and still lead a team on Sunday.

Yeah, especially one that hasn't taken a snap all year.

No doubt in my mind that Cowher prefers to take the word of a player over the pronouncement of the team physicians, who, generally speaking have the final say over whether a player is fit to play or not. Keep looking for those scapegoats Bri, eventually you'll be able to find some clause that will allow all of the blame to be placed squarely on Maddox's shoulder. Then, and only then, would the Steelers be able to cut Tommy with a clear conscience....

Did you watch the game Pinky?

Maddox plays scared....end of story.

BSmack wrote:
Did you watch the game

What the fuck does that have to do with your current whine?

No, I didn't watch it, but that would have no effect on what I've opined here.

Felix wrote:

BSmack wrote:
Did you watch the game

What the fuck does that have to do with your current whine?

No, I didn't watch it, but that would have no effect on what I've opined here.

No, but it would make me think that you might have a clue what you were talking about. I sat in a bar with 30 other Steelers fans and what we saw was Maddox pissing his fucking pants in the face of a slightly above average pass rush by the Jags. If that guy was ready to play in any way shape or form, then I'm fucking Joe Montana.

BSmack wrote:Steelers 34

Bungles 17

Do you ever, not predict a win for the Steelers? Is this your Lock of the Week? :roll:

Go fuck yourself...

BSmack wrote:
No, but it would make me think that you might have a clue what you were talking about. I sat in a bar with 30 other Steelers fans and what we saw was Maddox pissing his fucking pants in the face of a slightly above average pass rush by the Jags. If that guy was ready to play in any way shape or form, then I'm fucking Joe Montana.

Okay, he was scared.......exactly what does this change?

You're calling for his head because you seem to be of the opinion that he might have overstated his health issues. From the sounds of it, it doesn't seem it was a health issue so much as it was "Deer in the Headlights" syndrome. But why do you think this falls on his head, instead of Cowhers?

Felix wrote:Okay, he was scared.......exactly what does this change?

You're calling for his head because you seem to be of the opinion that he might have overstated his health issues. From the sounds of it, it doesn't seem it was a health issue so much as it was "Deer in the Headlights" syndrome. But why do you think this falls on his head, instead of Cowhers?

It does fall on Cowher's head. But firing your head coach over one mistake like this would be stupid. My contention with Maddox is that, if it becomes known that he was never realy hurt to begin with, or that he deliberately lied about his "recovery", he should be let go to send a message to the rest of the team. IMO, I have no trust whatsoever in Maddox as a football player. I can't imagine anyone else does either.

BSmack wrote:
It does fall on Cowher's head. But firing your head coach over one mistake like this would be stupid.

Agreed, almost a stupid as firing a player for having a bad game.....

My contention with Maddox is that, if it becomes known that he was never realy hurt to begin with, or that he deliberately lied about his "recovery", he should be let go to send a message to the rest of the team. IMO, I have no trust whatsoever in Maddox as a football player. I can't imagine anyone else does either.

You know, I've seen a lot of suppostion on your part (e.g. Maddox lied about his health), yet nothing of any substanance. Are you just assuming he lied to Cowher or do you have something that substantiates this?

Bottom line, he had a bad game.......do you really want to let him go over that.......

Felix wrote:You know, I've seen a lot of suppostion on your part (e.g. Maddox lied about his health), yet nothing of any substanance. Are you just assuming he lied to Cowher or do you have something that substantiates this?

Bottom line, he had a bad game.......do you really want to let him go over that.......

The facts of the situation speak for themselves. The Saturday before the San Diego game he was slated to miss 3-5 weeks. 4 days later he's magically fucking cured. At first I was inclined to think that he lied about how his recovery. But, after reading what PSUfan posted, I'm inclined to think he was jaking it before the San Diego game until he realized that he could get a chance to start again.

Can I prove it? Hell no. But I don't have to buy stock in the guy either.

Why is a Bengals thread going 2 pages? Man the times are changing.

UCant's 2,357th Troll wrote:Do you ever, not predict a win for the Steelers? Is this your Lock of the Week? :roll:

Lemme see, the two losses the Steelers have had were in overtime and on a last second field goal to the defending Super Bowl Champs. They haven't given me a reason to pick against them yet. So how about you jam a red hot poker up your ass and tell me how it feels?

mvscal wrote:

BSmack wrote:My contention with Maddox is that, if it becomes known that he was never realy hurt to begin with,

Why would he lie about that? What would be the point?

To be determined later. All I know now is I have absolutely zero faith in Maddox.

BSmack wrote:Lemme see, the two losses the Steelers have had were in overtime and on a last second field goal to the defending Super Bowl Champs. They haven't given me a reason to pick against them yet. So how about you jam a red hot poker up your ass and tell me how it feels?

A loss is a loss, you gushing cunt. Come Monday... would you please go jam a box of Tampax into your whiney hole after your team falls to .500?? For the love of Christ, I hope it'll prevent you from wrecking the board with your daily manstruating.

UCant's 2,357th Troll wrote:Come Monday... would you please go jam a box of Tampax into your whiney hole after your team falls to .500?? For the love of Christ, I hope it'll prevent you from wrecking the board with your daily manstruating.

So whatcha gonna do if I don't? Post some more whiny homosmack?

Ohhhh, me so scared. :roll:

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK Ucant.

Smack your opponent so hard, instead of firing back, she comes at you with tail between legs:

BSmack wrote:So whatcha gonna do if I don't?

BODE.

And where's the "homosmack" you speak of? I'm calling you a cunt, you cunt... not a fucking faggot. :roll:

Hit this cunt so hard, she doesn't even know what I hit her with... all she knows is she's knocked the fuck out.

Run along, cunt....

Raydah James wrote:RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK Ucant.

You are who you roll with. Hardly surprising that the resident styling gell absuer would be amused by this crap.

BSmack wrote:

mvscal wrote:

BSmack wrote:My contention with Maddox is that, if it becomes known that he was never realy hurt to begin with,

Why would he lie about that? What would be the point?

To be determined later. All I know now is I have absolutely zero faith in Maddox.

Unless you have Billy Volek, I would say most teams really have no faith in their backup qb.

Unrack the Steelers for keeping Maddox around because he got the team good insurance policies.

BSmack wrote: I'm fucking Joe Montana.

Better wear a rubber.

BSmack wrote: So whatcha gonna do if I don't? Post some more whiny homosmack?

No, he'll probably just register his 2,358th troll.

OK.

-Maddox, faced with the usual week of practice (and presumed inactivity), says he has a calf sprain.
-When it becomes clear that a backup will get a chance to start, he says he's all better! OK.
-Tommy goes out, and every ball that leaves his hands either is picked or should be picked.
-After the game, we are treated to some whining about a shoulder injury, and complaining from Tommy about fans booing him.

Release this fucking idiot.