TURNOVERS SINK MIAMI
MIAMI - Normally, Chad Pennington treats the football with as much care as his two young sons.
In his first season with the Miami Dolphins, Pennington threw seven interceptions in 476 attempts.
When Baltimore picked off four in a 27-9 victory in the AFC Wild Card game, ending Miami's magical season Sunday at Dolphin Stadium, it was more a case of the Ravens imposing their will than Pennington's carelessness.
"No. 1, they have unique concepts they use," Pennington said. "No. 2, they have excellent athletes within these concepts. When you put these things together, you've got a chance to be real successful as a defense."
Of the four picks, Pennington regretted throwing only one. It wasn't the one Ed Reed returned for a touchdown that gave the Ravens a 10-3 lead the Ravens never relinquished. Or Reed's second, after the Dolphins had marched to the Baltimore 12-yard line late in the third quarter in an attempt to slice into a 20-3 deficit.
It was the one by former Bayshore High standout Fabian Washington intended for Davone Bess on the third play of the second half, when Miami received the ball down 13-3.
"It's a huge challenge for an offense, and I was looking forward to the challenge," Pennington said.
Now, he's looking forward to his second season in Miami.
Exiled from New York after the Jets acquired Brett Favre, Pennington spearheaded one of the NFL's biggest turnarounds. The Dolphins went from one-win laughingstocks to the playoffs.
"It's been magical," Pennington said. "That's why it hurts even worse, because I wanted to keep this thing going and do not good things, but great things. They have supported me since the first day I walked into this locker room."
And it wasn't going to change after his worst outing.
"Chad's been our leader since Day 1," rookie offensive tackle Jake Long said. "I'm not going to say anything bad about Chad."
"If it weren't for him," wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. said. "We wouldn't be where we are right now."
Miami's lone takeaway got the Dolphins off to a good start, but it could have been better.
Joey Porter recovered a fumble, and Pennington drove Miami to the Ravens' 1, but the Dolphins failed in two chances to convert a touchdown, setting for a field goal.
"We had a lot of opportunities," Porter said. "We didn't take advantage of the opportunities we had."
After Baltimore tied it with a field goal, Reed made his first pick, flagging down an overthrown ball. He turned, cut to the right and picked up a caravan of blockers who paved the way for his 64-yard TD.
"It started to look like a punt return," Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said.
Down 13-3 at halftime, the Dolphins' backbreaking turnover might not have been a Pennington interception, but a Patrick Cobbs fumble that was secured by Terrell Suggs.
"They were doing more to stop us than we were stopping ourselves," Cobbs said. "When we sputtered, they had a lot to do with it."
Four plays later, Le'Ron McClain scored from 8 yards out, giving the Ravens a 20-3 cushion.
The Dolphins, who set a record for committing the least amount of turnovers (13) in a season, made five.
"That's not how we won 11 games," Porter said.
Copyright (c) 2009 HeraldTribune.com
Mangini has Favre to thank for pink slip
He was a Man-genius five weeks ago.
On Monday, to play off the New York Post's brilliant nickname, he became Canned-gini.
I'm not going to say Eric Mangini's firing as New York Jets head coach was shocking. That's an adjective better used to describe such wonders as Wade Phillips still having a job and Detroit promoting two front-office executives after an 0-16 season. Nonetheless, Mangini had posted a winning record in two of his three seasons and received a vote of confidence for 2009 as recently as March from team owner Woody Johnson.
The tap-dancing Johnson wouldn't specifically say why he reneged on his word during a Monday morning news conference. He instead used clichés like, "It's a judgment call," and, "We had to go in a different direction. There's nothing specific."
Come on. The cause couldn't be any clearer: New York (9-7) didn't make the playoffs after losing four of its final five games, including Sunday's 24-17 home clunker against new AFC East champion Miami.
Here's where the debate gets interesting. Why did the Jets nosedive and is Mangini, like coaches often are under such circumstances, being made a scapegoat for the failures of others?
Let's start the blame game with Brett Favre. Green Bay's management was ridiculed for trading Favre after New York jumped to an 8-3 start. But concerns that a 39-year-old quarterback would fade down the stretch were one of the reasons he was dealt.
That assessment was one of the few things Green Bay got right in 2008. Favre had two touchdowns and nine interceptions in New York's 1-4 stretch. He was particularly awful in what may have been his final NFL game, committing three turnovers against the Dolphins (including an interception that was returned for a touchdown).
Mangini and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer unsuccessfully tried to curb Favre from throwing an NFL-high 22 interceptions by stressing discipline and patience. Besides saying "pretty please," what else could the duo do? Even with his late-season shoulder pain, benching an icon like Favre was never a viable option - especially with 2006 draft bust Kellen Clemens as the alternative. The Jets were locked into playing Favre - warts and all - from the minute he began wearing a new shade of green.
This leads us to the general manager who pulled the trigger on the Favre deal in August: Mike Tannenbaum. He hoodwinked, err, convinced Johnson into signing off on a Steinbrenner-esque spending spree that netted veterans like Alan Faneca, Calvin Pace, Damien Woody and Kris Jenkins. Those offseason moves created the modest expectation that New York could rebound from a 4-12 record and make the playoffs. By then acquiring an aged legend who admittedly could be playing in his final season, the stakes were raised to Super Bowl-or-bust proportions.
"Expectations were set so high for us," tight end Dustin Keller told Jets media Monday. "They should be."
But while trying to buy a championship in one season may work in other sports - i.e. the 2007-08 Boston Celtics - it doesn't fly in the NFL. Just ask Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder. Or, better, try talking to the front offices for the top four seeds in this year's playoffs. Tennessee, Pittsburgh, Carolina and the New York Giants were built primarily through the draft.
Like with any team, there are players who didn't come through when it mattered most. Keller, who had emerged as Favre's favorite receiving target, hit the rookie wall with only eight catches in the final four games. Outside linebacker Vernon Gholston ran smack-dab into it from the get-go. The draft's No. 6 overall pick, Gholston couldn't even get on the field playing special teams, let alone defense. That forced the Jets to stick with outside linebacker Bryan Thomas, who had one sack in the final 11 games.
Mind you, none of this gets Mangini off the hook. He allowed the Jets to become too fat and happy around Thanksgiving after back-to-back road victories against archrival New England and previously unbeaten Tennessee. A defensive specialist, Mangini couldn't schematically patch a shaky secondary or fix problems stopping the run between the tackles that didn't exist earlier in the year. An 0-4 road record against West Coast teams that didn't finish with winning marks was inexcusable, especially a 13-3 loss to Seattle in Week 16. That game made Jets fans long for the days of Rich Kotite. Mangini made bad coaching decisions and rubberstamped Schottenheimer's pass-happy game plan on a snowy day. Favre was sacked four times and intercepted twice on 35 attempts, while AFC rushing leader Thomas Jones received only 17 carries. And let's not even get started on how the Jets underutilized Leon Washington in the backfield.
Perhaps the final straw was Mangini's strained professional relationship with Favre. As reported exclusively Sunday by FOXSports.com's Jay Glazer, Mangini's tendency to emphasize minutiae with players during weekly game preparation didn't fly with a headstrong quarterback notorious for having shaky study habits.
Had Mangini stayed, Glazer believes Favre was a goner. Maybe Favre would have retired (again) regardless. Maybe he still will. After the Dolphins loss, Favre said he didn't have a timetable and a decision wouldn't be made for at least a week.
By then, the Jets will be well into their head coaching search. That means Favre will be under more pressure than he ever faced in Green Bay toward making a quick judgment about his NFL future.
Whoever gets the Jets job will want to know whether Favre plans to play, his commitment to participating in an off-season program and if his problematic right shoulder requires surgery. Heck, that coach may not even want Favre back no matter how many No. 4 Jets jerseys the NFL sells.
In turn, a returning Favre could heavily influence who is hired as Mangini's replacement. Favre isn't afraid to speak his mind on that front. In 2006, Favre lobbied the Packers to hire Steve Mariucci for the spot that went to Mike McCarthy. Mike Holmgren, the only coach who won a Super Bowl with Favre, also is on the market even though he vows not to coach in 2009.
With a veteran roster in place, Jets ownership will be expecting a deep playoff run from Mangini's replacement in 2009. It doesn't take a genius - or Man-genius - to figure that out.
2008 Fox Sports Interactive Media, LLC
Reeling Broncos try to regroup from two-game slide
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Tatum Bell didn't talk to anyone the rest of the night. Brandon Stokley lost sleep thinking of the catches he couldn't quite snare.
Even Monday, the bewildered Denver Broncos were still agitated over letting a chance to capture the mediocre AFC West slip away with a 30-23 loss to Buffalo.
Now, they're trying to salve their psyche in time for their all-or-nothing game at San Diego on Sunday night. The winner goes to the playoffs, the loser begins a long offseason.
The Broncos (8-7) had what seemed to be a tight grip on the division, three games ahead of San Diego (7-8) with three to go. But they haven't been able to secure their first playoff berth since 2005, tumbling in two straight games.
Meanwhile, the energized Chargers have won three in a row, including a rout at Tampa Bay on Sunday that followed their stunning 22-21 rally at Kansas City two weeks ago.
No wonder San Diego is considered a big favorite.
"They should be," defensive lineman Ebenezer Ekuban said after the game Sunday. "We're going to go into a hard environment and hopefully we can have a better showing than we did this week. We still just have to win one game to get to the playoffs. It's just magnified by 100 right now."
The mood in the locker room following the loss Sunday was somber.
The players were still sullen the next day.
"Frustrating. Disappointing. Mad. Angry. All of those words," Stokley said of his emotions as he watched film of the game Monday. "We have no choice but to move on ... We can't let this affect us anymore."
Broncos coach Mike Shanahan is hopeful his team can bounce back after failing to clinch a playoff spot the last two weeks.
"Everybody is disgusted," he said. "I hope everybody feels that way or they're not made of the right stuff."
Denver's already battered backfield took two more hits as P.J. Pope (hamstring) and Selvin Young (neck) added their names to a lengthy list of injured tailbacks. Both were placed on injured reserve Monday.
The team has now lost seven running backs this season.
"This is crazy. I've never been a part of anything like this," Bell said.
Denver is expected to bolster its depth at tailback by activating Cory Boyd off the practice squad and signing Alex Haynes, who was waived by the Broncos on Nov. 22.
Pope went to the sideline in the first quarter with a torn left hamstring. He's expected to be out six to eight weeks.
An MRI on Monday revealed Young had a ruptured disk, which he said happened in the first quarter. He attempted to play through the pain given the Broncos' scarcity at tailback.
"I just said I'm going to try to finish this," Young said.
That's what the Broncos are attempting to do now. Set the Bills loss aside and concentrate on the Chargers.
"You can't survive in this league if you can't put that behind you and move on," linebacker Jamie Winborn said. "It's not like we lost the game and are going home next week. We've got an opportunity. All it takes is a win this week and it doesn't matter what we've done all season. We'll be back in the hunt, 0-0 with everyone."
The Broncos blacked out news of the San Diego game on Sunday, preferring to earn their way into the postseason.
They've got their wish.
"We are where we are and we've got one game left and that's the one we have to go get," Stokley said. "We did a lot of good things yesterday."
Such as gobbling up 532 yards of offense, nearly double that of the Bills.
However, receiver Brandon Marshall had a costly fumble, Jay Cutler threw an ill-advised pass that was intercepted at the goal line late in the game, and the team had to settle for short field goals twice in the first half after driving inside the Buffalo 15.
"The only people who can stop us are ourselves," Marshall said after the game. "Our offense is dangerous, it's explosive, but we've got to prove it on Sunday. We know what we've got in the locker room."
So it's forget their late slide.
"Everybody is pretty down still," Bell said. "We felt like we should've had that game. We didn't finish them ... Everybody has got a bad taste in their mouth. We know what we have to do."
(c) Copyright 1995-2008 Union-Tribune Publishing Co
Loss hits Ravens where it hurts
BALTIMORE - Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh shook his head in disbelief and disgust on the sideline, incredulous at what had just transpired while spitting out words as he sought a rational explanation from officials following Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes' controversial game-winning touchdown.
"Obviously it was a disappointing loss, in some ways heartbreaking," Harbaugh said following the Ravens' 13-9 loss to the Steelers last night that crowned Pittsburgh as AFC North division champions for the second year in a row. "We wanted to do a lot of things that we didn't get done. We came up short. They got it done. They're the division champs. Now, it's our task to make the playoffs."
Outside linebacker Terrell Suggs acknowledged that he would have a restless night, losing sleep over another debatable ending that damaged the Ravens' playoff outlook.
And middle linebacker Ray Lewis took no comfort from the Ravens' generally sterling performance against their hated rivals who won for the first time in Baltimore since 2002.
Not after hearing referee Walt Coleman announce following an instant-replay review that Holmes got both feet inside the end zone with control of the football for the game-winning, four-yard touchdown catch with 43 seconds remaining. Overruling the original decision before 71,502 at M&T Bank Stadium allowed Pittsburgh to cap a decisive 92-yard drive engineered by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's clutch passing.
This setback means that the Ravens (9-5) must travel the wild-card route to make the playoffs. Due to tiebreaker edges built on a 7-4 AFC record, they currently hold the sixth and final playoff spot, the second wild-card berth, over the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots with two games remaining in the regular season. If the Ravens win their final two games, they will definitely make the playoffs.
The deciding play was reviewed because it initially didn't appear that the football broke the plane of the goal line as Holmes tapped both cleats inside the end zone and fell forward while holding the ball.
"We lost the game, that's the bottom line, there aren't any freakin' excuses," Lewis fumed. "A million times if you play it, of course, he didn't get in, but they called it the way they called it. That didn't win or lose the game for us."
According to page 776 of the NFL fact book rules digest: "A player with the ball in his possession scores a touchdown when the ball is on, above or over the goal line."
That's where the Ravens differed greatly from the officials.
"It didn't look to me like the ball broke the plane, that's what I saw," Harbaugh said. "He didn't give me an explanation. It's my understanding that the ball has to cross the plane. We'll be looking forward to hearing if that's a fact. I asked for an explanation, but no one was explaining too much at that point in time."
Despite the Ravens' protests, Coleman was adamant that his crew got the call correct after head linesman Paul Weidner initially signaled Holmes as not scoring a touchdown. That decision drew affirmation later via telephone from NFL director of officiating Mike Pereira.
"He had two feet down and completed the catch with control of the ball breaking the plane of the goal line," Coleman told a pool reporter. "Yeah, the ball was breaking the plane. When he gained control of the ball, the ball was breaking the plane and then he fell into the field of play. But to have a touchdown, all you have to have is a catch, which is the two feet down, possession and control of the ball breaking the plane."
Regardless of the call, the fact remains that the Steelers (11-3) drove the football nearly the length of the field against the NFL's second-ranked defense with the game on the line.
In 12 plays, Roethlisberger manufactured an epic drive at the end as he completed 7 of 11 passes for 89 yards on the game-winning march.
"All game they didn't make plays," Lewis said. "One drive they did."
Roethlisberger scrambled to his left, then reversed field back toward his right to find Holmes over the middle for a touchdown in front of free safety Ed Reed. He also connected with Nate Washington and Hines Ward for 24 and 10 yards to set up a first-and-goal at the Ravens' 4-yard line.
"This was your typical Ravens-Steelers football game," Roethlisberger said. "I've got cuts and bruises as do other guys in our locker room, and I'm sure they do. It was physical, low-scoring, just like everyone thought it was going to be."
After two incompletions, Roethlisberger hit Holmes to put it away following the instant-replay review. During that drive, he peppered the Ravens' secondary with cornerback Fabian Washington sidelined with a hamstring injury.
"You got to ask yourself, 'Why put the ball in the officials' hands?'" Suggs said. "We shouldn't have put them in position to make the call. We had been dominating all game and then they made a couple plays. We had our backs against the wall. I'm going to have a hard time sleeping tonight. But I'll get over it in the morning and get ready for Dallas.
"We played good, but you got to play great against the Steelers. It was the biggest game of my career. This is the first time I ever lost to them in Baltimore. I thought it would be another day at the office for us, but it didn't turn out that way."
In a defensive duel between the league's two top defenses, Pittsburgh didn't allow a touchdown and held the Ravens to a season-low 202 yards of total offense.
The Steelers haven't allowed 300 yards in 14 consecutive games, tying the 1973 Los Angeles Rams for the longest streak to start a season since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.
Afterward, the Steelers bellowed in their locker room: "We're still the No. 1 defense! We showed you boys how to play defense!"
Rookie quarterback Joe Flacco had one of his worst games of the season at the most inopportune time. He completed just 11 of 28 passes for 115 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions for a 22.2 passer rating.
Driving down the field in the fourth quarter prior to the Steelers' final drive, Flacco was sacked at the Steelers' 28-yard line on third down by linebacker Lawrence Timmons when he burst past running back Willis McGahee on a flubbed block. McGahee recovered the fumble, but it forced the Ravens to punt it back to the Steelers.
And Roethlisberger took full advantage of the opportunity.
Added Harbaugh: "They got a big sack when they had to at the end of the game, then took the ball down the field and scored. That's the way they've won games."
Copyright (c) 2008 Capital Gazette Communications, Inc
Sports Monday: Race to the Finish
Last week in this space, I all but conceded the AFC East to the New York Jets. That was awfully foolish of me. There isn't any team in the history of the NFL that blows their chances more than the Jets. Call them the Boston College of the NFL.
After the Ravens win last night, it's not looking good for a wild card team coming out of the East, so with three weeks to go and a three-way tie between the Jets, Pats, and Dolphins, we have a frantic fight to the finish, as they say on the TV.
The Jets still have the edge by the faintest of margins with a 3-1 record in the division (Miami and New England are both 3-2), but the Dolphins are set to invade the Meadowlands on the final day of the season, which plays to the Pats advantage.
Let's take a look at the next 21 days.
Week 15
Buffalo at Jets
San Francisco at Miami
New England at Oakland
All three teams will be favored, and should win rather easily. The Bills look like they've had it, the 49ers are playing better, but coming East for a 1 p.m. game is a death wish for teams on the west coast, and the Raiders are toast. If anyone loses this week it will be a killer. Let's assume the status quo.
Week 16
Arizona at New England (9-5)
(9-5) Miami at Kansas City
(9-5) Jets at Seattle
Holy trap games! Ironically the best opponent, Arizona, probably will have the worst odds. Even Cardinal super-fan Will Leitch concedes his team has no chance of winning at the Razor. If I was the Dolphins I would be very wary of playing the Chiefs at Arrowhead this late in the season, and we all know that playing the Seahawks in Seattle is no easy task.
Still, it would be entirely keeping with the Jets history to get a win there, setting up the greatest of all disappointments...
Week 17
(10-5) New England at Buffalo
(9-6) Miami at Jets (10-5)
The day of reckoning. New England ekes out a win in the snow of Buffalo, while in the Meadowlands, operating out of the Wildcat formation, Ronnie Brown fakes like he's going to call a timeout and then throws a quick out to Greg Camarillo for the winning score. Pats win the division, Fireman Eddie cries, and the Dolphins narrowly miss the playoffs.
With the third seed, the Pats get Baltimore at home to open the playoffs, but it ends the following week at Pittsburgh. Matt Cassel then gets a huge deal to become the starting quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers.
The hot stove really starts this week with the winter meetings in Las Vegas. I've come around on going after Mark Teixeira and Derek Lowe and a minor league pitcher like Michael Bowden for Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
Theo Epstein has a strong, not perfect but strong, track record in dealing prospects, and I just can't see them giving up on Clay Buchholz this soon, or even consider dealing Justin Masterson. Bowden, on the other hand, has never projected as a top of the rotation ace and his value may never be higher than it is right now.
If there was one under-the radar pickup I would like it would be a one-year high-money offer for someone like Ben Sheets. (Credit to Josh Enos in my BU class for coming up with that one).
What are your Sox scenarios? Let us know.
It was nice of the Globe to give the Bruins some front-page ink, but to suggest that anything other than a winning record has sparked their revival is being a bit disingenuous.
All the credit in the world to Peter Chiarelli for building a bad-ass team in the old-school B's image and coach Claude Julien for making it work, but all the marketing plans in the world don't mean squat when you've got the same old product on the ice.
Boston College cheap shots notwithstanding, I do have empathy for those who thought this time was going to be different. In reality, the Eagles played well above expectations this year, and if you had offered the scenario that they would win the division and play in the Music City Bowl a lot of BC backers would have gladly signed on.
Now Heights watchers will hold their breath that super-linebacker Mark Herzlich won't depart for the NFL, but whatever the kid decides, coach Jeff Jagodzinski has the program headed in the right direction.
Copyright (c) 2008 Metrocorp, Inc. All Rights Reserved
NFL to review tussle between players Sunday
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -- The NFL plans to review the tussle between Patriots tackle Matt Light and Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder for possible discipline.
Light punched Crowder several times after the Miami player shoved him on a New England field goal late in Sunday's 48-28 win over the Dolphins.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the incident would be reviewed by NFL director of football operations Gene Washington this week, but that no decision would be made Monday. He said reviews are standard for such on-field incidents.
Coach Bill Belichick declined comment Monday on the incident.
Copyright (c) 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The Cincinnati Bengals will wreck your team
The Cincinnati Bengals will wreck your team
The NFL is the NFL because gamblers make is so. One of the reasons why the NFL is priceless is the emphasis being placed regarding a potential touchdown with time expiring that would have increased the points in which the Steelers beat the Chargers. If it's a touchdown, the Steelers win by eight points (or seven, if a PAT isn't attempted). If it's not a touchdown, the Steelers win by one point. In the end, the bigger argument of the touchdown, non-touchdown, is playoff seeding. Yet it's one of the headlines you woke up to this morning, with a shiny Peter King smile. "$100 million was bet on this game alone, with $66 million of that bet on the Steelers. The Steelers were four-point favorites. Instead of winning 17-10 or 18-10, the Steelers won 11-10. Thus they didn't cover, much to the angst of gamblers around the United States."
King isn't supporting the argument, instead addressing the conspiracy theorists. I realize there's a lot of money involved here, but touchdown or not, the Steelers win the game. Yet, controversy, some going as far as saying the game was fixed. The NFL is priceless, people that observe the sport, but with the love for the greatest sport in the world.
Then again, I've always been a dreamer, enjoying antique movies where the good guy wins, makes out with the hot girl, and the the villain is less a threat than a Stormtropper locking his blaster at any member of the Skywalker/Solo clan.
Bengals aren't just spoilers. They'll completely wreck your team. The Bengals really screwed things up in Philadelphia. In the matter of two weeks, the Bengals forced End of Era talk in Philadelphia and the odd circumstances involving middle linebacker Mike Peterson's celebration of a sack, which earned him two go-homes during practice, deactivated the following week with a $10,000 fine, and now backup linebacker / special teams contributor. Fans are turning on Peterson.
Thank you, the lords of almighty payback. Even though the Bengals are, well, the Bengals, no one-sentence recap required, a death of chivalry and thus Bengals agnosticism becomes of us.
To like cats, one must show equality. As tremendously pleasant as it has been to watch the Bengals, joining you crazy cats every Sunday afternoon with chicken sandwiches being washed down with (several) two liters of Mountain Dew, it's been as enjoyable watching the University of Cincinnati Bearcats impose their will through the Big East, using five quarterbacks randomly, though not by choice, rather chance.
With the Cincinnati Bengals being 1-8-1, playing sound technique on how to tie football games, not put pressure on a quarterback, or how to call a third-down play in overtime at midfield with seven yards to go, the Bearcats are starting to receive some Queen City loving. Pitt game is almost sold out, some love Kelly's aggression, even if he's calling fans out; even the New York Times is taking notice.
Now that the masses have spoken, decidedly 61% supporting, this site to add some Bearcats talk, hoping to get the locals that haven't gotten on board with the Bearcats. Worry not, however, my nervous friends, for I will still write up 10 posts per day about our precious Bengals, but I've longed to cheer for good football for a long time now.
Steelers defense is good. Because we say so. Stuffing the Chargers to 210 yards total isn't just an accomplishment, it's dominance, considering the suddenly-stale LaDainian Tomlinson was only held to 57 yards rushing, and Philip Rivers suffered his third two-interception game this season; two in a row.
Scoring 11 points with 410 yards total offense has offensive-minded folk like me wondering; only 11 points against the league's 19th best scoring defense that allows twice the points that the Steelers scored? Maybe it was the weather. Though, the Steelers weren't given a chance to complete a 16-yard pass with two minutes left in the game to increase a 21-point lead to 28 in the fourth quarter, so they weren't able to add to their 11 points, referee screw up included.
Yes, it's Steelers week and all I can hope for is a workman like effort by the Bengals showing a little professional pride. Looking at you, Chad. Steelers fans are consumed after last night's loss, which bodes well with our chart of Bengals victims during this final stretch of the season playing under the nickname of "wreckers" if Pittsburgh players are on a similar neural track. Refs hating Steelers | Tired of apologizes. I want to know what's going on with the Steelers offense.
One can not argue, however, the Steelers ability to get to the quarterback. Four times this season, the defense sacked the opposing quarterback five times. James Harrison (12) and LeMarr Woodley (10) have combined eight games where one or the other recorded multiple sacks in one game. With Andrew Whitworth sprinting his healing process, and Levi Jones playing awful, the Bengals will have to really pull it together to compete in this one.
Even though home games are sold out, Bengals emails about Stub Hub deals still infiltrate. Stub Hub, a secondary ticketing provider for the Cincinnati Bengals, delivered an electronic newsletter trying to sell the three remaining home games this season. Not that it's unusual to receive these things, especially if you made the mistake of supply your email address thinking you're getting press releases and all that jazz when in reality the newsletters are simply articles on Bengals.com that are released, in most cases, days ago.
The opening sentence is "it's a fan's market", seemed really highlighted. Fans are generally looking for cheaper prices for their tickets, to avoid paying costly tickets and concessions, and based on the economy, boycotts and nagging wives, many have stopped going entirely. Stub Hub typically buys tickets in bulk, hoping to sell with a little charge to increase their revenues. Fans are bulking at the Bengals, while Stub Hub is making a final campaign to use words like "it's a fans market" to sell their over-purchased tickets. Classic.
Copyright 2008 Sportsblogs, Inc
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