Bengals-Steelers Week 6 meeting more of a litmus test than rivalry game for Cincinnati It’s Steelers week.You know this. You’ve KNOWN this.
It’s hard to miss. The radio talks about it
Renell Wren Jersey 2019 , local television tries to relate to it, and the interwebs are saturated with it. Sports Illustrated once called it The Nastiest Rivalry in
the NFL, featuring linebacker Caleb Miller knocking out Hines Ward — the prick
with a condescending smile who applied cheap tactics with blindside blocks — on
the cover. This cover story, mostly examining Cincinnati’s 28-20 win over the
Steelers in late September 2006 (after which we asked if the “Steelers were
feeling sorry for themselves”), came out long before Vontaze Burfict played in
college, before Steelers players threatened to “paint that boi on sight,” before
Joey Porter mouthed off at the Bengals, causing Adam Jones to overreact
(actually he’s been doing that and jumping players like Levi Jones at Las Vegas
casinos for a while), before Mike Tomlin jawed at Reggie Nelson — who had his
hair yanked by coach Mike Munchak in another game. Or was it the same game? Who
can keep up?Nothing else can be said to emotionally levitate this rivalry. No
feelings stirred or emotions expressed. We could rant and rave about how much
the Steelers suck, or how nauseous Steelers fans can be. The rivalry between
these teams was once defined as nasty, and has festered cancerously in recent
years. Colossal hits that once imprinted week-long bruises started threatening
individual seasons with torn ligaments or broken jaws, if not careers. Ending a
career is never purposeful, but the punishment being waged carries explosive
momentum. Biter rivalries have existed long before the Bengals and Steelers,
from the 49ers (or Eagles) and Cowboys, Eagles and Giants, Patriots and
Colts
Renell Wren Jersey Mens , Bears and Packers, Cowboys and Steelers, or the Raiders and Steelers. There’s nothing special about this one. Even the Browns and Bengals
had an unconquerable rivalry (at least in our minds) that led to one of the most
iconic moments in Bengals history: You know about this rivalry against the
Steelers. You’ve breathed it, lived it and emotionally reacted to it. It’s not
going away anytime soon. While this rivalry adds emotional fuel for players and
fans (and stories for the media) Sunday’s game against the Steelers is really a
litmus test for the Bengals for a number of reasons. There’s much to
overcome:Pittsburgh is the dominant leader in the division — they’ve won the AFC
North championship in three of the last four years, and reached the postseason
in four consecutive seasons. Pittsburgh has won six straight against Cincinnati,
and nine out of the last 10. Only four of those 10 losses were one possession
wins. Since Marvin Lewis became the Bengals head coach in 2003, Cincinnati has
only won eight of their last 32 (.250) against Pittsburgh. NOTE: Dave Shula went
1-8 against the Steelers; Sam Wyche went 10-6. Cincinnati enters Sunday’s game
with momentum, coming off a powerful comeback win over the Miami Dolphins,
building on a narrative not unlike a resistance to losing. They’ve staged
comebacks against the Colts, Falcons, and Dolphins, hung-on by a thread against
Baltimore, compiling an improbable 4-1 record. They’re winning games they’ve
normally lost. A resistance to losing. Andy Dalton is on-pace to have a career
year in yards and touchdowns (38) — it’s surprising he’s only surpassed 30
touchdowns once in his career (2013). A.J. Green is on-pace for a career-high 16
touchdowns and Tyler Boyd is on-pace to have a career year in, well, everything.
Geno Atkins is adding to his Hall-of-Fame resume, while rookies Sam Hubbard and
Jessie Bates are making impressions of their own. Defensively the Bengals are on
the edge of a bi-polar personality — they bend and break
Youth Renell Wren Jersey , but they’re building late momentum to hold off opposing offenses just enough to inspire Cincinnati’s offense. Miami was a great matchup
for the defense, touchdowns and stops, but it felt like an aberration more than
a trend. Perhaps I’m wrong. In fact, I often am. But, Pittsburgh is a walking
shit-show. They were 1-2-1 at one point, tying the Cleveland Browns during the
regular season opener, with losses to the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore
Ravens. The Steelers secured wins over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta
Falcons, both of whom have a combined 3-6 record. In addition, they’ve had a
migraine-inducing experience with the Le’Veon Bell’s contract situation and
unstable Antonio Brown’s drama (most recently, lawsuits). They have their demons
to deal with. If Cincinnati becomes AFC North champions, with grand plans beyond
first-round byes, it all starts here. Week 6 against the Steelers; Steelers
week, if you will. The rivalry is the rivalry — which might transition from a
player-fueled narrative to one that the media pile-drives into the ground (a la,
mullets).This is just one game. An important one game in the division and at
home. You have to win those. You definitely have to win the games against
Pittsburgh. Not for pride. Not for a rivalry. It’s about the bigger picture.
Although, it would be nice to see the Bengals kick the Steelers’ ass. The
Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers are both looking for new head coaches and
as the NFL season comes to an end, more head coaching jobs are going to open up.
The prevailing opinion is that in a league that is obsessed with
offense
White Renell Wren Jersey , hiring an offensive minded head coach is the best course of action. While hiring a talented offensive coordinator as your head coach has
its advantages, it is not necessarily the best decision and that coach will need
some help.The hottest names of prospective NFL head coaches are Oklahoma head
coach Lincoln Riley and Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.
Both coaches are known for their dynamic offenses. Riley was the Sooners’
offensive coordinator previously and he has coached two Heisman Trophy winning
quarterbacks in two years since becoming the head coach. The team has been
incredible on offense, but unimpressive on defense. A team may pursue the young
phenom trying to duplicate the success that the Los Angeles Rams have had with
Sean McVay. Bieniemy is the offensive coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs, and
has a major hand in making sure that offense has continued to fire on all
cylinders even after former offensive coordinator Matt Nagy left for Chicago to
lead the Bears. Head coach Andy Reid obviously has a prominent role in designing
the offense, but a franchise will target Bieniemy to try to duplicate the
success that the Bears have had after bringing in Bieniemy’s predecessor in
Nagy. The Rams and the Bears have something else in common. Both young offensive
coaches have experienced and well-respected defensive coordinators. McVay
brought Wade Phillips to Los Angeles from the Denver Broncos and Nagy was
fortunate enough to inherit Vic Fangio in Chicago. Some people will look at what
Riley has done at Oklahoma and reason that is it okay, because defense doesn’t
matter in the NFL anymore. They are wrong. Defense still matters in the NFL. For
him to have success in the NFL, he will need to take a page from McVay’s book
and find a talented defensive coordinator to partner up with. So are offensive
minded head coaches the best? Offensive coordinators tend to know a system very
well. The best offensive coordinators are innovative and get the most out of
their players. But there is more to it than that.If an offensive coordinator
makes a bad call, it generally leads to second down; maybe a punt; maybe a
turnover. If a defensive coordinator makes a bad call, it is often a touchdown.
As a result, defensive coordinators tend to be big-picture thinkers. This gives
them an advantage when they become head coaches. They have a better
understanding of how a team should function and where wins come from.Offensive
coordinators do have a major advantage though. As Bengals head coach Marvin
Lewis put it earlier this season:What Lewis is talking about here is how the
head coach has to be around to make important decisions when the offense is on
the field whether he is the play caller or not. It is different on defense,
because the offense is the one making these decisions and defense is simply
reacting. If they are going for it on fourth down, the defense stays on the
field. There is no head coach needed for that decision. It has been dictated by
the other team.As a result offensive coordinators can easily remain offensive
coordinators after they become head coaches, but it is much more difficult for
defensive coordinators. This means even if he are not the most equipped to be a
head coach, the team who hires a great offensive coordinator as their head coach
will at least get a great offensive coordinator. Defensive coordinators turned
head coach may be heavily involved in the game plan as Bill Belichick is, but at
the end of the day they generally give up the defensive coordinator duties, so
they can be involved in decisions that need to be made when the offense is on
the field.The other advantage that offensive minded head coaches is providing
consistency to the offense. Take the Atlanta Falcons for example. The Falcons
offense was incredible and nearly won them a Super Bowl with Kyle Shanahan as
their offensive coordinator in 2016. Predicatively
Nick Vigil Jersey White , Shanahan became a head coach the very next season, and the Falcons offense has not been the same since. The Bengals had
impressive offensive seasons with both Jay Gruden and Hue Jackson. Both became
head coaches shortly after. If a team’s offense is run through their head coach,
this does not happen. Defensive head coaches must make sure they are developing
their assistants. They must make sure they have a good defensive coordinator who
they can trust and can hand the reigns to. They also must make sure they have a
talented offensive coordinator, but that is not enough. They must makes sure
they are developing coaches behind him to take his place when the team has
success. That brings me to a crazy thought: what if a team had multiple play
callers on offense? The offensive coordinator calls the plays, but the head
coach or a key assistant makes a separate (but overlapping) game plan. This
comes with two advantages. For starters, this ensures that there is another
experienced play caller being developed if the offensive coordinator leaves.
Secondly, it provides flexibility during the game. Think about the success that
offensive coordinators tend to have shortly after they take over. Bill Lazor
with the Bengals, Freddie Kitchens with the Browns and Kevin Stefanski with the
Vikings all became coordinators midseason and had instant success. This is
because there was no film of their offense — it changed the teams tendencies
overnight. Imagine being able to do that in the middle of the game. The
offensive coordinator would have to have no ego to realize that the opposing
defensive coordinator had his number and subsequently hand off play-calling
duties, but this is a pretty simple halftime adjustment. In fact, it’s so simple
that they wouldn’t even have to wait until halftime.Offense or Defense?At the
end of the day, the safest thing to do is to hire a great offensive coordinator
as head coach. If he is as good as advertised he should at least give his new
team a great offense. If they are going to help a team compete for a
championship, they will need help from a great defensive coordinator. Hiring a
defensive minded head coach can also give a team a chance to compete for a
championship, but because their ability as head coach depends more on their
management ability, it is harder to determine who will be most successful. It is
important that defensive minded head coaches be able to hire and develop
coaches. This way they will be able to replace the coaches they lose when the
team is successful. Losing a talented offensive coordinator could prove
catastrophic if they do not have a pipeline of coaches being developed.
