Steelers pound Bengals

Okay, today's Cincinnati Bengals loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers was not as bad as my title suggests. The score was 24-17. But the Bengals on the Steelers first two drives were pounded by the Steelers offense. Those drives resulted in two touchdowns. The defense could not stop Benji Roethlisberger. And when the Bengals needed to stop the Steelers in the third quarter, the couldn't.

Rookie QB Andy Dalton had two picks. One bounced off Andre Caldwells' hands. We've seen that before. And the second which killed the Bengals came as they were driving in the fourth quarter. The receiver was supposed to be Jerome Simpson. Color man Dan Fouts suggested that Simpson may have given up on the route. Maybe the defensive back jumped the route. Either way, it was a pick. Game over.

A.J. Green was hurt on his spectacular TD catch. The radio interview after the game indicated that he was okay. But cornerback Leon Hall left the game with an achilles injury. He maybe done for the year. This is the NFL so injuries are part of the game. Next man up. The Bengals will need Pacman Jones aka Adam Jones next week.

I guess the positives are that the Bengals can play with the Steelers. There were five sacks without Carlos Dunlap. They did tie the score after all. That's also the assessment of head coach Marvin Lewis. Now, the Bengals need to learn how to beat them. But I hate losing to the Steelers. Next up, the division leading Baltimore Ravens.