*BENGALS @ PITTSBURGH Prediction Thread

[supersteeler]

The playoffs start Sunday for our Steelers and I have to believe they are up to the task. This might be the best Bengal team we faced in some time, however we get the job done and have a happy Holiday!

STEELERS........20
BENGALS.........13

[SuperSize]

Steelers 24
Bengals 13

[BradshawsHairdresser]

If we can generate any kind of a pass rush?
Steelers 24
Bengals 17

If we can't?
Bengals 31
Steelers 24

[flippy]

Good Guys - Infinity
Criminals - Negative Infinity

[Oviedo]

Bumgals 27
Steelers 24

Still trying to figure out who is going to cover AJ Green? Unless we figure out that getting to the QB is the only way to win and we actually do it versus 3 and 4 man rushes Green will have a big day.

[RuthlessBurgher]

I predict we pull it off. Whether it's by 1 or 40 it doesn't matter to me, as long as we get the dubya.

[hawaiiansteel]

Still trying to figure out who is going to cover AJ Green?

AJ Green is a handful for anyone to cover, but Keenan Lewis matches up pretty well with him and I'm sure he'll have safety help over the top.

[RuthlessBurgher]

AJ Green is a handful for anyone to cover, but Keenan Lewis matches up pretty well with him and I'm sure he'll have safety help over the top.

Yeah, if we were relying on the likes of Brown/Victorian/Golden/King, I'd be extremely worried. If Ike was available, not so much. With Lewis & Allen both listed as probable, I think we have a shot here.

[skyhawk]

Sunday will be the Seahawks and Bengals super bowl. I am a little concerned of the changing of the guard here.

If we can't force turnovers, Dalton will have a field day on the score board. Bengals will be going for stripping the ball, gotta hold on to it. This strategy can hurt them though if they don't wrap up and Dwyer et al can get some big gains.

Steelers have to play perfect games anymore to get the W's including special teams. I am not sure they are capable of doing that right now.

[flippy]

Yeah, if we were relying on the likes of Brown/Victorian/Golden/King, I'd be extremely worried. If Ike was available, not so much. With Lewis & Allen both listed as probable, I think we have a shot here.

I think we'll be fine with Keenan and Cortez too. I'd put Allen on Green and give him help over the top and leave Keenan 1 on 1 opposite. Allen's every bit the athlete that Ike is. Allen blanketed Gronk last year and I think that's a tougher matchup for any corner.

The thing to remember here is Cincy has 1 weapon - Green. Lebeau can take 1 guy away from a team no problem. With or without Ike. At the same time, we need to contain their running game and their TE. Cincy is just so 1 dimensional, I see them struggling offensively against us.

[hawaiiansteel]

Lewis has Bengals’ Green in his crosshairs

By F. Dale Lolley
dec 21, 2012

http://ORweb.SX2.atl.publicus.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=OR&Date=20121220&Category=SPORTS0403&ArtNo=121229921&Ref=AR&q=100&maxw=550&maxh=500

Steelers cornerback Keenan Lewis winces in pain during the second half against the Cowboys Sunday.

PITTSBURGH – The Steelers completed their Pro Bowl voting this week as they continued to prepare for Sunday’s critical game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

For cornerback Keenan Lewis, the voting might have come a week too early.

If Lewis plays the way he thinks he can for the Steelers (7-7) Sunday against the Bengals (8-6) at Heinz Field, he might prove he belongs among the best in the AFC. How? By keeping Cincinnati receiver A.J. Green in check.

The Steelers need to win their final two games to make the playoffs, and Lewis figures he’ll play a large role in them getting to the postseason if that happens.

“There’s really no slowing him down,” said Lewis. “I’ve got to go home and watch tape. I told Mike (Wallace), ‘Don’t come to my house this week.’ I’ll watch a lot of tape on him, see the things he likes and things he dislikes and try to go from there.”

With Ike Taylor out for the third consecutive week with a hairline fracture in his ankle, Lewis said he has the task of lining up opposite Green, who has 85 receptions for 1,208 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Lewis was limited in practice Wednesday with a hip injury suffered last week in a 27-24 overtime loss at Dallas. He sat out practice Thursday after slightly twisting his knee in practice Wednesday as he prepares for his toughest assignment of the season.

“I’m good,” Lewis said. “I’m still playing. I’ll be ready to go on Sunday”

With the way he has played this season, keeping Green from single-handedly beating the Steelers would just be icing on the cake for Lewis in his first season as a starter.

“I wouldn’t put everything on Keenan,” said Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau. “He’s got to play well, but so do the other 10 people out there.”

Lewis, who was the Steelers’ nickel back last season, leads the NFL with 26 pass deflections and has been a key part of the NFL’s best pass defense.

“He’s another long cornerback,” Green said of Lewis. “He has long arms. He is playing very well. I am going to have to be patient on my releases and keep his hands down.”

Green figures to be highly motivated against the Steelers after they held him to one catch for eight yards in a 24-17 victory in Cincinnati Oct. 21. That one catch went for a touchdown, but Green was largely a non-factor in the game.

“They always brought somebody up and put the safety over the top, the usual,” said Green of how the Steelers limited him.

Lewis, who was already nursing a sore hip, aggravated that injury while leaping high into the air to deflect a potential touchdown pass to Dez Bryant in the fourth quarter of last week’s overtime loss to Dallas.

Lewis slammed hard onto the turf at Cowboys Stadium and tried unsuccessfully to lobby head coach Mike Tomlin to put him back into the game.

It was nothing new for Lewis, who suffered a shoulder injury in training camp that was supposed to sideline him for at least a week. Lewis, who was fighting for a starting job with Cortez Allen, didn’t miss a practice.

“You can’t get off the field and give someone else an opportunity that I don’t want to pass up, so I just have to fight through these injuries and make it through,” said Lewis.

“I’m playing, no matter what. Even if it’s a pull or whatever, I’ll tape it up and be ready to go. You gotta play. The playoffs start now.”

Odds and end zones

In addition to Lewis and Taylor, safety Troy Polamalu (coach’s decision) did not practice Thursday. … Offensive tackle Mike Adams (ankle) was limited. … Defensive end Cam Heyward, wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders and defensive end Al Woods, who were either limited or did not practice Wednesday, were full participants Thursday.

http://www.observer-reporter.com/article/20121220/SPORTS0403/121229921#.UNZKbM2FEmw