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http://hosted.stats.com/fb/preview.asp?g=20171204004&home=4&vis=23

 

(TSX / STATS) -- The teams can't pretend it will be just another game when the Pittsburgh Steelers visit the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night in an AFC North showdown.

 

"It's another game, but it's Pittsburgh, and they're leading our division," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. "They beat us up there. They're coming here, and it's a big football game for us because we don't get any more do-overs."

 

The Steelers won the clubs' first meeting in Week 7 at Pittsburgh, 29-14.

 

Both teams are coming off Week 12 wins.

 

The Steelers (9-2) are currently riding a six-game win streak and have beaten the Bengals (5-6) five straight times. Pittsburgh was on the winning side against Cincinnati eight out of the past nine meetings.

 

Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown enters the game playing at an MVP level. He leads the league in receptions (80) and yards (1,195). Six times this season, Brown eclipsed the 100-yard receiving mark, though he did not top 100 yards against the Bengals.

 

Brown has faced the Cincinnati defense 15 times in his career, 14 regular-season games and one playoff game. He went over 100 yards only three times in those contests, most recently in the playoffs after the 2015 season.

 

Brown has just five receiving touchdowns against the Bengals.

 

The 2017 Cincinnati pass defense has been very strong and will look to slow Brown and the Steelers passing attack again.

 

Cincinnati ranks fifth in the NFL in pass defense, only allowing 203.8 yards a game. The Bengals are 10th in the NFL in points allowed at 19.5 per contest, so they figure to put pressure on Pittsburgh's offensive line and running back Le'Veon Bell.

 

Bell leads the NFL in rushing at 981 yards. He is poised to pass the 1,000-yard mark on a season for the third time in his five-year NFL career.

 

Getting a mere 19 yards Sunday shouldn't be a problem as the Michigan State product is facing a Bengals defense that is 28th in the NFL at stopping the run, allowing opponents an average of 126.6 yards a game.

 

The Bengals finally had their own strong showing in the run game last week in a 30-16 win over the Cleveland Browns. Led by rookie running back Joe Mixon, the Bengals churned out 152 rushing yards.

 

Finding that same freedom against the Steelers will not be so easy. The Pittsburgh defense only gives up an average of 96 yards per game on the ground, which ranks sixth in the NFL.

 

The Steelers' defense is ranked fourth in the league points allowed at 17.5 a contest.

 

If the Bengals are going to win, quarterback Andy Dalton needs to make big plays in the passing game, especially to wide receiver A.J. Green. On paper, Pittsburgh pass defense looks stalwart, ranking third in the NFL by only allowing 193.4 yards a game. But the Steelers' secondary has been gashed by big pass plays all season.

 

In Pittsburgh's 31-28 win over Green Bay on Sunday, Packers quarterback Brett Hundley threw three touchdown passes of 39 yards or longer. The Tennessee Titans scored on a 75-yard touchdown pass against the Steelers. The Indianapolis Colts scored twice on passes of 60 yards or more, and the Detroit Lions' Matthew Stafford threw for 423 yards against the Steelers with two completions of 40 yards or more.

 

"You can't give up chunks on defense and give yourself chances to win," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said after the Green Bay game. "We were able to overcome those things. We were probably fortunate, but it's also probably a good sign of the group in terms of we're a good enough team to kind of overcome those things.

 

"We got enough togetherness to stay on task, but obviously we got to minimize some of those things. Some of those things have been issues for us in multiple games, particularly the big plays of late, so obviously that has to stop yesterday."

 

While Steelers need to eliminate giving up big plays on defense, the Bengals need Dalton to have a consistent, turnoverfree night.

 

The Pittsburgh offense should look to ride the legs of Bell, as the Bengals' defense has fared well at containing Brown. Cincinnati can't allow a different Steelers receiver or Bell to have a big game.

 

 

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JuJu back in the lineup tonight. Our defense will continue to struggle, but not to the point of losing us the game.

 

:Steelers: 30

 

:Bengals: 24

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I have to pick Pittsburgh to win this one too but with all the bad blood in this rivalry and how much these coaching staffs know each other anything could happen. Especially with the way Pittsburgh's secondary has struggled like Sarge pointed out.

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If Cincy wins this game I'll be shocked. It'll also make the AFC race a clustercuck so I'm kind of hoping for maximum chaos.

 

:Steelers: 25

:Bengals: 20

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Oh man, Shazier.... that looked bad. :(

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I haven't seen the play. What happened?

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The NFL needs to reign in this concussion/CTE thing or nobody's going to watch in 5-10 years.

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The NFL needs to reign in this concussion/CTE thing or nobody's going to watch in 5-10 years.

You think itll get that bad ?

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He has some movement in his lower body so it looks like he will be ok most likely. Still got another 24-48 hours before that is determined however. If he dodges this severe injury I'd think about not playing the rest of the year to make sure he heals up properly.

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I was talking to someone today. We have got to teach these kids:

 

Dont fucking lead with your helmets.

 

It's at the root of basically everything concussion related- and other severe injuries can also happen as we saw last night. ATL and others might claim the NFL is getting too "pussified" with the rules, and I am annoyed when ticky tack personal fouls are called, but leading with the helmet should just be an automatic personal foul, offense or defense. It's the only way you'll get the coaches to teach them to quit leading with their fucking helmets.

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Do you think kids aren't getting taught that today? I have no problem with focusing on it or drilling it into their heads or whatever you want to call it -- but I think it's going to be impossible to eliminate. All it takes is one outlawish player on one play... With 1700 players in the league and approx 15,000 regular season snaps.. It's just gonna happen -- sometimes intentionally and sometimes not.

Edited by Olenna4Ever

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I doubt his intention was to lead with his head. To deliver any kind of power you have to lower and lead with your shoulder while wrapping your arms for a secure hit, which you cannot do without lowering your head. But the Bengal player turns and it results in Shazier's head going straight into the player's back/side.

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Vontaze is the single dirtiest player in the league and should be fuckin' banned. I was his biggest fan coming out of college, but every week there's a new reddit thread on some nasty shit he pulled. I fucking LOVE JuJu, holy hell. He Hines Ward'd Burfict's ass and I, for the first time, was happy to see someone injured. Hope Shazier is alright, but Vontaze can get fisted—karma if I've ever seen it.

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Burfict being a dirty fuck almost as bad as that time your LB broke Huber's jaw :shifty:

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You think itll get that bad ?

 

I don't know. I may have overreacted. But if we start seeing NFL players get carried off the field on a stretcher on a weekly/monthly basis, fans will start tuning things out.

 

I think the next wave of concussion protocols for the league will be adopting the targeting penalties/ejections that college football is using. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, only that it's on the NFL horizon.

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I fucking LOVE JuJu, holy hell. He Hines Ward'd Burfict's ass and I, for the first time, was happy to see someone injured. Hope Shazier is alright, but Vontaze can get fisted—karma if I've ever seen it.

 

JuJu is a real Steeler now. He may be a rookie, but he put a big stamp on this rivalry. Truthfully, Burfict is lucky he got drafted the same year Ward retired. He would have been dealt with a long time ago if Hines were still playing.

 

 

I don't know. I may have overreacted. But if we start seeing NFL players get carried off the field on a stretcher on a weekly/monthly basis, fans will start tuning things out.

 

I think the next wave of concussion protocols for the league will be adopting the targeting penalties/ejections that college football is using. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, only that it's on the NFL horizon.

 

I agree with you; this is inevitable, only a matter of when.

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http://hosted.stats.com/fb/story.asp?i=20171207151137813529710&ref=hea&tm=&src=NFL

(TSX / STATS) -- Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier underwent spinal stabilization surgery Wednesday night on the heels of the injury he sustained earlier in the week, the team announced Thursday.

"(University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) neurosurgeons and Pittsburgh Steelers team physicians Drs. David Okonkwo and Joseph Maroon performed spinal stabilization surgery on Ryan Shazier to address his spinal injury," the Steelers' statement said.

The team initially said that Shazier, 25, would not require surgery.

The Steelers have not released any information about whether Shazier has any movement in his legs, or whether he is expected to make a recovery.

A Pro Bowl selection last season, Shazier was injured during Monday's 23-20 win versus Cincinnati while making a tackle on Bengals wide receiver Josh Malone with 11:14 remaining in the first quarter. Shazier hit Malone low with his shoulder pads, then immediately reached for his back while his legs remained motionless.

Shazier was transferred from University of Cincinnati Medical Center to the Pittsburgh hospital on Wednesday.

He leads the team in tackles (89), interceptions (three) and pass deflections (11) this season.

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If targeting ejections are implemented, it has to be decided at the same central location that reviews are decided. I don't want the inconsistency of 16 different whitehats making that call. Fuck that shit. Guys like Hochuli, Cheffers, and Boger would be ejecting guys for nothing constantly.

 

The college game can't even get it right. Obvious non-targeting gets called targeting and results in ejections almost every time that call is made.

Edited by BwareDWare94
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If targeting ejections are implemented, it has to be decided at the same central location that reviews are decided. I don't want the inconsistency of 16 different whitehats making that call. Fuck that shit. Guys like Hochuli, Cheffers, and Boger would be ejecting guys for nothing constantly.

 

The college game can't even get it right. Obvious non-targeting gets called targeting and results in ejections almost every time that call is made.

This I could live with if the targeting rule makes it to the NFL. The more of a games outcome that's left up to officials is bad though. I'm not going to get all over the refs. A lot is asked of them and it's not easy to make some of these calls in real time. We have the benefit from watching on TV every angle available.

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