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September 29, 2006

She Said/He Said

You know, this may be counter to the whole point of this debate forum, but I kind of agree with you.

They were pretty loose in the locker room today. And they were pretty loose at practice as well; it seemed like there was a good amount of joking going on while they were stretching, though that also could have been because we were in the fieldhouse so noise is amplified.

For all the talk this week about the Bengals' receivers -- and they are good, don't misunderstand me -- the Steelers exposed some of the team's warts last week. I think this game will be won in the trenches, especially since Cincy's starting center, Rich Braham, is out of the game with a knee injury and the O-line lacks cohesion (Carson Palmer was sacked six times by the Steelers). And if their O-line isn't that great, then I see New England's D-line dominating.

Conversely, Cincy's D-line isn't doing so hot either. The Bengals are giving up over 113 yards rushing per game, and 24 of the 62 (39 percent) first downs by their opponents have come on the ground (compared to 11 of 47 or 24 percent for the Pats) which has to have Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney jazzed. And don't forget, there's also Dillon's history with Cincy giving some added incentive.

Rodney Harrison said this week that Rudi Johnson is as key to Cincy's offense as the receivers because "the running game sets up the passing game and vice-versa." That works for both teams.

But I think the key to this game is New England's defense getting involved. If the defense can put points on the board, it's in the bag.

I think it will be a close game, but the Pats can win.

Pow.

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 2:31 PM | Permalink

Comments

Posted by: JoJo at September 30, 2006 2:59 PM