Steelers-Bengals Preview

[redlegsfan21]

By MIKE VOTTA
Bill Cowher's long tenure as coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers may be coming to an end this weekend.

Cowher could be coaching his last game Sunday when the Steelers visit a Cincinnati Bengals squad fighting for their playoff lives.

Cowher has coached the Steelers (7-8) since 1992 and is currently the longest-tenured coach in the NFL. He said on Tuesday that he would make an announcement about his future after the Bengals game.

"That's for next week," he said Tuesday. "We'll talk about that next week. It won't go long. I'm not sure what the time frame is. But I think the most important thing is to be focused on this game."

Cowher took over the Steelers from Chuck Noll, who coached the team from 1969-91. He led the Steelers to two Super Bowls, winning a championship with a 21-10 victory over Seattle last season.

However, Pittsburgh's title defense did not go smoothly. The Steelers dropped six of their first eight games this season, and last weekend's 31-7 loss to Baltimore eliminated them from playoff contention.

"Our goal is to go down there and get this taste out of our mouth and, more importantly, finish the season at 8-8," Cowher said. "We'll do that. Playing Cincinnati with a game like that, there's a lot at stake, just pride-wise. It's always been like that."

The Bengals (8-7) still have a shot at the postseason, but they will need some help. Thanks to losses at Indianapolis and Denver in its last two games, Cincinnati must beat Pittsburgh to remain alive in the playoff race.

If the Bengals win and the New York Jets lose Sunday at home to 2-13 Oakland, Cincinnati would earn a wild-card berth. They could also earn the wild card with a victory, combined with a Denver loss at home to San Francisco and a Kansas City win over Jacksonville.

Sunday's loss to the Broncos was especially frustrating. The Bengals scored on a Carson Palmer pass to T.J. Houshmandzadeh with 41 seconds to play, but botched the snap on the extra point of a 24-23 defeat.

"It was a tough way to lose a football game," Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis said. "That play at the end was not why we lost the game. We continue to hurt ourselves."

Palmer completed 21 of 40 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns but was intercepted twice and sacked twice. He threw for just 176 yards and no scores the previous week against the Colts.

Running back Rudi Johnson ran for 129 yards and a touchdown but lost a fumble, while receiver Chad Johnson let a pass bounce off his chest on third-and-21 and fumbled to kill another drive.

"It was real tough, but we didn't play well enough to win the game," Chad Johnson said. "This loss was a lot more than just a bad snap."

Center Rich Braham, who hasn't played since suffering a knee injury during the second game of the season, will retire after Sunday's game. Braham, whose career spanned 13 seasons, is currently the longest-tenured Bengals player.

The Steelers' loss to the Ravens ended a three-game winning streak. Running back Willie Parker, who had 355 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns in the previous two games, was held to just 29 yards on the ground.

"You want to get out there and make the playoffs and make a run at it," quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. "We felt that we were playing our best football the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately, it didn't work out ... but we're going to come back better."

Roethlisberger won 27 of his first 31 starts and became the youngest quarterback at age 23 to win a Super Bowl last season. However, he has had a rough time since winning the title, getting into a near-fatal motorcycle accident in June, suffering an appendicitis attack the first week of the season and later a concussion.

He has thrown just 17 touchdown passes and 22 interceptions this season.

"It was tough, frustrating," Roethlisberger said. "At least you know it will be awfully hard for next year to be any worse next year."

One of the few bright spots was the return of safety Troy Palamalu, who returned after missing the previous three games with a knee injury.

As bad as the season been, Pittsburgh would love to end it by knocking the Bengals out of the playoff race.

"Misery loves company," Cowher said. "And we're looking for company."

The Bengals beat the Steelers 28-20 on Sept. 24 in the teams' first meeting this season. Palmer threw four touchdown passes, while Roethlisberger was intercepted three times.

However, the Steelers knocked the Bengals out of last season's playoffs with a 31-17 victory on Jan. 8.

http://sports.myway.com/news/12272006/v2419.html

[redlegsfan21]

By JOE KAY

CINCINNATI (AP) -Joey Porter tried to end the suspense and get an answer for the question that all of Pittsburgh is asking.

A few minutes after the Steelers knocked the Cincinnati Bengals out of playoff contention with a 23-17 victory in overtime Sunday, the emotional linebacker cornered his head coach - the one he kissed after a victory early in the season - and asked if he was staying.

"Today was the first time anybody put him on the spot," Porter said. "I asked him. He said he doesn't know. We love the guy regardless."

Cowher later walked through the locker room with a peaceful smile on his face and his black, double-breasted jacked comfortably unbuttoned. He stopped to embrace one player, then another, for a little chitchat about the game.

They all wanted to know the answer to the overriding question.

"They brought it up to me," said Cowher, who is 161-99-1 overall in 15 seasons at Pittsburgh. "It's hard when I see those guys.

"I know where I'm leaning. I want to make sure I'm thinking clearly about it. I'm not burned out. When I make a decision, it's a well-thought-out one. I'm not a hindsight kind of guy."

While the Steelers waited for an answer, the Bengals (8-8) were already deep into hindsight about a season gone horribly wrong.

They were first in line for a wild-card playoff berth with three weeks , but wound up shut out of the playoffs by an 0-3 finish. A week ago in Denver, a bad snap on an extra-point attempt with 46 seconds to play prevented them from clinching a spot.

There were more mistakes galore against the Steelers (8-8), who beat them in the playoffs last season. Shayne Graham was wide right on a 39-yard field goal try with 8 seconds left in regulation.

On the third play in overtime, Ben Roethlisberger threw a pass to Santonio Holmes, who eluded three defenders and dived the final few yards into the end zone, completing a 67-yard touchdown play.

Another bad kick and another defensive breakdown finished Cincinnati off.

"That's just another game we shouldn't have lost to another team we feel were better than," said Carson Palmer, who rallied the Bengals with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes.

Four hours after their loss, the Bengals got more reason to feel bad about it. Denver's 26-23 loss to San Francisco meant that Cincinnati would have gotten the AFC's other wild card, had Graham made the field goal with 8 seconds left.

The Bengals won the AFC North last season with a consistent offense. Their playoff run ended in their first game, when Palmer's left knee was shredded by Kimo von Oelhoffen's hit on his first pass at Paul Brown Stadium.

Fans are still riled by that game - Cowher stole Cincinnati's "Who Dey" cheer afterward as part of the Steelers' locker room celebration - and hung a banner from the upper deck that said: "We Haven't Forgotten."

They won't soon forget one of the biggest meltdowns in franchise history.

"I never in a million years thought we'd be sitting at home during the playoffs, with the talent we have," running back Rudi Johnson said.

If this was Cowher's finish in Pittsburgh, it was one worth remembering.

Palmer threw touchdown passes of 66 yards to Chris Henry and 5 yards to Tony Stewart in the fourth quarter, then hooked up with Henry on a 47-yard completion that put the Bengals in range for the win.

Graham, the most accurate current kicker in the NFL, pushed the field-goal attempt a few feet wide, leaving the Bengals crestfallen. Cowher had called a timeout just before the kick, making Graham think about it.

"I felt really good about it," said Graham, who missed for the fifth time in 29 attempts this season. "I hit the ball and there wasn't a doubt in my mind that it was good. Then I saw the way it veered off to the right."

All Roethlisberger needed was three plays in overtime to end the Bengals' faint playoff hopes.

After Holmes darted through defenders for the winning touchdown, Roethlisberger ran down the field with his index fingers pointing toward the sky and his mouth agape with joy, looking for someone to hug after a rare, joyful moment.

Roethlisberger became the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl last season, but had little more than bad news this time around - a motorcycle accident in the offseason, followed by an appendectomy and a concussion.

The Steelers then celebrated in the end zone after ending the Bengals' season.

"That's why everyone was smiling and happy," running back Willie Parker said. "If we don't go, they don't go." ^

Notes:

Parker's two scoring runs gave him 16 for the season, one more than Louis Lipps' previous franchise record from 1985. ... Cowher is 21-9 against the Bengals, his most victories against any team. ... Roethlisberger was 19-of-28 for 280 yards. For the season, he threw for 3,513 yards - second-most in team history - with 18 touchdowns and 23 interceptions, both career highs. ... Palmer threw for 4,035 yards, a club record. ... In the last three games, receiver Chad Johnson had a combined 10 catches for 122 yards. He didn't score a touchdown in the last six games.

http://sports.myway.com/news/12312006/v7604.html