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Saturday, August 14, 20102010 Preseason: Lions at Steelers
The Steelers will need to get both QB Ben Roethlisberger and QB Byron Leftwich some playing time this preseason.
Thursday, August 12, 20102010 Preseason: Panthers at Ravens
The Ravens begin their preseason at home against Carolina.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010Your regularly scheduled season
All four 2010 team schedule pages are done, and so is the combined AFC North schedule page! Take a look (and let me know if you see a mistake).
The NFL's scheduling system is very balanced; every team plays four 1st-place opponents, four 2nd-place opponents, four 3rd-place opponents, and four 4th-place opponents. What usually ends up making some schedules tougher than others is an opponent having a greatly improved season. Going by last season's W-L records, the defending division champion Bengals have the toughest schedule in the AFC North (.539), while the third-place Steelers have the easiest (.492). However, preseason schedule rankings rarely turn out to be reliable:
So, what do we know about the 2010 AFC North schedule? Here are some highlights: No need to set your watch: With no trips out west, this is a very light travel year for the AFC North, especially for the Bengals, who don't play a single game outside the Eastern Time Zone. Week 1: The Ravens open their season on Monday night in the first Jets game at New Meadowlands Stadium. They'll face former defensive coordinator Rex Ryan for the first time. Week 3: The Browns play the Ravens in the 100th game at M&T Bank Stadium. Week 4: The Steelers host division rival Baltimore without suspended QB Ben Roethlisberger. Will the Ravens snap their five-game losing streak at Heinz Field? Week 5: The Atlanta Falcons visit Cleveland Browns Stadium for the first time since their Week 17 matchup in 2002, when the Browns kept them out of the end zone in the waning seconds to clinch a playoff berth. Week 6: The Ravens and Patriots meet at Gillette Stadium in a rematch of their clash in the playoffs when Baltimore embarrassed New England by rolling up 24 unanswered points in the first quarter. Meanwhile, will Roethlisberger be back at QB to face the Cleveland Browns in Pittsburgh? Week 8: The Bengals host the Miami Dolphins on Halloween. Might be a good occasion to wear orange and black! Later the same night, the last two Super Bowl champion teams meet in New Orleans in the first of three consecutive Pittsburgh Steelers games on national TV. Week 9: Cleveland head coach Eric Mangini faces his former boss, Bill Belichick, when the Patriots come to town. Belichick is 5-3 against former assistants and 4-2 against Mangini (with the Jets). Week 10: Cincinnati heads to Lucas Oil Stadium to face the defending AFC champion Indianapolis Colts in a game that might be high scoring. Week 11: The Bengals face WR Terrell Owens's previous team, the Buffalo Bills. Week 12: The Bengals play on Thanksgiving Day for the first time in their history in a late game on the NFL Network. It's a rematch with the New York Jets, who knocked Cincinnati out of the playoffs last season. Week 13: Every team in the AFC North will play 3 divisional games in the final 5 weeks of the season. Week 14: The Ravens play the 250th game in their history in Houston on Monday night. Week 16: As they did last season, the Bengals and Chargers play a late-season game that could have major playoff implications, and this time the game will be in Cincinnati. The game is slated to be televised on NBC's Sunday Night Football (though it could be flexed out of that spot). Week 17: Every game in the final week of the season is a divisional matchup in an effort by the league to avoid meaningless games at the end of the season. The Bengals play in Baltimore, and the Steelers play in Cleveland. I can't wait to start watching these games! Which games on the 2010 schedule are you most looking forward to? Sunday, August 8, 20102010 Preseason: Bengals vs. Cowboys
One of the things I'm working on for this season is a template for game posts that will allow me to create a thread for each game, a place for fans to discuss the game before, during, and after. I think it will be a better way of posting scores than the scrolling ticker at the top of the page. When it's done, it will record the most important stats from each game (which will be useful for historical games as well). The template is coming along well, but it's not quite ready yet. So, this is sort of a placeholder for now. Feel free to leave a comment about T.O's Cincinnati debut against his old team, or about the site! Saturday, August 7, 2010Hall-of-Famer Dick LeBeau
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals have a lot of fans, but not as many as Dick LeBeau.
The last time the Steelers played in the Hall of Fame Game, in 2007, Pittsburgh's defense walked off the plane wearing Honolulu blue jerseys with a #44 in silver on the front. They were wearing the jersey of Dick LeBeau, their defensive coordinator, in an effort to lobby for his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Today, Coach LeBeau enters the Hall of Fame, and both of the teams he coached for over a decade will be well represented at the ceremony. The Bengals are in town to play in this year's Hall-of-Fame Game against Dallas, while the Steelers interrupted training camp so that players and coaches can attend. To the Steelers and Bengals, Dick LeBeau is a genius, director of a Bengals defensive unit that went to the Super Bowl and creator of the zone blitz that allowed the Steelers to dominate in the 1990s and win two Super Bowls in the past five years. Moreso than that, he is a person players respect as a mentor, whom many of the Steelers affectionately call "Coach Dad." "Everything he touches, he leaves it better than he found it. That is the special mark of the man," recalls Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis. Dick LeBeau is starting his 52nd consecutive season in the NFL as a player or coach. But his induction into the Hall of Fame is for his playing career with the Detroit Lions. LeBeau was part of a stifling Detroit defense that was ranked in the top 5 of the league eight times in one decade. His 62 career interceptions remain the Lions record and are tied for the 8th most in NFL history. He holds the record for consecutive starts at cornerback with 171, a record that will be very difficult to match at such a physically demanding position. Fans today may have forgotten, but Steelers LB James Farrior explains that he and the rest of the Steelers defense are experts when it comes to LeBeau's career accomplishments as a player: "In the defensive meeting room, he'll talk to us about it. He'll always be showing us some of his highlights, some of his old interceptions. He's got 62, so he's got plenty of tape to show us. He's always talking to the DBs, telling them they have a long way to go. It's all in fun. But you'll never hear him talk about it out in public." Tonight in Canton, the soft-spoken LeBeau will get to talk about his playing career in public. He might prefer to let those whose lives he impacted speak instead. But there wouldn't be enough time. Sources: Pro Football Hall of Fame; Ray Fittipaldo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Monday, May 24, 2010Offseason player moves
It's time to start getting this site ready for the new season! I've added a new sidebar on the right side of the page to keep track of all of the player moves in the division. By default, it displays all four teams' transactions by date, but if you click on one of the team abbreviations, it will show you that team's entire roster grouped according to category:
Take a look at it, and let me know what you think. More importantly, let me know if it works! I tried to put some new Javascript skills to use with this, and it's quite possible some bugs remain. I'm going to continue working on the site over the summer as time allows. Thanks for visiting! Saturday, April 24, 2010Notes from draft day 2
The second and third rounds of the 2010 NFL Draft took place on Friday.
After trading their third and fourth-round picks to Arizona for 3-time Pro Bowl WR Anquan Boldin in the offseason, the Ravens were low on picks. They remedied that by trading their first-round pick to the Denver Broncos for picks in the second, third, and fourth rounds. (The Broncos used the pick they got from the Ravens to draft Florida QB Tim Tebow.) According to Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome, the coaches and scouts met on Friday before the draft resumed to decide on a wish list of five prospects. They got three of them: Texas DE Sergio Kindle, Alabama DT Terrence Cody, and Oregon TE Ed Dickson. "Not only did we get the players that we liked, but we filled some needs," said Newsome. "To be able to rush the passer, that’s what Sergio can do for us. To be able to stop the run, that’s what Cody can do. And right now, we only have two tight ends on the roster, so to be able to get Ed Dickson is another need." The Steelers chose Virginia Tech DE Jason Worilds with their second-round pick. Though Worilds played defensive end in Virginia Tech's 4-3 defense, the Steelers plan to put him at linebacker in their 3-4 scheme, as they have done with many draft picks over the last several years. Pittsburgh chose Southern Methodist WR Emmanuel Sanders with their third-round pick. The trade of Santonio Holmes to the Jets means that the Steelers will likely need Sanders to help out along with Hines Ward and Mike Wallace this season. The Cincinnati Bengals addressed both defense and offense on day 2, selecting Florida DE Carlos Dunlap in the second round and Texas WR Jordan Shipley in the third. The Browns ended up with four picks in the second and third rounds, thanks to their trade of WR Braylon Edwards to the Jets last season and some wheeling and dealing during the draft. Cleveland chose Oregon safety T.J. Ward and Tennessee RB Montario Hardesty in the second round, then selected Texas QB Colt McCoy and Arizona State tackle Shawn Lauvao in the third round. The drafting of Colt McCoy may have created the most buzz on day 2 of the draft. The Texas Longhorns QB set NCAA records for highest pass completion percentage in a season (77.6%) and most winning starts for a QB in Division I play (46). Many experts expected him to be chosen in the second round of the draft, but Cleveland picked him up in the third round. It was reminiscent of the Browns' trade up to grab Brady Quinn late in the first round of the 2007 draft. Of course, Cleveland fans are hoping that McCoy fares much better than Quinn in future seasons. Weird trivia: Colt McCoy's roommate at the University of Texas was WR Jordan Shipley; the two ended up being drafted with consecutive picks by teams in the same state. They'll likely get to see each other in every Battle of Ohio. Friday, April 23, 2010Draft night 2010
The 75th NFL Draft is underway! For the first time, the league scheduled the first round on a separate day in prime time. It's amazing how big an event the draft has become, considering that it consists of waiting for the commissioner to walk up to a lectern and read a name. Of course, it's through the draft that championship teams are built.
Here's how the first round went for the teams of the AFC North: With the 7th overall pick, the Cleveland Browns chose CB Joe Haden of the 2008 BCS champion Florida Gators. A quarterback in high school, Haden switched to defense at Florida because Tim Tebow had that position covered. Haden became the first true freshman to start at cornerback for the Gators on opening day. Haden recorded 218 tackles and 8 interceptions during his three years as a Gator and was considered by many to be the top cornerback available when he announced after his junior season that he was heading to the pros. “He’s one of the great young men I’ve had the privilege of studying and meeting,” said Browns team president Mike Holmgren. “As far as how we feel about this first pick, I really believe we hit a home run. This young guy was in our sights from a while ago and we feel very fortunate to be able to draft him. My hope is that [he’ll] be here a lot longer than I am.” Rumors had been flying that the Steelers were looking to trade away QB Ben Roethlisberger after he was accused of sexual assault (for the second time) during the offseason in a Georgia bar. No charges were brought against Roethlisberger, but his behavior harmed both his reputation and that of the Steelers. The day before the draft, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced that the QB would be suspended four to six regular-season games for violating the league's personal conduct policy and required to undergo behavioral counseling. The Steelers will also be fined. After an offseason of turmoil, which also saw the trade of Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes for a 5th-round draft pick after an infraction of the league's substance-abuse policy, the Pittsburgh Steelers welcomed the chance to focus on football with the 18th pick in the draft. Pittsburgh chose to strengthen the foundation of their offense by selecting C Maurkice Pouncey of the Florida Gators. Pouncey was awarded the 2009 Rimington trophy, which recognizes the best center in college football, after his junior season at Florida. Steelers director of football operations said that they didn't even bother listening to trade offers for the 18th pick with Pouncey still available: “He was just that good.” Head coach Mike Tomlin explained that he plans to allow Pouncey to get experience at right guard before making the transition to the all-important center position, one that has a long history of greatness in Pittsburgh. With the 21st pick in the draft, the Cincinnati Bengals chose TE Jermaine Gresham of the Oklahoma Sooners. Gresham had 950 receiving yards and scored 14 touchdowns for the 2008 Sooners, who advanced to the BCS championship game against Haden and Pouncey's Florida Gators. Gresham's two touchdowns were responsible for all of the Sooners' scoring in that game. He returns to football as a Cincinnati Bengal after sitting out the 2009 season due to knee surgery. He is the first tight end ever chosen by the Bengals with their first pick of the draft. A quiet person, Gresham was watching the draft in his apartment by himself when he got the call from Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis. "I didn't want to put everyone else through the stress," he explained. “He’s not about the party; he’s about the game,” said Bengals offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski. “He fits what we became last year. A tough, physical offense. Play until it’s all over and don’t stop.” The Baltimore Ravens traded their 25th overall pick to the Denver Broncos for three picks later in the draft, setting Baltimore up to draft for depth as the draft heads into its second day. Saturday, February 6, 2010Bill Dudley, 1921-2010
Hall-of-Fame back "Bullet Bill" Dudley, the #1 pick in the 1942 NFL Draft and a member of the Steelers' 75th anniversary team, passed away early Friday morning at the age of 88 in his home town of Lynchburg, Virginia.
Dudley was drafted first overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers and signed a $5,000 contract with the team. Despite the "Bullet" nickname, Dudley wasn't known as an exceptionally fast runner. At 5' 10" and 182 pounds, his running style was unorthodox, but it was also effective. In the first game of his career, he scored a touchdown on a 55-yard run. In his second, he scored on a kickoff return. Dudley led the league in rushing his rookie season with 696 yards, helping the Steelers finish with a winning record for the first time in franchise history. Bill Dudley missed two full NFL seasons and most of a third serving his country in the Army Air Corp during World War II. But he picked up right where he left off in 1946, winning the league's rushing title a second time. "Bullet Bill" did more than just run the ball, though. He passed, blocked, kicked, and defended. It's hard to find a statistical category in which he did not contribute— and excel. In addition to rushing yards, Dudley led the league in punt returns, interceptions made, and lateral passes attempted. He was the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 1946.
A number of clashes between Dudley and Steelers head coach Jock Sutherland led to the all-pro back leaving Pittsburgh after the 1946 season, but Sutherland recognized Dudley's ability. He told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "Sure, go right ahead and print that I consider Bill Dudley one of the greatest backs I have ever coached." Dudley went on to play three seasons for the Detroit Lions and three for the Washington Redskins before retiring after the 1953 season. Over the course of his career, he scored a total of 484 points in nine different ways. In 1966, Bill Dudley was enshrined at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. "I feel humble, very humble, to be considered to be a member as well as to be as considered a part of Pro Football," he said, "because it’s great today, it was great years ago when it was first started here in Canton, and it’ll be greater tomorrow." Sunday, January 24, 2010Stalled offense, unlucky bounces finish Ravens
The last AFC North team was eliminated from the playoffs when the Indianapolis Colts defeated the Baltimore Ravens 21-3 in the Divisional Playoff round at Lucas Oil Stadium.
I just finished writing a decent-length post about the game, and my computer ate it, so I don't feel like typing the whole thing over again. Here's the gist of it.
Friday, January 15, 2010Ravens run all over New England"I wanted to be the guy today to start fast... I wanted to be the guy to say this will be a fast-tempo game. We want the other team to play catch-up to us." The Ravens entered their Wild Card game in Foxborough, Massachusetts, with some bad history to get rid of. The Ravens had never beaten New England in five meetings, and although they had come close in the previous two contests (including a nationally televised 2007 game in which they nearly derailed New England's 16-0 regular season), the Patriots always seemed to get the benefit of penalties just when they needed them. On the first play from scrimmage, the Ravens started to unload that irritation on the vaunted three-time Super Bowl Champions. Ray Rice took the handoff from QB Joe Flacco, found blocking on the left side, accelerated, and was gone for 83 yards. In just 17 seconds, the Ravens had taken the lead. Then the defense went to work on QB Tom Brady. Brady's first pass was stopped for a gain of two yards. His second was stopped for a loss of three. LB Terrell Suggs made sure he didn't get to throw a third. Suggs took the ball out of Brady's hand and set the Ravens up in the red zone. Five running plays later, FB Le'Ron McClain rumbled into the end zone, and Baltimore was up 14-0 less than five minutes into the game. New England started its next drive in a hole thanks to a Ray Lewis sack of Brady on first down, and the Patriots went three-and-out. On the following drive, CB Chris Carr picked off Brady's pass, setting the Ravens up with a short field again. A few plays later, Rice scored his second touchdown of the day. and the Ravens led 21-0. But they still weren't done. On just the second play of the following drive, Brady tried a long pass to WR Sam Aiken. CB Domonique Foxworth tipped the ball away from Aiken, Ed Reed snatched the ball away and returned it 25 yards, then pitched the ball to SS Dawan Landry, who took it 25 more yards to set up a Ravens field goal. When the first quarter came to a close, the Ravens led 24-0 in front of a frustrated Gillette Stadium crowd. "I'd have been booing us too, the way we played," said Tom Brady after the game. Continue reading "Ravens run all over New England" Sunday, January 10, 2010Bengals leave on a Jet plane
The AFC North champion Bengals made a sad exit from the playoffs in a 24-14 loss to the New York Jets at chilly Paul Brown Stadium on Saturday.
Cincinnati scored first on an 11-yard pass from QB Carson Palmer to WR Laveranues Coles, but the Jets answered with a 39-yard touchdown run by rookie RB Shonn Greene and took the lead in the second quarter when rookie QB Mark Sanchez's pass from midfield was pulled in by TE Dustin Keller on the sideline. Keller walked the sideline like a tightrope and held the ball over the pylon to give New York their second touchdown, and the Bengals were never able to catch up. According to NFL.com, this was the first time since the 1934 NFL championship that rookies from the same team scored a rushing touchdown and a passing touchdown in a postseason game. (In 1934, both rookies were the same person, Giants QB Ed Danowski.) The Jets' Mark Sanchez looked like anything but a rookie, finishing the day at 12 of 15 for 182 passing yards. The Bengals offense found itself thoroughly flustered by Rex Ryan's defense, starting with Carson Palmer, who completed only half of his pass attempts. Bengals WR Chad Ochocinco was effectively removed from the game by CB Darrelle Revis's blanketing pass coverage. Revis made an interception in the second quarter to set up the Jets' second scoring drive. Ochocinco didn't have his first reception of the game until the fourth quarter, when New York began to back off into a prevent defense format. The lone bright spot for the Bengals was RB Cedric Benson, who racked up 169 rushing yards and scored a fourth-quarter touchdown to pull Cincinnati to within 7 points of the Jets. The Bengals tried to claw their way back into the game, but they couldn't get back into the end zone, and when PK Shayne Graham missed field goals of 35 and 28 yards, they were sunk. The Jets will go on to face the San Diego Chargers in the Divisional Playoff round, while the Bengals are now going on 20 years without a playoff victory. Still, they have plenty of accomplishments to be proud of this year, including their second AFC North championship and an undefeated year in division play for the first time in their history. Friday, January 8, 2010Bengals history: 1982 First-round AFC Playoff vs. Jets
Tomorrow, the New York Jets and Cincinnati Bengals will face off at Paul Brown Stadium in the first game of the 2009 postseason. It's a playoff matchup that has happened once before, in memorable fashion, though Bengals fans are hoping for a different result this time. The 1982 season was unusual, because almost half of the games were canceled by a player strike. There weren't enough games played for division records to be meaningful, so the NFL used a 16-team tournament format for the playoffs, with eight teams from each conference. The 7-2 Bengals earned the AFC's #3 seed and hosted the sixth-seeded, 6-3 Jets in the opening round. Coach Forrest Gregg's Bengals entered the game favored to win as the defending conference champions. The big question before the game was the status of Jets starting RB Freeman McNeil. McNeil led the league in rushing yards during the abbreviated 1982 season, but it was feared that a lingering hamstring injury would keep him from contributing much in the playoffs. McNeil was confident in the week leading up to the game, though: "I'm not going to Cincinnati to lose. If I have to be Superman Sunday, that's what I'm going to be. We've come too far this season to lose. This team has a lot of pride and it's going to show Sunday." The first quarter was full of long passing plays. The Bengals scored first in front of a supportive Riverfront Stadium crowd. They moved the ball from the Cincinnati 19 to the Jets' 32, and then QB Ken Anderson capitalized with a strike to WR Isaac Curtis for the opening touchdown. The Jets responded with a 49-yard pass from QB Richard Todd to WR Wesley Walker that set up a New York field goal. Faced with a 3rd and 30 on the following drive, WR Cris Collinsworth burned the Jets with a 53-yard reception that set the Bengals up for another touchdown, and the home team led 14-3 at the end of the first quarter. But "Superman" was about to make an appearance. Continue reading "Bengals history: 1982 First-round AFC Playoff vs. Jets" Sunday, January 3, 2010Bengals to face Jets or Texans
The Cincinnati Bengals are in the unusual position of being able to choose their first playoff opponent. Their playoff position is secure heading into tonight's game at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. But its outcome will determine which team will claim the AFC's last open playoff spot. Either way, the game will be played next week at Paul Brown Stadium.
Do the Bengals match up better against one opponent than the other? Is the difference enough to merit playing starters like Carson Palmer and Chad Ochocinco? We have seen vastly different approaches to meaningless or near-meaningless games in the last few weeks. The Colts showed no interest in winning even with the possibility of going undefeated, while the Patriots played some of their starters into the 4th quarter even after WR Wes Welker left the game with an injury. It will be interesting to see how head coach Marvin Lewis approaches the game. (Of course, for Texans and Jets fans, the choice may be crucial!) This game will be the Bengals' last chance to get a win at Giants Stadium before the facility is torn down. They have never won there-- not against the Jets, and not against the Giants-- in ten tries. Sunday, January 3, 2010Ravens will fly north for the playoffs
With a 21-13 win in Oakland, the Baltimore Ravens have made it back to the playoffs. They will travel to Foxborough, Massachusetts to take on the New England Patriots in the first-ever playoff meeting between the two teams.
Even though neither team's seed is set, the matchup will take place regardless of the outcome of tonight's Bengals-Jets game:
Also, the NFL will have a new champion this year. Because of Baltimore's better record against divisional opponents, the Ravens win also eliminates the Steelers from playoff contention. Pittsburgh finished the season with a winning record, but in the end, they have some sloppy losses to some of the AFC's worst teams to look back on as the reason they will not be able to defend their title in the postseason. |
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