The Steelers are set for their first game in 10 days tomorrow when they battle the Bears in Chicago. The Steelers are 1-10 in regular season games lifetime in Chicago, so they have history somewhat against them when they hit the road tomorrow. Here’s my keys to a Steelers win in Chicago, along with a final prediction.
1. Force Jay Cutler Out of the Pocket w/ Pressure – Seems simple, but if you watch Cutler in his Bears regular season debut last week, his throws were rushed and more than one of his four picks came when he was on the run. Unlike Ben Roethlisberger, Cutler is not a great thrower on the run, and if the Steelers can pressure him, it will force some mistakes.
2. Control the Tempo – Play like the Super Bowl champs. Don’t allow the Bears to think they are the better team, and the biggest way to do that is impose your will on both sides of the ball. A running game for sure would help, and that may mean more Rashard Mendenhall. He’s a bigger back than Willie Parker, and can hopefully pound out some yards that the team was not able to get a week ago. Bottom line though – your the better team – play like it.
3. Turnovers – Too many last week vs the Titans, including the key one by Hines Ward by the goal-line. One way to give the Bears a feeling they can hang with the Steelers is by giving them a short field with costly turnovers that will give them confidence. It would be nice to FORCE some turnovers to give the offense a short field or two to put points on the board.
So there you go, I really feel that the Steelers are the better football team, and I think the Bears coming in to the season were highly overrated. They have no wide outs, and their defense is not nearly as good as they have been made out to be.
The Steelers should win this game, and they can beat themselves, I don’t think comparing rosters the Bears can win this game without some help.
Pittsburgh 27 Chicago 13
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mark
September 19, 2009 at 11:04 am
I agree 100%, except that it does not look like the Steelers are going to put up 27 points against anyone this early in the season. They need to find a running game and because of the lack of one, the offense is not quite in sync. I know a defensive TD or special teams TD can push the score up, but the offense is only good for 16 to 20 points right now. Just my opinion. On paper the Steelers are the better team and should win. Without Troy, Dick Lebeau cannot employ his total package which I think means more drives will be sustained against the defense. This will make the game a bit closer unless of course Cutler starts throwing to the wrong team. I see the Steelers pulling away later in the 4th and winning 20 to 13 or so. If they find a running game and keep the Bears from hurting them on Special teams (Devin Hester)the Steelers might put up 27.
DrGeorge
September 20, 2009 at 10:28 am
Today we find out whether the Steelers can run the ball when they want: in short yardage and goal line situations. I doubt that Mendenhall is the answer, but if Moore or Parker can move the ball on the ground when needed, it will make the passing game much more effective. With Ward, Holmes, Wallace, and McDonald, the Steelers have one of the best corps of receivers in the NFL. The O-line’s pass blocking is improving. And Ben is growing more patient and more prudent as a QB, and therefore more deadly. The Bears secondary is not capable of covering our receivers if Ben has time to find them. Making 30 points against a second-tier defense attainable. But if we can’t run when the situation requires it, the Bears will load up the D-line with 7 or 8 defenders (as the Titans did), and pressure Ben all day, making it a low scoring game. That is the Bears only hope. Cutler is not effective when forced to roll left to pass or pressured, and no team applies pressure like the Black and Gold. The Steelers are favored and should be, but whether this will be another squeaker or a blowout depends heavily on the quality of our rushing game.
mark
September 20, 2009 at 1:25 pm
Amen to that assessment. The run game will be key. I understand we pass more then we run, but critical run situations HAVE to be converted. The Bears will not cover our receivers all day and will have to drop LB into coverage which should help the run game. If the Bears can stop the run without the extra man, the Steelers will struggle to move the ball.If it somehow becomes a shootout, you have to favor the Steelers!