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Lucky Break
By the Wise Guy Ask yourself: Were you happy to see Carson Palmer carted off the field after two plays in yesterday's playoff win against the Cincinnati Bengals? Or do you feel his injury makes the Steelers win a bit tainted? Yes, injuries are part of the game, but still, it was a whole different ballgame once Carson went down. As it turned out, Kimo von Oelhoffen's hit was the pivotal point of the game. Bengals backup quarterback John Kitna put out an honest effort, but you have to wonder what the outcome might have been had Palmer remained upright. He threw one pass and gained 66 yards. At that rate, he might have thrown for 600. Speaking of Kimo, if you were casting a gangster movie, and you were looking for a guy to be a leg breaker, you could do a lot worse than the Steelers veteran defensive end. I'm sure he's a very nice man in person, but he definitely has the look of a person you would not want to meet in a dark alley. Or a well-lit alley, for that matter. Do you think Kimo was going for Carson's knee? Kimo says no, and we have to take the man at his word. He may not be a choirboy, but he's never been accused of being a cheap-shot artist like, for example, the New England Patriot's Rodney Harrison, who in addition to being a very good football player really is a cheap-shot artist. After the game, Bengals linemen Willie Anderson and Rich Braham exonerated their former teammate of any wrongdoing. Von Oelhoffen spent the first six years of his career with the Bengals. "I know Kimo is not a dirty player," Anderson said. "He was rushing the quarterback and pushing forward." "I don't believe he did it intentionally," Braham said. Good enough for me. As for the game, post Palmer. It wasn't John Kitna that lost it for the Bengals. It was their lack of grit and toughness in the second half, when the Steelers finally kicked it into playoff gear. Before they become a true contender, the Bengals have to do something about their defense. Such as, get one. They could start by concentrating on stopping the run. Or the pass. They don't do very well on either. We cannot afford to get off to a slow start again when we play the Indianapolis Colts next Sunday. Otherwise it will be 21-0 after 10 minutes and we'll be crying in our Iron City's and once again calling for Coach Bill Cowher to turn in his whistle. When we lost to the Colts 26-7 in the regular season, it wasn't our defense that let us down so much as a poor offensive performance. Big Ben Roethlisberger had just returned from injury, and the line was missing Marvel Smith. We barely had 200 yards in total offense. That's not going to cut it this time, either. On the bright side, Ben has got his groove back, which means we are going to score way more than seven points. Cedrick --where have you been all year? Wilson has shown some signs of life, and the Bus just keeps on rolling. We'll need everyone to bring his A game. We can't depend on a break again. |