Special Teams And Kicker Help Lose To Bengals

I know the "Team" wins and the "Team" loses, but a lot of the credit for the Steelers 18-12 loss to the Bengals could be attributed to bad special teams play and a cowardly kicker. Although both offenses were basically shut down, The Steelers really failed to take advantage of their "Red Zone" opportunities.

This game was so winnable for Pittsburgh and that's what made it such an agonizing game to watch. The Steelers first scoring drive ended in a Jeff Reed field goal after they had a first and ten inside the Bengals 15. If not scoring in the "Red Zone" was bad enough, what happened next was worse. When the Steelers kicked off, Bernard Scott took it from his own 4 yard line 96 yards for a touchdown.

What was so bad about the horrible kick coverage was that the kicker, Jeff Reed had the best shot to take him down before he reached the 50 yard line, but whiffed and became useless as a tackler. He made a feeble attempt in another game this year and allowed another touchdown. Luckily the Steelers defense was able to score to win that game. All he had to do was make contact or just get in his way to prevent him from scoring.

The Steelers and the Bengal had 4 field goals each. That's just 12 points for the offense for each team. The difference in the 18-12 score was the 6 points off the kick return. The Steelers really need to work on their kick coverage and maybe kick the kicker in the but and show him how to tackle. This is football not "hide-n-seek". Check out the Steelers vs Bengals video below and you'll see the kick return for yourself.