The heralded return of Pittsburgh Steelers starting quarterback “Big” Ben Roethlisberger went as smooth as could be expected considering the fact that on Sept. 27, he was carted off the field after suffering a knee injury against the St. Louis Rams in St. Louis.
However, the three turnovers by Roethlisberger coupled with a few “questionable” calls by the “visiting” officiating crew assisted the Cincinnati Bengals in achieving a 16-10 victory against the Steelers.
The Bengals intercepted “Big” Ben twice in the fourth quarter alone to help secure the victory. Although he wouldn’t admit it publicly, Roethlisberger appeared to be a bit rusty from the four weeks plus layoff. Roethlisberger deflected any excuse making; “Health wise I’m okay,” he said. “I’m obviously disappointed, in the way I played. I let this team down and I let the fans down. This one is on me and I’m taking the blame. And letting everyone know that I have to play better.
As far as the Steelers defense goes, Bengals Quarterback Andy Dalton and his “high powered” offense did not score a touchdown until it was 2:57 left in the game. However that final score by Cincy provided the margin of victory. Dalton should add another skillset to his resume, that of a prophet. “I knew eventually were going to score a touchdown, and we did,” he said.
Dalton was also picked twice and was sacked three times. For three quarters plus Dalton looked as though the soothsayer that he may or may not have consulted before traveling to Heinz Field, may have owed him a refund.
The Steelers have eight games remaining starting with the Oakland Raiders and the Cleveland Browns at home, the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle and the Indianapolis Colts at home.
They complete the final leg of the 2015 regular season schedule at Cincinnati, then come home to face Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos after that they travel to M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore to face the spoiler hungry Ravens and then travel to Browns Stadium to face the up and down Cleveland Browns to complete the 2015 Season.
Out of those games Pittsburgh can beat Baltimore, Cleveland, Oakland, Indianapolis, and believe it or not the Bengals in Cincy as long as they import an officiating crew from NFL Europe or destinations unknown.
The officiating smelled like a sulfur mine. The game has gotten away from, the players, fans and coaches. These officials have developed a “God complex.” If players are too demonstrative, penalty. If players wiggle their rear ends after scoring a touchdown, penalty.
Hey I suspect that after a player gets married when he does the traditional wedding dance with his new bride and touches her rear end a referee might appear out of nowhere and throw some laundry, for as Mel and Tim might say; “backfield in motion I’m gonna have to penalize you.”
This policing of the game has turned into a “fleecing” and sterilization of the game. The game that we know is rapidly deteriorating from football to “foolsball.”
The officials have evolved from managing the game to changing the outcome of the game, ultimately cheating the fans and the sport. Ben Roethlisberger entered the Steelers/Bengals game with a bad knee, the officials cut his good leg from under him.
Aubrey Bruce can be reached: abruce@newpittsburghcourier.com or 412.583.6741
He is also a contributing columnist for urbanmediatoday
Follow him on Twitter@ultrascribe
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