Everybody saw the play-off game. Players and coaches leaving the benches onto the field. Cincy fans throwing garbage on the field...The NFL and Refs will not put up with this....Pittsburg fans are more than waiting to throw things on the field in their house.....I look for refs to throw penalty flags early and often in this game.....I also think the NFL and refs are more than ready to toss players and coaches out of the game.....ANY coach or player who goes on to the field when they have no business on the field should get kicked out of the game. That should be a very basic rule. All players and coaches who leave the bench area and pour onto the field should get kicked out of the game, even if they have to kick out the majority of both teams....I'm all for The REFS and The NFL being all over both teams when they play this year, and letting it be known the actions of players and coaches in last years play-off game will not be tolerated. ....Fan safety comes into play, and I don't think Bengals fans are very safe at this one Sunday. Steeler fans may want to continue this war in the rest rooms and outside the stadium. ...Look for the NFL and REFs to put their foot down on both teams early and often. Anything close to a cheap hit will get flagged.

That said, I'm hoping Bengals WIN and start season 2-0......but lets have a good clean game for a change, and stop this both teams trying to injure each other on every play as this rival game has turned into. If the NFL condones the actions in last years play-off game, then their efforts to cut down on injuries are fake and to avoid concussion law suits only. With all the talk by the NFL on how they intend to clean up the game, we will see if the NFL really means it Sunday. I do know even more helmet to helmet penalties added and more illegal blocking penalties added, mostly over that play-off game. I expect many flags on the field if the players in this game try to pick up where they left off in January.

(09-14-2016, 11:48 PM)kevin Wrote: Everybody saw the play-off game. Players and coaches leaving the benches onto the field.  Cincy fans throwing garbage on the field...The NFL and Refs will not put up with this....Pittsburg fans are more than waiting to throw things on the field in their house.....I look for refs to throw penalty flags early and often in this game.....I also think the NFL and refs are more than ready to toss players and coaches out of the game.....ANY coach or player who goes on to the field when they have no business on the field should get kicked out of the game.  That should be a very basic rule. All players and coaches who leave the bench area and pour onto the field should get kicked out of the game, even if they have to kick out the majority of both teams....I'm all for The REFS and The NFL being all over both teams when they play this year, and letting it be known the actions of players and coaches in last years play-off game will not be tolerated. ....Fan safety comes into play, and I don't think Bengals fans are very safe at this one Sunday.  Steeler fans may want to continue this war in the rest rooms and outside the stadium. ...Look for the NFL and REFs to put their foot down on both teams early and often.  Anything close to a cheap hit will get flagged.

That said, I'm hoping Bengals WIN and start season 2-0......but lets have a good clean game for a change, and stop this both teams trying to injure each other on every play as this rival game has turned into.  If the NFL condones the actions in last years play-off game, then their efforts to cut down on injuries are fake and to avoid concussion law suits only.  With all the talk by the NFL on how they intend to clean up the game, we will see if the NFL really means it Sunday.

The Steelers, their fans couldn't care less about this.  And, unfortunately, the Bengals, their fans do. 

Screw that. They have been dirty for decades. They play that line, always has.
Finally when the little brother punches the older one in the face, mom comes and punishes the little brother . Sure play clean, but do not back down in no way what so ever. Don't wilt. To beat the steelers, you have to hit back.

(09-15-2016, 12:56 AM)zygrot24 Wrote: Screw that. They have been dirty for decades. They play that line, always has.
Finally when the little brother punches the older one in the face, mom comes and punishes the little brother . Sure plan clean, but do not back down in no way what so ever. Don't wilt. To beat the steelers, you have to hit back.

(09-15-2016, 12:56 AM)zygrot24 Wrote: Screw that. They have been dirty for decades. They play that line, always has.
Finally when the little brother punches the older one in the face, mom comes and punishes the little brother . Sure play clean, but do not back down in no way what so ever. Don't wilt. To beat the steelers, you have to hit back.

The Steelers have shown that they can only complete with the leniency the NFL grants to their classless ways. I say we go out there and bust them in the jaw between whistles and laugh while they cry.

We will get the first flag and the last flag. To win this game we have to beat the refs and the other team. It is possible.

As long as Marvin Lewis opens his mouth and voices his displeasure for the one way shit they will call.

I'm thinking Ben needs a broken jaw myself.....

(09-15-2016, 12:06 AM)tlotharw Wrote: The Steelers, their fans couldn't care less about this.  And, unfortunately, the Bengals, their fans do. 

I wouldn't care either if the calls always went our way. 

Best you can hope for from the refs is consistency. I hope they don't throw flags on good, hard hits. They need to give these guys a little leeway in that regard.

(09-14-2016, 11:48 PM)kevin Wrote: Everybody saw the play-off game. Players and coaches leaving the benches onto the field.  Cincy fans throwing garbage on the field...The NFL and Refs will not put up with this....Pittsburg fans are more than waiting to throw things on the field in their house.....I look for refs to throw penalty flags early and often in this game.....I also think the NFL and refs are more than ready to toss players and coaches out of the game.....ANY coach or player who goes on to the field when they have no business on the field should get kicked out of the game.  That should be a very basic rule. All players and coaches who leave the bench area and pour onto the field should get kicked out of the game, even if they have to kick out the majority of both teams....I'm all for The REFS and The NFL being all over both teams when they play this year, and letting it be known the actions of players and coaches in last years play-off game will not be tolerated. ....Fan safety comes into play, and I don't think Bengals fans are very safe at this one Sunday.  Steeler fans may want to continue this war in the rest rooms and outside the stadium. ...Look for the NFL and REFs to put their foot down on both teams early and often.  Anything close to a cheap hit will get flagged.

That said, I'm hoping Bengals WIN and start season 2-0......but lets have a good clean game for a change, and stop this both teams trying to injure each other on every play as this rival game has turned into.  If the NFL condones the actions in last years play-off game, then their efforts to cut down on injuries are fake and to avoid concussion law suits only.  With all the talk by the NFL on how they intend to clean up the game, we will see if the NFL really means it Sunday. I do know even more helmet to helmet penalties added and more illegal blocking penalties added, mostly over that play-off game.  I expect many flags on the field if the players in this game try to pick up where they left off in January.

Easy there guy, nobody is getting stabbed in the restrooms or parking lot, this isn't a Oakland or 49ers game. I actually expect all the hype to be just that, hype, and the Bengals will play a solid clean game. Will there be a ton of emotion? Absolutely. The refs will all over this like hawks and I actually expect it to be one of the more regulated games.

I wonder what creative way the Steelers will find to murder one of our players and get away with because the rulebook doesn't spell out something that should be common sense to any remotely intelligent person.

"Sorry, Bengals! The rulebook doesn't explicitly state that you cannot stick a shiv between a runner's ribcage!"

As usual, we will have to beat the refs and steelers. This game has never been evenly called. Ever. The refs always do their best to make sure Pitt walks away with a win. We will have to be extremely physical and draw some blood to win. We cannot pu**y out and back off like we did @ Pitt in 2013. They are going to play dirty. We have to beat them at their own game... God I wish we had Burfict for this one.

Well, both sides will be hitting hard. The Refs better keep control of this game or it will get out of hand quickly. As for the fans, let security handle them.

Dean Blandino: Pete Morelli’s crew will have “heightened awareness” for Bengals-Steelers https://t.co/uRiUly1D1Y

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) September 15, 2016

The Refs and these rules have effectively ended the position of free safety.

Safetys are just cornerbacks now, playing deep without impact.

Having a aggressive, hard hitting safety this day and age is more of a liability than it is a bonus.

They get called for PI/Holding an absurd amount

If they hit a WR, they will get flagged

If they hit a WR hard, they will also likely get kicked out of the game

And then they will face a huge fine.


These refs and the league have changed the fabric of the game. Sean Taylor, John Lynch, Atwater, Lott....gone.

Yeah, we need to play very smart because we all know exactly how those stains operate. Bait, bait, bait then boom...flag on Cincy. Plus you know that whiny-ass sack of overrated they refer to as Mike Tomlin will be in the ref's ear as early as pregame warm-ups telling them to keep an eye on "those dirty Bengal players."

That's just the way it is when playing them. Play hard, tough and to the echo of the whistle. But those refs will have the itchy finger on that flag especially when the game moves into the fourth quarter. Just don't want this game to end the way.....well you know.

WHO-DEY!

(09-15-2016, 12:12 PM)Pat5775 Wrote: As usual, we will have to beat the refs and steelers. This game has never been evenly called. Ever. The refs always do their best to make sure Pitt walks away with a win. We will have to be extremely physical and draw some blood to win. We cannot pu**y out and back off like we did @ Pitt in 2013. They are going to play dirty. We have to beat them at their own game... God I wish we had Burfict for this one.

These are the only reasons i could see us losing. You said everything here Pat.

The refs will try and give the Steelers the win. Maybe with Burfict being out it might mean less flags against us.

I am sure if Burfict was playing he would just make a solid tackle and the flag would be thrown.

(09-15-2016, 02:43 PM)RudiandCorey Wrote: The Refs and these rules have effectively ended the position of free safety.

Safetys are just cornerbacks now,  playing deep without impact.

Having a aggressive, hard hitting safety this day and age is more of a liability than it is a bonus.

They get called for PI/Holding an absurd amount

If they hit a WR, they will get flagged

If they hit a WR hard, they will also likely get kicked out of the game

And then they will face a huge fine.


These refs and the league have changed the fabric of the game.   Sean Taylor, John Lynch, Atwater, Lott....gone.

Saw it just last week with Iloka...

Too bad Mike Mitchell is able to make dirty hits.

Hill's simple gesture to not celebrate seems humblling. That's what you learn from last year is play aggressive but realize you're part of a team that have to unify to not take the bait (Decastro, Porter, ect...) or put yourself before the team. I'm relieved that we finally get to see how Marvin's troops respond to last year's epic meltdown. The only sort of plus to Burfict not playing is he can't be picked on.

(09-15-2016, 03:27 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Saw it just last week with Iloka...

Too bad Mike Mitchell is able to make dirty hits.

This ^^  Is exactly what I keep thinking about as I read through the responses on here so far.  It wasn't even the Stoolers game, and already the refs are screwing our defensive guys when there is a hard hit made, regardless if it is ACTUALLY a penalty or not.  They're clearly super-sensitive in calling our games, and it's total bullshit.  Yet during the Steelers game I see Mitchell's dirty ass diving headfirst into a pile after the play is already dead, and nothing...  On Rapelisburger's play when Kerrigan knocked the ball out of his hand, he was clearly being clotheslined/held by the Olineman, but no flag (even if it would have been declinded most likely), just showing me how the refs call Stooler games vs. how they call Bengals games.  Sadly, I expect to be screaming at my TV over calls just like that one multiple times on Sunday.  I'll probably lose my voice during the game LOL   I HOPE I'm wrong, but have little reason not to expect a zebra tilted game.  I can already feel myself getting pissed thinking about it, and it's only Thursday afternoon LOL  We can "hope" for officials' impartiality, but I believe it'll be a cold day in hell before we actually SEE it...