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Ahh, the Bungles. Regardless of their record over the past, oh, since whenever the hell Boomer Esiason retired, the Bungles typically put up a pretty good show against the Steelers. Today was not a day for that show. Today was a day for Steeler football a bit like the way it used to be: 138 yards rushing, 27 points total, and lame special teams play.

The Steelers dominated fairly well: 21 vs. 9 first downs not on penalties, 37:06 vs. 22:54 time of posession, 376 vs. 182 total yards, and so on. Steeler football. The offensive line stepped it up with the return of Jerome Bettis (who netted 59 yards in 16 carries), and the defense played acceptably, shutting down the run as well as the pass. Also returning this week (and key to the shutting down of the Cincy offense) was "Ouch, My Ass" Joey Porter.

In a game that saw the largest crowd ever at Paul Brown stadium (64,596), it was effectively a home game for the Steelers as, to the chagrin of Marvin Lewis, 1/3 to 1/2 of the fans in the stands were waving Terrible Towels or sporting Black and Gold. Earlier in the week, Marvin admonished Cincy fans not to sell their tickets to Steelers fans. Didn't work.

Maddox's play was unimpressive today: he overthrew a few receivers, miscommunicated on an interception, and needed a stellar play by both Hines Ward and Dan Kreider to get his single passing touchdown for the day. Major props to Hines Ward, easily one of my favorite Steelers, for being the tough little smiling bitch that he is. Awesome work.

One interesting stat: since Cowher took over as coach in 1992, the Steelers have rushed for more yards than any other team. Cowher is the longest tenured coach in the NFL (I think).

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