This year James Washington Jersey , sadly, there will be 36 weeks with no Pittsburgh Steelers game that matters. This was the first of those. I can’t promise I’ll be sharing my thoughts all 36 weeks, but here they are for this week.My standard is my standard, and we didn’t measure up. I, like all of you, want a Super Bowl victory each and every year. In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s one of the key elements of heaven, the Steelers play every week, and win every week. But I try to be a smidge realistic, and so have this standard- a season in which we reach the playoffs is a success. If we don’t, it isn’t. We didn’t Stephon Tuitt Jersey , and it wasn’t.Among the four major sports the NFL sits at #2 in playoff reaching difficulty, behind baseball. Being an 8 seed in the NBA or NHL is no reason to celebrate. Missing the play-in by one game in MLB is nothing to be ashamed of. That’s why for the NFL making the playoffs is a good standard. What makes failing to make it so much worse is the NFL has, by far, the fewest games and the longest off season. I will, of course, pay attention to the combine, pre-draft analysis, the draft itself, free agency, OTA’s, camp Jesse James Jersey , preseason games. But they are all just hollow shells of the regular season.In like manner for me the season is essentially over. Like the ‘72 Dolphins popping corks when the last undefeated team falls, my only concern left for this year is needing the Pats and Cowboys to be eliminated, that we might maintain sole possession of Most Lombardis. Neither looks likely to make a serious run.Now would be a good time to sell your Buffalo Wild Wings stock, or cash in your gift cards. They may not survive my beautiful wife and I having no reason to go there.Hoping JuJu Smith-Schuster, Joe Haden and T.J. Watt get late invites to the Pro-Bowl. But even if they do, I won’t be watching. It’s just too... well, too nothing. It’s nothing. I used to watch it faithfully, back when it was the week after the Super Bowl. But I also used to watch Mr. Belvedere. So that’s not a good standard.What I’m waiting for now is winter to come like it means it. I want to hear Hank Williams Jr. singing, “Are you ready for some snowfall?” And “All my rowdy friends are in a snowball fight.”I did check the scores of the wild card games. But I watched none of them. Maybe I should be scouting potential free agents. But the ones we might sign are probably on the bench.One good thing about a long off season- plenty of time for Artie’s psyche to heal. And Boswell’s uh, sore throat.It was not a season that was pleasing. God knows, however Ryan Shazier Jersey , what He’s doing. My best guess on His plan? Rams and Saints, Chiefs and Pats. Pick ‘em on the NFC, Chiefs for the AFC. I’ll wait to pick a Super Bowl winner until next time. Ben Roethlisberger saw the defensive alignment and knew immediately that the Pittsburgh Steelers had a chance for a winning touchdown. All he had to do was get the ball to Antonio Brown right away.Brown took a few strides, caught the pass and ran behind Justin Hunter's block for a 31-yard touchdown with 10 seconds left Sunday and yet another improbable 鈥?and entirely predictable 鈥?victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. The Steelers' 28-21 win made it eight straight and counting over their AFC North rival."We've been in that situation a lot, and I knew we were going to do it," Brown said.They always do.James Conner ran for 111 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the eve of Le'Veon Bell's possible return to help the Steelers (3-2-1) get ahead, but they had to pull off their third last-minute rally at Paul Brown Stadium to extend the streak.Joe Mixon's 4-yard touchdown run with 1:18 got the Bengals (4-2) thinking they might finally have their breakthrough. Roethlisberger and the Steelers stunned them again.Big Ben came to the line on the decisive play and saw that the Bengals were set for an all-out blitz with no safeties to guard against a big play. He immediately thought touchdown."When you see that look, it's how fast can I get him the ball," said Roethlisberger, who is 14-2 in his career at Paul Brown Stadium.Brown caught the ball in stride, cut Hunter's block and outran the secondary for the winning score Mel Blount Jersey , leaving thousands of Steelers fans twirling their towels in the stands while stunned Bengals fans stood and watched a familiar ending.The Bengals are 2-16 against the Steelers at Paul Brown Stadium during coach Marvin Lewis' 16 seasons, including a pair of playoff losses."Imagine how we feel," Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick said. "I imagine how the fans feel."These Ohio River rivalry games are usually nasty, and this one had its moments. After Andy Dalton's final pass fell complete, several players got into a scuffle in front of the Cincinnati sideline.After a sloppy September, the Steelers have won two in a row and found their stride behind Conner , who became the featured back when Bell decided to hold out. Conner has run for more than 100 yards in each of the last two games, and his pair of 1-yard touchdown runs Sunday put him in the company of a pair of Steelers Hall of Famers.Conner has seven rushing touchdowns in six games, joining Franco Harris (1976) and Jerome Bettis (2004) as the only Steelers with that accomplishment."James was a bowling ball today," said Roethlisberger, who joked that it was probably the running back's final game amid reports that Bell would return.JuJu Smith-Schuster had a spectacular catch 鈥?leaping over cornerback Darqueze Dennard and taking the ball way 鈥?that set up Conner's second touchdown.Bengals receiver Tyler Boyd had a solid game against his hometown team Mike Webster Jersey , catching touchdowns of 2 and 14 yards .Cincinnati linebacker Vontaze Burfict was in the middle of several dustups. He had words with Roethlisberger only 3 minutes into the game. He stepped over Conner on the running back's first touchdown, prompting a teammate to push him away before the situation could escalate.Burfict also hit Brown in the head 鈥?he wasn't penalized 鈥?after a catch, causing the receiver to leave for a couple of plays. In 2015, Burfict's hit to Brown's head helped the Steelers rally for an 18-16 playoff win. On Sunday, Burfict yelled at a reporter in the locker room after the game for asking a teammate about the latest hit on Brown's head."A nasty hit," Brown said.SHAZIER'S RETURNSteelers linebacker Ryan Shazier returned to the stadium where he suffered a spinal injury last December. He's been on the sideline for games this season. His return to Paul Brown Stadium was emotional for all the Steelers."He's inspired us," coach Mike Tomlin said. "Hopefully he's inspired many outside of us."DALTON MOVES UPDalton finished 26 of 42 for 229 yards, moving ahead of Boomer Esiason for second on the Bengals' career passing list behind Ken Anderson. Dalton fell to 3-12 against the Steelers.INJURIESBengals: RB Giovani Bernard missed a second straight game with a knee injury. LB Nick Vigil left with an injured left knee in the first quarter. Dennard hurt his right shoulder on Smith-Schuster's catch and didn't return. S Shawn Williams left in the second half with a concussion.UP NEXTSteelers: Have their bye week.Bengals: Play Sunday night at Kansas City. The Bengals are 0-5 on Sunday night since 2011.