In the locker room after Sunday’s gut punch victory over the Steelers, Bengals loudmouth Chad Johnson proclaimed his own “King is Dead” death toll for the Steelers, saying “It’s like, before it was black and white TV. And then there’s color TV.”

Johnson’s right, but not in the way he thinks. What he of the snap-on gold choppers was insinuating is that the Steelers’ reign over the AFC North has ended indefinitely, and that the Bengals will be the team to beat for the foreseeable future; in this, he is almost certainly not right, as the Bengals have beaten only one opponent with a winning record at the time of their contest (the Steelers; the Bears had a losing record when Cincy beat them), and the Tigerstripes are yet to hang tough in the playoffs. But Mr. Touchdown Riverdance was right about one thing: The Steelers’ way is obsolete. The Bengals’ way is what’s next.

The NFL of 2005 is a playmaker’s league. From the Bengals’ color TV of Palmer to Johnson to LaDainian iPod in San Diego to the plasma TV offense in Indianapolis, big play, impact guys are the key to success. And on a Sunday in which the Steelers dropped to a two-game deficit in their division, the Bengal-to-Steeler playmaker ratio was almost as important as the turnover differential.

If it is anything, the NFL is a copycat league. In the past half-decade or so, the league has been dominated by its coaches. Coordinator hires consistently out-headlined free agent signings, most famously with the trade of John Gruden from Oakland to Tampa Bay. With this reemergence of the head coach as the star of the team came the idea that a team’s players were secondary, and that a meticulously designed system paired with adequate players culled from the draft and the deepest reaches of the depth chart would be enough to win. And so began the era where midnight film sessions and 20-hour workdays were valued far more than billion-dollar payrolls. It seemed that this would be the state of salary cap football.

While Bill Belichick and the Patriots received the most acclaim for operating under this system (they DID win three Super Bowls, I guess), Bill Cowher’s Steelers had similar (if less spectacular) successes doing the same, growing players from within, treating each star as a replaceable part. Greg Lloyd begat Jason Gildon begat Joey Porter. Yancey Thigpen begat Hines Ward. This plug-n-play philosophy allowed Cowher to use players from the far corners of the NCAA to implement his signature system of smash-mouth, grinding football. And while he may not have been the most wildly successful member of the era, Cowher was its most consistently successful.

But, as always, the game evolved. Once every coach in the league was sleep-deprived and doggedly prepared, teams needed a new edge to catch up to the most tired and most prepared coaches. They turned to talent. And the Indianapolis Colts were born.

With their combination of coaching and playmaking talent, it was only a matter of time before the scales tipped in the favor of their style of team. As the team began to succeed, other coaches took notice: Marvin Lewis built his Bengals team by surrounding his star QB with glitzy weapons. The suddenly surging New York Giants filled out their big blue payroll with Peyton’s little brother and sealed the deal with a militant, prepared coach. Even perennially successful Andy Reid took a cue from Indy’s management and signed Terrell Owens, pushing his team into last year’s Super Bowl. But still, none of them could beat Belichick, and the Steelers ran wild with success.

But not in 2005. This will be remembered as the year the tables turned, the year that the scales switched. The year of the playmaker. And it’s only the beginning.

While they can hang tough with the league’s flashiest teams this year, a time will come when cog-and-wheel teams like the Patriots and Steelers will look as archaic as a TV/VCR combo.

This is not to say that the Steelers don’t have any playmakers at ALL. Big Ben is an obvious exception, and Willie Parker has the potential to become a HUGE play guy. Hines Ward is a gritty doubles hitter, and Troy Polamalu may be the best defensive playmaker in football. But when a few of those big-timers are invisible---as Parker was on Sunday---or, worse, underachieving---as Troy was in dropping what could have been a game-changing interception---the team’s dearth of superstar talent is blatant. And it highlights a fundamental difference between the Steelers and the league’s strongest teams in 2005: While the Colts and Bengals are built around playmakers, the Steelers just happen to have a few.

Where Bill Cowher used to have superstar talent—Rod Woodson at corner, Greg Lloyd and Kevin Greene at linebacker—he now has a squad of stalwart role players and veterans getting by on moxie that’s only dotted with big play promise. Many of these players should be but placeholders for homerun hitters culled from the draft, free agency, or the Steelers’ own young ranks. A few on the roster to keep an eye on:

Trai Essex, T:

He’s probably the most maligned player on the team right now, but Essex has some real promise as an NFL O-lineman. And I’m not just saying that to be a homer (Essex attended my alma mater, Northwestern): Because of the offensive system he played in during his college years---the spread---Essex has shown that he can move that big body around in ways that make him ideal to seal off the quick, Dwight Freeney-style defensive ends that are taking over the league. Those false start penalties are rookie mistakes, yes, but Essex has the smarts to succeed on the front line.

Andre Frazier, LB:

A few weeks back, I kept looking up on every special teams play and asking, “Who’s 94? He’s in on every play!” I’m no scout, so when I can see how often a player is around the ball, the guy’s got to have something; I haven’t been this impressed by a special teamer since Hines Ward. Now that’s saying something. And with a bigger body than James Harrison (who's already emerging as a budding star), Frazier could become a fixture in the linebacking corps for a long time to come...which would be awesome with that neck pad he wears.

Quincy Morgan, WR:

While the undersized and much-ballyhooed Cedrick Wilson struggles for playing time, the much-maligned former problem child Morgan has shined on kick returns and in the rare spots where he’s thrown the ball. In a receiving corps that lacks size, Morgan is a big target with number one speed. And with Antwaan Randle El in a contract year, the Steelers might be needing Morgan’s speed even more next season. We haven’t gotten to see a ton of him this year, but here’s hoping Morgan can become the big deep threat the Steelers so desperately need.

----Greg

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