Pittsburgh Steelers (4-1)
With another victory this past Sunday out of the bye week, their third in a row, the Steelers have muti-game lead for the division lead. They have an opportunity to widen the gap even further on Thursday night by beating the Cincinnati Bengals on the road. The Steelers took care of business against the Cleveland Browns last week by 14 points, earning their first divisional win of the year.
Aaron Rodgers has strung together consecutive solid performances and has played pretty efficient football for most
of the team’s first five games. That’s helped the offense score between 21-24 points in each of the past three games, which has been enough for victories thanks to strong defensive efforts. The Steelers are still looking for more success in the running game, which could come versus the Bengals this week.
After facing a newcomer at quarterback in Dillon Gabriel last week, the Steelers will take on a very familiar foe in Joe Flacco. The Steelers’ pass rush should have plenty of chances to get home against a less mobile quarterback like Flacco, but the Bengals’ offense still poses a threat thanks to their elite receiving core.
T.J. Watt has begun to look like his prime self again in recent weeks with 3.5 sacks and three pass breakups over the Steelers’ three-game winning streak. Another positive development has been D.K. Metcalf’s emergence, as the No. 1 wideout has 221 yards combined with nine catches and two touchdowns since Week 5.
Cincinnati Bengals (2-4)
On the other side of this week’s divisional Thursday night showdown are the aforementioned Bengals, who are losers of four straight games. The quarterback change from Jake Browning to Flacco had a minimal impact this past week, as the team scored just 18 points in a nine-point loss to the Green Bay Packers. All 18 of their points came in the second half while trailing.
The Bengals did manage to make the game more competitive than many expected and were within one score of the Packers for a chunk of the second half, though. With some extra days now for Flacco to integrate more in the offense and acclimate to his pass-catchers, the hope is that they can find more explosive plays and consistency.
It’s a broken record to keep making the point, but the Bengals are still in desparate need of some rushing production to take pressure off the quarterback and pass-catchers. Chase Brown nor any other rusher has not exceeded 47 yards on the ground in a single game so far this season. The Bengals need to do a better job in the run blocking department starting this week against the Steelers.
A silver lining the past two weeks despite consecutive losses has been Ja’Marr Chase’s ability to remain super productive. Chase had 10 catches for 94 yards and a touchdown against the Packers, one week after 110 yards and two scores versus the Detroit Lions. Chase will need to be heroic to help out Flacco and give the Bengals a fighting chance to earn an upset against the Steelers.
Cleveland Browns (1-5)
Like the Bengals, the Browns are also on a losing streak after dropping their third consecutive contest in Pittsburgh last week. The Browns’ offense scored a season-low nine points and have now failed to exceed 17 points in 11 straight games dating back to last year — a streak indicative of the team’s offense struggles through multiple quarterback and personnel changes.
While he managed to avoid turnovers again in his second career start, Garbiel threw 52 passes and completed just 29 of them for 221 yards. That formula is not a recipe for success. The Browns were forced into pass-happy mode because they were stifled on the ground. As a team, they ran for 65 yards on 17 carries. Quinshon Judkins received only 12 rushing attempts after exceeding the 20-carry mark the week prior.
They’ll certainly look to find greater run-pass balance this week against the Miami Dolphins, who are another struggling 1-5 team in their own right. The Browns are at home and have the defensive makeup to potentially cause issues for the Dolphins’ offense, especially if they can force Tua Tagovailoa (seven interceptions) into mistakes. Miami still has potent playmakers even without Tyreek Hill, though, so it won’t be an easy test.
If the Browns can run the ball more effectively and play mistake-free offensive football again, they should have a chance to finally break through and cross the 17-point threshold. The Dolphins have allowed 21+ points in five straight games and 27 and 29 points over the past two weeks, respectively.
Baltimore Ravens (1-5)
The Ravens are on a bye week after losing their fourth straight game last Sunday and falling to 1-5. If the Browns win on Sunday, the Ravens would be in sole possession of the fourth place in the division.
