The Cincinnati Bengals face a crossroads game for their season this Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers (have we heard that before?). Lose and more talks of a lost season and upcoming fire sale
of star players rev up; win and they can keep a little pace in a down year in the AFC conference—especially with what would be two divisional wins.
Joe Flacco showed the ability to be competent and keep the Bengals in games last week, but the team still fell short. Somehow, the visiting Steelers sit at 4-1 coming to Cincinnati this week, and to get the lay of the land of Pittsburgh football, we tapped the knowledge of Ryan Parish over at SB Nation’s Behind the Steel Curtain ahead of the big primetime clash this week.
1.) AC: How are the Steelers 4-1? Even after the addition of Aaron Rodgers, people still thought they’d be their usual competitive selves, but probably not have guessed this good of a start…
RP: If I’m being fully honest, I think it’s a mixture of a relatively soft early schedule, a still decent collection of veteran talent, and some classic Mike Tomlin one-score game voodoo. The Steelers don’t strike me as an elite team, but they have a lot of experience, especially on defense, and they haven’t been turning the ball over much.
The Steelers’ pass rush is still one of the best units in the league, and adding a talent like Jalen Ramsey to the secondary has helped keep opposing offenses off balance. Pittsburgh’s offense has been consistently explosive, but the DK Metcalf-Aaron Rodgers connection has been blossoming, and the offensive line is slowly starting to gel enough to produce enough of a run game to keep teams from teeing off on their 41-year-old quarterback.
We’ll see how well the Steelers can hang once they start to play some stiffer competition, but it’s a classic Mike Tomlin team that is finding ways to do just enough to secure more wins than losses.
2.) AC: What are the weaknesses this tattered Bengals team could possibly exploit against the Steelers this Thursday night?
The Steelers’ defense has generated turnovers this season, but has given up explosive plays to every opponent except the Browns. The Bengals have one of the best receiver duos in the league and an athletic tight end room that could exploit the coverage provided by the Steelers’ linebackers… if they can keep Joe Flacco upright long enough to do so.
Defensively, the Bengals should be prepared for the Steelers to trot out their new jumbo package that features six offensive linemen and tight end Darnell Washington. Stop the Steelers’ run game, and you can stop the passing attack. The Steelers have been running a rather basic and one-note passing game. If a team can stop the running game and force the Steelers to become one-dimensional, they’ll struggle to keep up offensively.
3.) AC: What has Aaron Rodgers shown everyone these first few weeks? He’s got a great 105.4 rating on the season—is it big plays, YAC stuff, or a little bit of everything?
RP: I alluded to this a bit in the previous answer, but Rodgers is living and dying with the quick passing attack. DK Metcalf leads the teams with 31 targets, but after that, it’s been mainly bubble screens and quick routes to Jonnu Smith (20 targets) and check-downs to running backs Kenneth Gainwell (22 targets) and Jaylen Warren (14 targets).
Rodgers is just 6-for-14 on passes of 20+ air yards, and 9-for-18 on passes between 10-19 air yards. That should tell you how vertically limited the Steelers’ passing attack has been so far, a complete reversal from last year’s Russell Wilson-led deep ball-focused passing game.
4.) AC: Has the DK Metcalf/George Pickens swap-out paid as much dividends as the Steelers faithful had hoped? Both look pretty good from a distance on their new teams, but I think everyone understood the “addition by subtraction” thing with Pickens…
RP: Pickens wore out his welcome in Pittsburgh with his inconsistent focus both on the field and in the weekly preparation. He was/is an extremely talented player, but you can never tell what he’s going to do on any given play or game. Metcalf will have the occasional drop, but he’s been phenomenal so far as the focal point of the Steelers’ passing attack.
Metcalf may not be getting as heavy a volume of targets as other top receivers in the league, but that’s because the Steelers aren’t a high-volume passing team in general. He’s caught a touchdown in four straight games and provides an explosive element that no one else on the offense is capable of.
5.) AC: The Steelers are 5.5-point favorites on the road this Thursday. Is there any fear of Flacco’s familiarity with Pittsburgh to make this a surprise outcome, or do you feel that the Steelers will have their way with the Bengals once again, even on a short week on the road?
RP: The Steelers are just 9-10 on Thursday nights under Mike Tomlin, and 2-8 on the road, so anything is possible. On paper, they should have their way with the Joe Burrowless Bengals, but there are few easy wins in the NFL. Let’s just say I think the Steelers should break their bad luck on Thursdays, but I wouldn’t find a Bengals victory shocking.
Our thanks to Ryan Parish over at Behind The Steel Curtain for the insight. Be sure to go over to their site to get the other side of our conversation.
