PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers are in first place in the AFC North. It just doesn't necessarily feel like it.
Three losses in four games, each troubling in its own way, will do that. The optimism
that followed Pittsburgh's hot start has been met with a steady dose of reality that, while the Steelers (5-4) can compete with anyone when they're at their best, manufacturing their best regularly has proven more difficult than all involved would prefer.
“It's just consistency,” said quarterback Aaron Rodgers, coming off his worst game of the season last Sunday night in a lopsided setback against the Los Angeles Chargers. “If the process is right, you don’t have to make any major changes or freak out. It’s the nature of the league. There’s going to be a stinker every now and then.”
Rodgers and his teammates hope they've burned up their allotment for the season when they take the field on Sunday against the Bengals (3-6), who sent Pittsburgh into its mini-tailspin with a 33-31 loss in Cincinnati last month.
“I think the young guys think it’s the end of the world after you lose, which is very, very acceptable because you want those type of competitors in the locker room,” Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf said. “But also, it’s a long season."
Cincinnati is banking on it. Joe Burrow returned to practice this week and while he remains a few weeks away from being cleared following foot surgery, a sweep of the Steelers increases the odds of the Bengals playing meaningful football down the stretch.
“Right now you look at it, you’re 2-0 in the division, we have a chance to go 3-0,” Cincinnati coach Zac Taylor said. “That would be a huge step in the right direction of putting us back in with the teams that are at the top two of our division.”
Rodgers and Flacco and their combined 39 years of NFL experience put on a show in Cincinnati last month. Rodgers threw for 249 yards and four touchdowns — each one of them to tight ends — while Flacco lit up the Pittsburgh secondary for 342 yards and three scores.
While Flacco has continued to produce in Burrow's absence, Rodgers and Pittsburgh's offense have regressed. The Steelers have failed to top 300 yards in each of their last three games, and their 41-year-old quarterback looked his age against the Chargers, tossing a pair of picks (one of which wasn't his fault) and getting dropped for a safety.
Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin has no long-term concerns about Rodgers' play, putting it on the unit as a whole. Maybe, but Rodgers understands the downward trend can't continue if the Steelers want to keep surging Baltimore at bay.
“You just got to bounce back, get back to the things you do, and get back in your routine and try and be better the next week,” the NFL's oldest active player said.
The Bengals are near the bottom of the league in nearly every defensive category in Al Golden’s first season as coordinator. Cincinnati is allowing a league high 426.6 yards per game, including 166.4 yards on the ground.
A big reason for the Bengals’ woes is poor execution on tackling. Cincinnati's 109 missed tackles are tops in the NFL. Opponents have gained nearly 800 additional yards against the Bengals after making the first defender miss.
“I look at each one individually. I know it’s easy to lump together,” Golden said. “I look at the angles, I look at the space. Close quarters, space tackles. ... We just have to find a better way to teach it and keep moving forward with it and keep addressing it.”
Flacco is averaging 313.5 yards passing in his four starts with the Bengals after being acquired from Cleveland. But the 40-year-old knows time is running short with Burrow looking “really sharp” in his return to practice, according to Taylor.
While Burrow has been ruled out of Sunday’s game and is likely questionable for next week's visit by AFC East-leading New England, there's a very real chance he could be back for a Thanksgiving night matchup against the Ravens.
Flacco is under no delusion that he could somehow play his way into the starting job on a full-time basis. It's one of the reasons he doesn't think it's awkward being asked about Burrow's imminent return. Flacco understands he's merely a caretaker, albeit a highly effective one.
“I think I have a job to do and I’m focused on doing that job," he said. “If that comes to an end at some point, I just want to feel good about the job that I’m doing when I’m asked to do that job.”
That the Cincinnati defense is the worst statistical unit in the league isn't a surprise considering the lack of resources invested in that side of the ball.
That's not the case in Pittsburgh, where the league's highest-paid defense finds itself 30th in the league in yards allowed and dead last against the pass. Ja'Marr Chase torched the Steelers for a franchise-record 16 receptions in the first meeting, a night that followed a familiar pattern.
Pittsburgh failed to create a takeaway during that Thursday night shootout and is just 1-3 this year when it doesn't force at least one turnover.
“We can’t continue to live and die by the turnovers as a defense,” outside linebacker T.J. Watt said. "We need to get off the field, we need to stop the run. Critical third-downs, we need to do a better job of. No excuse for it. We need to play better.”
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AP Sports Writer Joe Reedy contributed to this report.
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