It’s only fitting for the Cincinnati Bengals that a do-or-die stretch to the season starts with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
After all, the Bengals started the season by giving up seven sacks to these same Steelers and came one long-snapper injury away from winning an overtime affair.
The Bengals have since rebounded from the 0-2 start and especially lately, winning three of their last four before the bye. A routine loss to the Browns — a common thing in the Zac Taylor era for whatever reason — is the only loss since early October.
Cincinnati has many things to thank for the turnaround. One of those is the major adjustments to the running game, which culminated in Joe Mixon’s 153 yards and five total touchdowns on seven yards per carry in a win over the Panthers.
Another is the improvement of the offensive line, which is looking great on the interior and fine on the edges. Rookie guard Cordell Volson should be much better prepared for an encounter with Cam Heyward this time out, though whether Jonah Williams can hold up at left tackle remains to be seen.
The Bengals get back star nose tackle DJ Reader for this one too, a huge boon for the entire defense given the way it opens things up schematically. But the offense won’t have Ja’Marr Chase, who had 10 catches for 129 yards and a score in the Week 1 matchup (Tee Higgins had minimal impact after being knocked out of the game after a headshot, though).
The Steelers are quite changed since the first encounter, too. While 3-6, the team has shown signs of life by snapping a four-game skid to go 2-2 over its last four. It projects to have star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick back and rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett has looked increasingly comfortable by the week despite the season-long two touchdowns and eight interceptions line.
It feels like which team starts the fastest will win this one, especially if it’s Cincinnati gunning to a fast start. Riding the ground game before a score will quickly put a rookie like Pickett into an uncomfortable position. He’s thrown big interception numbers and taken too many sacks because he’s processing just a tick too slow at pro speeds, so forcing him to the air will create more opportunities to get the ball back fast.
Beyond that, we haven’t even mentioned Joe Burrow — who looks like a totally different player compared to Week 1. His ground game should be cruising again, which will open things up through the air, Chase or not.
Overall, there’s good reason this was the biggest favored margin for the Bengals in Pittsburgh since 1986. They’re two teams heading in different directions right now and the desperation the Bengals feel to avoid 0-4 in the division will play a role, too.
Prediction: Bengals 27, Steelers 20
