The Pittsburgh Steelers square off with the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday in the regular-season opener and everyone is anxious to see what the Steelers offense will look like without Ben Roethlisberger. Here are our predictions about what to expect when Pittsburgh has the football on Sunday.
Coming out of the gates slow
The mark of a Steelers offense in recent years has been slow starts and there’s no reason to believe that will change. Head coach Mike Tomlin is going to come out, try to establish the run early and if it doesn’t work, the opening drive will stall out. You can just about bank on it.
Mitch Trubisky on the move
Whether designed or not, Mitch Trubisky is going to be on the run against an agressive Bengals front going against a shaky Steelers offensive line. The RPO is something offensive Matt Canada wants to include in the offense and thankfully Trubisky has good athleticism and can move.
George Pickens is going to put on a show
It won’t take long for Trubisky to figure out if he throws it up there, rookie wide receiver George Pickens is going to go get it. If Diontae Johnson can’t play, Pickens will quickly be the top target.
Going pass heavy when nothing else works
It isn’t going to take long for the Steelers run game to stall out, the Bengals to get a lead and we see the Steelers offense we have seen for the past few seasons of dink and dunk passing pop up.