The Pittsburgh Steelers will look to get their second win of the 2021 season in Week 3 by beating the (1-1) Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday at Heinz Field. Not surprisingly, the Steelers opened Week 3 on Tuesday as 4.5-point consensus home favorites over the Bengals, according to vegasinsider.com.
The Bengals, who are coached by Zac Taylor, are led offensively by second year quarterback Joe Burrow, who completed 19 of his 30 total pass attempts for 207 yards against the Chicago Bears on the road Sunday in Week 2 play. Burrow threw two touchdown passes against the Bears in that contest and three interceptions. He was sacked four times by the Bears defense in that Week 2 loss.
For the season, Burrow has completed 39 of his 57 total pass attempts for 468 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions. He has been sacked nine times in two games, however.
Bengals wide receivers Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd each enter Week 3 with 10 receptions to lead the team. Higgins has 118 receiving yards, and two touchdown catches on the season while Boyd has 105 receiving yards and no scores. Rookie wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase leads the Bengals in receiving yardage entering Week 3 with 155 yards on seven catches. He’s also scored twice.
Leading the Bengals in rushing entering Week 3 is running back Joe Mixon, who has 196 yards and a touchdown on his 49 total carries through two games. Mixon also has five receptions on the season for 25 yards.
Defensively for the Bengals entering Week 3, linebacker Logan Wilson leads the team in total tackles with 16. Wilson also has the team’s lone interception on the season. The Bengals defense has six sacks on the season and defensive tackle B.J. Hill leads the team in that stat with two entering Week 3. Cornerback Chidobe Awuzie leads the team in pass breakups with three.
The Bengals defense has just two takeaways on the season with one of those being a forced fumble.
All-time, the Steelers and Bengals have met each other 103 times (including two postseason game), with Pittsburgh winning 67 games and Cincinnati winning 36 games. The Steelers are 23-6 against the Bengals under head coach Mike Tomlin and 11-3 against them at home.
The last time the Steelers and Bengals played was in Week 15 of the 2020 season. The Bengals won that game 27-17 at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati.
For his career and including the playoffs, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is 26-8 against the Bengals all-time and 12-5 at home against them. He has thrown for 8,250 yards and 49 touchdowns against the Bengals during his career with 30 interceptions.
