While the Cincinnati Bengals enter Sunday’s matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers at 4-7, they boast one of the most explosive offenses in the league with QB Joe Burrow and WR Ja’Marr Chase playing some of the best football of their careers. Coming off a road loss against the Cleveland Browns, former Steelers S Ryan Clark said on ESPN’s First Take the Steelers have to show they are for real starting Sunday in Cincinnati.
“They have to prove that they can be consistent, that they could beat good football teams down the stretch when it matters most,” Clark said. “They have to go out now and show that on the road against a Cincinnati Bengals team with an explosive offense that Russell Wilson is enough, that this defense is enough, and that Coach [Mike] Tomlin, one of the best coaches in all of football, can get his team focused down the stretch to make a playoff run.”
The second half of the Steelers’ gauntlet was the part that everyone looked at dating back to the schedule release, with all six divisional games and matchups against the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs coming in the team’s final eight games. The Steelers put themselves in good position to attack that gauntlet with a 7-2 start. Then beating the Baltimore Ravens to move to 8-2 helped provide confidence that the Steelers would be fine down the stretch. That confidence is lowered coming off the slip-up against Cleveland, which came in windy and snowy conditions and a short week following the win over Baltimore.
With a mini bye following the Thursday Night Football game, the Steelers should be rested for Sunday’s game. But they’re playing a team that needs a win to essentially save its season and avoid losing its eighth game, which would make it really hard for the Bengals to make the playoffs. A win over the division-leading Steelers could give them some momentum and allow them to make a push down the stretch, so as is the case in most AFC North games, it’s one to throw records out the window.
And even with the Bengals below .500, they are a good team. At least offensively, Cincinnati is incredibly hard to stop, but its defense has really struggled all year. That’s where the Steelers need to prove they can continue to win with Russell Wilson, as Clark said, and prove that he’ll do enough to win in a game that could wind up being a shootout.
A win over the Bengals on the road would help instill more faith in the Steelers, especially if Wilson can have a big game. It’s a team that has to quiet some doubts after the Browns loss, and picking g up a road win over Cincinnati would certainly help do that.
