Calling Week 18’s important regular-season finale between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals will be ESPN’s A-team, led by Joe Buck doing play-by-play and Troy Aikman handling color commentary. They teased the news during Monday night’s game between the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers. The NFL confirmed it in weekly press release and game capsule on each matchup.
Lisa Salters will serve as the game’s sideline reporter.
It’s no surprise given that this is the lone Saturday night game and there being no Monday night contest in Week 18, which would create a disadvantage for any Wild Card contender. The final regular-season game of the year will be broadcast on NBC Sunday night, a showdown for the NFC North crown between the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings.
Pittsburgh-Cincinnati doesn’t directly have first place on the line but it comes with plenty of implications. The Steelers still have a shot at the AFC North crown, needing a win and Baltimore Ravens loss to the Cleveland Browns to finish first. The Ravens and Browns play in the Saturday late-afternoon window, meaning Pittsburgh will know its fate before kicking off.
Even with a Ravens win, Pittsburgh’s game has seeding implications. A win secures the No. 5 seed while a loss opens the door for the Steelers to drop to the No. 6 spot. That would create a Wild Card matchup in Baltimore as opposed to the fifth seed in which case the Steelers would travel to Houston and take on the Texans.
The Bengals must win to keep their playoff hopes alive. If they can beat Pittsburgh, Cincinnati will also need the Denver Broncos to lose to the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins to lose to the New York Jets in order to make the playoffs.
This game marks the first time Pittsburgh and Cincinnati are meeting in a regular-season finale since 2018. In the Mike Tomlin era, the only time it’s occurred in a primetime matchup was 2014, a 27-17 Steelers victory on Sunday night to clinch the AFC North.
The Steelers are ice cold and hosting the red-hot Bengals. Pittsburgh’s lost its last three games to fall to 10-6 while the Bengals have won four games in a row since losing to the Steelers in Week 13, 44-38. That became an unexpected shootout in which Russell Wilson edged Joe Burrow with Pittsburgh’s defense making enough splash plays to win.
