The Pittsburgh Steelers will officially play their regular season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals Saturday night at 8 PM/EST. The league released its official schedule following the Sunday night game, showing the game will cap off Saturday night. The game will air on ABC/ESPN.
An earlier report that the game would be held Sunday at 4:25 PM/EST was clearly incorrect.
The game will mean plenty for both sides. The Steelers still have slight hope to win the AFC North, though they’ll need to beat the Bengals while the Cleveland Browns must pull off a major upset over the Baltimore Ravens. Pittsburgh will know their fate by their kickoff, the Browns and Ravens held on Saturday in the late afternoon window.
The Bengals will play the game with their playoff fate in the balance. They’ll need to beat the Steelers and have the Denver Broncos fall to the Kansas City Chiefs – who will be resting starters – and the Miami Dolphins lose to the New York Jets. That will punch the Bengals’ ticket to a Wild Card spot.
Here is the complete Week 18 schedule.
Pittsburgh defeated Cincinnati earlier this year, 44-38. A back-and-forth shootout in which QB Russell Wilson and Joe Burrow traded touchdown passes, combining to throw seven on the afternoon. The Steelers made key defensive plays, including a fumble-recovery touchdown by LB Payton Wilson, to gain the advantage.
A Steelers’ win locks them into no worse than the No. 5 seed, pitting them on the road against the Houston Texans to begin the postseason. A loss combined with a win/tie by the Los Angeles Chargers against the Las Vegas Raiders would drop Pittsburgh to the No. 6 seed and play the Baltimore Ravens.
The Steelers have won their past three games against the Bengals. On a three-game losing streak, they’ll need to break out of their funk ahead of Wild Card weekend.
