The Pittsburgh Steelers will play their 17th and final game of the 2024 regular season on Saturday night at home against the Cincinnati Bengals. They’ll enter that contest as home underdogs as well. Below are five key things that I believe the Steelers will need to do to come away with their 11th win of the season on Saturday night at home.
MUTTTHHHHHHH!!!! – Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth has had quite a career against the Bengals so far. To date, Freiermuth has 35 receptions for 404 yards and three touchdowns against the Bengals in seven games played against them. Earlier this season, Freiermuth registered six catches for 68 yards and a touchdown against the Bengals.
On Saturday night, the Bengals defense will likely focus heavily on taking away Steelers WR George Pickens. Additionally, their defense will likely try to pay more attention to the Steelers’ running backs in the passing game, something they didn’t do a few weeks ago in Cincinnati.
The Bengals have not done a fantastic job against opposing tight ends this season. In fact, their defense has allowed 103 receptions for 1,029 yards and nine touchdowns so far this season to that particular opposite team’s position group. Freiermuth should be targeted quite a bit on Saturday night. He might even have his first 100-yard receiving game of the season.
No Joe Cool In The Pocket – This is really a duplicate key from the first meeting between these two teams several weeks ago. Bengals QB Joe Burrow is so good when it comes to maneuvering within the pocket, thus allowing him to make plays through the air on time. He made a few of those plays in the last meeting against the Steelers with one of those coming inside the red zone that resulted in a touchdown.
The Steelers defense was able to sack Burrow four times several weeks ago and they did get him to fumble away the football twice. They also batted one pass attempt that resulted in an interception. Those three takeaways resulted in 10 points for the Steelers. Burrow, however, did complete 28 of his 38 total pass attempts in that Week 13 contest with three of those passes going for touchdowns.
The Steelers did not have OLB Alex Highsmith the last time they faced the Bengals. They will, however, have him Saturday night. Burrow can’t be allowed to stay cool in the pocket at Acrisure Stadium. We must see him flushed or forced to stay deep in his drops throughout this contest. Three more defensive takeaways and two fewer touchdown passes from Burrow in this Week 18 contest will almost assuredly result in yet another Pittsburgh win against Cincinnati.
14 New Years Shots – The Bengals enter Saturday night with a lot of questions at the cornerback position. In fact, CB Cam Taylor-Britt even entered the weekend listed as questionable, so he won’t be 100 percent even if he plays Saturday night. Rookie CB Josh Newton has had his difficulties throughout the 2024 season and especially since taking over as a starter. In short, neither of these two cornerbacks should be able to hang with Steelers WR George Pickens through a full game.
A few weeks ago, Pickens was targeted six times in the game against the Bengals and he caught three of those passes for 74 yards and a touchdown. He should be able to double that catch total Saturday night and possibly even hit 100 yards receiving.
QB Russell Wilson shouldn’t force targets to Pickens. Even so, he needs to make sure he gives the young wide receiver enough opportunities to make plays down the field. If Pickens’ Saturday night production doesn’t at least equal what he registered in the first game against Cincinnati, it’s hard to imagine Pittsburgh winning this Week 18 contest.
Keep Tre Away And At Bay – Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson enters the final week of the 2024 regular season tied for the league lead in sacks with 14. Fortunately, he failed to register any sacks in the first meeting between the two teams in Cincinnati, and overall, he didn’t have a huge impact on the game. The Steelers offensive line needs to duplicate that success against Hendrickson in this Week 18 rematch.
In Week 13, Hendrickson had all of one assisted tackle against the Steelers to go along with one quarterback hit. He should be a bit easier to focus on in this rematch as the Bengals won’t have their other top-edge rusher in DE Sam Hubbard due to injury. Chipping Hendrickson throughout the Saturday night game is a must. Much like Steelers OLB T.J. Watt, Hendrickson can wreck an offensive game plan if not controlled.
The Bengals defense has registered 32 sacks so far this season and that means Hendrickson has accounted for nearly half of them. Hubbard had just two sacks before he was lost for the season while DT Kris Jenkins, who is also now out for the season, has three sacks. Keeping Hendrickson away from Wilson once again on Saturday night will go a long way in helping the Steelers beat the Bengals.
More Warren Warranted – In the Steelers’ last five games, which dates back to last meeting against the Bengal, Steelers RB Jaylen Warren has averaged 6.34 yards per touch. Fellow RB Najee Harris has averaged just 4.73 yards per touch during that same span of games. Warren has been the hotter hand of the two running backs, and he deserves his fair share of touches Saturday night because of that.
Warren has gained 10 yards or more on 28 plays so far this season on 152 total touches. Harris, on the other hand, has 37 such gains on 283 total touches. Warren is much more likely than Harris to deliver double explosive plays or at least one of more than 30 yards.
The Bengals’ defense that the Steelers will face Saturday night is primed to give up big plays to a Steelers running back, either on the ground or through the air. Because of that, my recommendation is for the Steelers to think extensively about giving Warren plenty of touches in this Week 18 contest.
