The Pittsburgh Steelers are slowly starting to run away with the AFC North. Over the last three weeks, the Steelers have won both their games, and the rest of the division has lost three straight. Zac Taylor’s Cincinnati Bengals are among that group.
Things started well for the Bengals. They hoped to reverse course after starting slow for a couple of years in a row and did so while winning their first two games. Then, Joe Burrow got injured, and with Jake Browning leading the offense, they lost three straight. The Bengals tried to rectify things by bringing in Joe Flacco, but that wasn’t enough to beat the Packers on Sunday.
If they lose Thursday night, the Bengals will trail the Steelers by three-and-a half games. Taylor knows that would put them in dire straits.
“I think there’s a lot of emphasis on this game,” Taylor said Monday, via the Bengals’ YouTube channel. “There’s a lot here. You got a home divisional game, division is where it is right now. ‘Cause as it stands, the two teams at the top, and you get a chance to knock them down a peg and put yourself up one. Our guys understand what’s at stake. It’s big for us, and we will treat it as such.”
We’re only heading into Week 7, but this is a massive game in terms of the division race. While the Bengals will fall three-and-a-half games behind the Steelers with a loss, a win would do them wonders. They’d improve to 3-4 while the Steelers would be 4-2, putting them one-and-a-half games back. They just want to keep things close until Burrow comes back, and that deficit would allow them to.
Fortunately for the Steelers, they’re in much better shape than the Bengals right now. Cincinnati is struggling to find any identity offensively, and its defense has been gashed all year. From Weeks 2-6, the Bengals have allowed 27, 48, 28, 37 and 27 points in that order. A couple pick-sixes and fumble returns for touchdowns are mixed in there, but they’ve been bad defensively to say the least.
Yet, this game won’t be a walk in the park. Divisional games get weird. Especially in the AFC North, and especially when the Steelers are playing on a Thursday. They’ve generally struggled in these games under Mike Tomlin. As recently as last year, the Steelers lost to a bad Browns team on Thursday night.
The Bengals have a lot of talent, but the Steelers should be able to beat them. It won’t be easy though, and Taylor feels his team will rise to the occasion.
