A Get Right Game? Bengals @ Steelers - Pregame Thoughts
On Sunday, our Pittsburgh Steelers will have a chance to get their get back against the Bengals having just played them a short time ago with 31 days separating the two meetings. When I think about last month’s game between these two teams, it certainly marks the beginning of a tough stretch for this team, and it kinda feels like the Bengals really exposed something that other teams have honed in on over the last couple of weeks - throwing the ball short and letting their playmakers create YAC. It has been much better with Ramsey and Dugger in the safety spots, but it’s something that better have everyone’s attention coming into Sunday’s game, because we’ve officially entered ‘must-win’ territory, and we simply cannot get swept by the Joe-Flacco-led Cincinnati Bengals.
On the injury front, the Steelers will be without CB Darius Slay (Concussion), Cole Holcomb (Illness), Alex Highsmith (Pectoral), and CB Cory Trice Jr. (Hammy/Knee). Cory Trice Jr. remains in the 21-day window for return, so hopefully he is able to put any sort of tape out there at some point this season. OG Isaac Seumalo is also questionable with a pectoral injury. If he can’t go, I suspect we’ll see more Andrus Peat in heavy packages and Spencer Anderson in Seumalo’s spot. Of course, I would like for us to be at full strength, but I have little reservations about the offensive line’s ability to do some good things against this defense regardless of who starts. No Alex Highsmith is quite upsetting, but we’ve all asked for more Nick Herbig, and that’s now exactly what we’re going to get. We should also get a pretty healthy dose of CBs Brandin Echols and James Pierre, which actually has me pretty excited.
For the Bengals, they’ve opened up Joe Burrow’s 21-day window to return, but he has been ruled out for this game (Toe). Obviously, we didn’t expect him to play, but they’re also going to be without DE Trey Hendrickson (Hip), RB Samaje Perine (Ankle), and DE Shemar Stewart (Knee). This probably doesn’t need to be said, but the Steelers will have avoided both Trey Hendrickson and Joe Burrow this regular season…we gotta win one of those games, I don’t care what the rest of the circumstances are.
The National Football League is a lot of things…simple is not one of them. With that being said, the Steelers path to victory in this game feels pretty simple from an outsider’s perspective. The second and third-level guys on defense have to be MUCH stickier in coverage than they were in round one of this matchup. No disrespect to Darius Slay, but I’m not upset he’s sitting in this spot. He had a tough time against this team last month. Ja’Marr Chase had 16 catches for 161 yards and a TD in that game. In a lot of ways, that was just the best wide receiver in the world doing what he does, but the Steelers did whatever they could to beat themselves too: 4 defensive pass interference penalties to add onto all those yards Chase had, as well as 14 missed tackles. Bad in coverage and YAC everywhere. So yeah, the plan in this game feels like it should be pretty simple to me. Take away Joe Flacco’s first option, make him go through his progressions, and for God’s sake, can we please rally and make tackles? If you can get him holding on to the football for just a little bit, our pass rush should be able to tee off. The Steelers are getting quick pressures at the 5th-highest rate in the NFL (NGS/NFL Pro).
For the offense, it’s probably going to take 30 points to put this team away, unfortunately. That’s probably tough for the fan base’s blood pressure considering Aaron Rodgers is coming off one of the worst games of his entire career, but that’s where we’re at with it. The good news is: we hung 31 on the Bengals last month, and since then, they’ve given up 39 points to the Jets and 47 points to the Bears. I’m not expecting a 50-burger, but we oughta be able to put together some pretty solid drives. Pat Freiermuth, Darnell Washington, and DK Metcalf are matchup nightmares for this team. Also, Jaylen Warren had 16 carries for 127 yards against the Bengals last month. Let’s not fuck around. Feed #30.
This game feels like a pivotal moment for the 2025 Pittsburgh Steelers. I can say, for right or for wrong, there will be a lot more looking ahead on this particular platform if we drop the ball tomorrow. Let’s get this win, please.
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