Steelers Vs Bengals Preview
Pittsburgh Steelers (6th Seed) at Cincinnati Bengals (3rd Seed)
Bengals
January 9th 2016, 8:15 PM, marks the second time the division rivals meet each other in the playoffs. Back in 2005, they faced off and the Steelers came out with the 31-17 victory. Playoff history doesn't give much of an insight to this match up this weekend.
Combined with hate for one another and the playoff atmosphere, we can be in for an thrilling Saturday night football game.
Andy Dalton suffered a fractured thumb on his throwing hand in week 14, first reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer. The second year QB but first year starter, AJ McCarron, has started the last three games of the season and has won two of them.
The two wins came against the helpless San Francisco 49ers who ended up an 5-11 record and the 5-11 Baltimore Ravens.
"It's a great matchup and a great rivalry and we are excited," said McCarron,
Bengals are ranked 11th in team defense and 15th in total offense, according to NFL.com. The rankings are pretty good but not entirely impressive and they have their hands full with possibly the scariest team in the AFC not named the Patriots.
With the Steelers secondary who struggled all year, they will have their handful with an elite receiver in AJ Green and one of the most improved tight ends in Tyler Eifert.
The last six years the Bengals were in the playoffs they haven't won a playoff game. Marvin Lewis, the head coach of the Bengals, might be on the hot seat again with another first round exit.
Steelers
The 6th seed Pittsburgh Steelers are a dark horse team that everyone needs to look out for. Two time Super Bowl winner at QB is Ben Roethlisberger still runs the offense with many weapons. Who finished 3rd this year in total team offense, according to NFL.com
Antonio Brown who had 1834 yards this year is only second behind Julio Jones, according to NFL.com. Brown is argued to be the best receiver in the league.
The trio of Antonio Brown, Martinis Bryant, and Markus Wheaton at receiver makes the passing game one of the scariest in the league with their quickness and route running.
Running back DeAngelo Williams has been good all season filling in the shoes of Le’Veon Bell, who was the starting running back before tearing his ACL. Pittsburg’s offense might be unbalanced with an DeAngelo Williams having injured his ankle during this week’s 28-12 win over the Cleveland Browns. He is listed as day-to-day.
Steelers are ranked 21st this year in total defense and is possibly the reason why they are not considered an contender this year.
For a win over the Bengals, Big Ben and that passing attack have to be on their A game.
“It's been a rivalry for a long time," said Will Allen, a safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers. “They beat us sometimes. We beat them, a lot.”.
With the Steelers shaky defense all year, Will Allen better hope he doesn't eat his own words with fourth game starter AJ McCarron at the helm for the Cincinnati Bengals.
