The ‘Don’ts’ Are Very Clear vs Pittsburgh
Cincinnati Bengals tight end Tanner Hudson (87) makes a leaping catch in the fourth quarter of the NFL Week 12 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023. The Steelers took a 16-10 win over the Bengals in Cincinnati.
Both the Bengals and Steelers are in a wildly different place than they were the last time they played each other in Week 12. The Steelers took home a 16-10 victory in Cincinnati, but since then, the Bengals have not lost and the Steelers have not won. Cincinnati has had a revelation in Jake Browning, who has come out of nowhere to lead the Bengals to three straight victories. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh has lost three straight and will be starting their third quarterback in four weeks in Mason Rudolph. Two of those losses were to 2-10 teams.
If Cincinnati wants to not only pull off a fourth straight victory, but clinch its third consecutive winning season the path is quite obvious,.
Don’t let Mason Rudolph produce
Any Steelers fan will be quick to bring up the fact that Mason Rudolph is 2-0 in his starts against the Bengals. While that is true, both of those starts were in 2019, and he was benched at halftime in one of those starts. The Bengals were in a totally different place. They ended the year with a paltry 2-14 record.
This time around, it’s a different story.
The Bengals’ defense will be facing a passing offense that’s currently in limbo. Mason Rudolph will be the third quarterback the Steelers have started in the last four weeks. Their passing offense as a whole ranks second to last in the NFL in both yards and touchdowns scored. Both Diontae Johnson and George Pickens, the Steelers’ top two receivers, have both faced criticism of late for occasional lack of effort.
"You went out there and knowingly and selfishly quit on a play that was coming right at you … To admit that and to quit blocking when 10 other guys are busting their ass out there aggravates the hell out of me!"@golic on George Pickens not blocking for Warren vs. the Colts pic.twitter.com/5jVDqUxkHp
— GoJo and Golic (@GoJoandGolic) December 20, 2023
Kenny Pickett threw for his season best total in yards in the last Bengals-Steelers matchup, but was still held scoreless. The Bengals’ pass defense, which has struggled of late in stopping yardage, will likely have an easier time around defending Mason Rudolph. However, containing him still must be a top priority.
Don’t let their run game take over, either
The Bengals’ Week 12 matchup with the Steelers was a day at the beach for Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren. In the game, they combined for 148 rushing yards and one TD, which was the deciding score of the game. Warren did have a fumble in that game, particularly because Diontae Johnson also thought he was having a day at the beach.
Diontae Johnson giving tons of effort on that fumble.
— Colin Dunlap (@colin_dunlap) November 26, 2023
Life in that department might be more difficult, as the Bengals are now without stalwart defensive tackle DJ Reader, who is out for the year with a torn quad.
The Steelers ran 33 rushing plays in the game, and they averaged 4.6 yards per carry. Six of the rushes were for first downs and one of them found paydirt. Cincinnati has done no better of late, as they are coming off a week where they allowed 132 yards and a score to Vikings rookie Ty Chandler.
It’s a revenge game. Play like it.
The last time Cincinnati and Pittsburgh played, Cincinnati absolutely embarrassed themselves in every way. The defense allowed Pittsburgh to have its biggest offensive yardage day since late 2018, and the offense was nonexistent.
When the Bengals last played the Steelers, the run game was DOA. Zac Taylor said that was simply “Life against Pittsburgh” even though Pittsburgh was in the bottom half of the league in rushing yards allowed. Since then, however, the offense has come to life and the rushing attack of Joe Mixon and Chase Brown have emerged as a legitimate running back tandem. They began to open up the run game against the Jaguars and have continued to do so, with Joe Mixon having four touchdowns over the last three games and Chase Brown adding a long TD reception of his own.
However, in an unfortunate turn of events, the Bengals could be missing one of their best players for at least this week.
“Not considered to a be a major major one” added Ja’Marr Chase is more week to week right now. https://t.co/Z7PWuUH3qQ
— Lindsay Patterson (@LndsPatterson) December 20, 2023
Even with the potential absence of Chase, who missed the last part of the fourth quarter, Jake Browning will have the rest of his arsenal of skill players like Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd, Tanner Hudson, and rookies Charlie Jones and Andrei Iosivas. Browning has spread the ball around evenly to his receivers, so while Chase’s absence will definitely be felt, he has done a good job at not relying on him too much.
In the event that Chase is out this week, Browning will have the good fortune of facing a defense that, in the last two weeks, has given up three passing touchdowns apiece to Bailey Zappe and Gardner Minshew.
The Bengals have everything in place to win this revenge game. The run game is finally being utilized. Jake Browning finally has a handful of starts (and wins!) under his belt. The Bengals are trending up and the Steelers are trending down. It’s on the Bengals to continue the positive momentum.
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