The Cincinnati Bengals, 0-3 or not, have a massive task in front of them on Monday Night Football against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Those Steelers are without key names and are right in contention for the cellar of the AFC North, yet enjoy a sheer dominance over the Bengals Zac Taylor would love to shatter on primetime.
Plenty has changed for the Steelers just like the Bengals, so let’s look at some important details to know as the game nears.
No Killer B’s: Like the Bengals, an era is nearing an end. Ben Roethlisberger is out for the year after surgery and while the team says he’ll be back, that’s a topic for another time. Antonio Brown is also gone, as everyone surely knows by now. Le’Veon Bell is with the New York Jets, forcing a new crop of players to take over for the Steelers, starting a new day of their own.
Third-Down Woes: The Steelers have stumbled out of the gate to 0-3 and continue to struggle where it matters. They’ve converted just 25.7 percent of their third-down attempts while opponents have converted 47.4 percent of their attempts against the Steelers defense.
Minkah Arrives: The defense might rebound quickly. Pittsburgh shipped a first to Miami for Minkah Fitzpatrick and he immediately turned around and grabbed an interception, forced fumble and five total tackles in his first game with the team.
Mason Rudolph, Growing Pains: Rudolph has struggled in place of Big Ben, completing 56.5 percent of his attempts (same as Big Ben before his injury) with 286 yards and four scores against two picks. He only connected on two throws past the line of scrimmage in Week 3 and boasts the third-highest percentage of negative throws at Pro Football Focus.
Injury Woes: Besides Big Ben, the Steelers just sent Xavier Grimble to IR and traded for tight end Nick Vannett. Roosevelt Nix, Joe Haden and Maurkice Pouncey are some of the names showing up on the injury report this week.
Good Line, Bad Running: The Steelers have a stout front on offense, ranked fifth in the league at PFF, to be exact. But it hasn’t helped James Conner, who has struggled without guys like AB spacing the field. He’s averaging 2.9 yards per carry over 34 attempts, gaining just 97 yards and one score and Pittsburgh either doesn’t have anyone else to turn to on the depth chart or simply doesn’t want to yank him.
