Earlier in the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cincinnati Bengals 27-3 and now it is time for the rematch. We reached out to our friends at Bengals Wire to go behind enemy lines before this week’s game.
Can the Bengals rally with six games to play or is the season a lost cause?
Lost cause. The team has admitted it too in going with rookie passer Ryan Finley over Andy Dalton. He’s a little more mobile, sure, but coaches have flat-out admitted this is about evaluating for the future now. Considering they’re in the running for the No. 1 pick, that’s probably a great idea. Zac Taylor traded up to get Finley so they need to see what he’s got. Otherwise, there are far too many injuries to overcome. We’re looking at one or two wins, tops.
What is going on with A.J. Green and this ankle injury?
A couple weeks back it seemed like A.J. Green would make his anticipated return, to the point even Taylor told the media it would happen. Then he had a setback with some swelling while trying to full-go and we haven’t heard much from him since. Green has been rehabbing on the side lately and little more. Understandably, some of the conspiracy-prone folks out there think this could be a play to get an extension or slip to free agency this offseason. It is hard to fully shoot this down because if that’s what it was, this is pretty much what it would look like. But odds are he’s just playing it incredibly safe because his team is winless and he’s heading to the market this offseason.
It’s clear Joe Mixon has talent. What’s holding him back?
Early in the season it was playing through an ankle injury and shaking off rust after no preseason usage. Now it’s a bad rapport with his current line and a bad scheme in general. Since a bye two weeks back Mixon has totaled 200 yards and a score over two games for his strongest outings of the season. This mostly stems from a learning-on-the-fly coaching staff understanding they can’t force their scheme on the players. Mixon should keep putting up numbers in looks more akin to what he had last year.
Who is a Bengals player not getting enough position attention during such a down season?
Honestly, nothing immediately comes to mind because even the defensive line, typically a strength, has had a down season. In all seriousness, it’s probably safety Brandon Wilson on kick returns after a few injuries in front of him on the depth chart. He’s sitting on 490 yards on just 14 returns (35.0) average with a score. Like his college days, he’s just elite at it and has provided the Bengals with a long-term weapon.
Prediction time. Can the Bengals pull off the upset?
No upset here. There just isn’t enough talent on this roster and the biggest weaknesses are easily schemeable for exploitation. Think, plays to the sidelines against a miserable linebacker unit or exotic pressures against an offensive line that has started a backup guard at left tackle for most of the season. This one probably isn’t as bad as the game earlier this year (27-3 favoring Pittsburgh), but this Bengals offense just got a 13 of 31 effort from its rookie quarterback last week. Steelers 24, Bengals 10.
