Steelers take advantage of Bengals in back-to-back weeks
Word is that the Pittsburgh Steelers have the Cincinnati Bengals’ number. They certainly did in Week 6 of the 2018 NFL regular season when they walked out of Paul Brown Stadium having put up seven more points in a close 28-21 game after the Bengals left too much time on the game clock, allowing Ben Roethlisberger plenty of time to orchestrate a comeback via a touchdown pass to Antonio Brown. On Sunday night, Cincinnati fell apart as the Kansas City Chiefs ran them up and down the field, whipping them by a score of 45-10. The Steelers were utilizing a ‘bye’ as they watched their division rivals across the board take losses in Week 7. Pittsburgh jumped to the top of the AFC North without setting a single cleat on the playing field. So, thanks again to Cincinnati, the Steelers take advantage as Kings of the North, for now.
Embarrassing performance as Bengals get steamrolled
What did Josh Kirkendall of Cincy Jungle call Cincinnati after they were literally rolled by the juggernaut that has been the Chiefs? A “clown show”. I might not have gone that far, but I’ll let Kirkendall, who covers the Bengals, just let it all out. There was expectation ahead of the showdown that the Chiefs would overpower the Bengals, run up the score, have too many weapons to stop. It didn’t help that the team was not at full strength, especially on defense – many of the missing being starters. Harsh predictions equaled the ugly results.
The Bengals have never been a good team in the Sunday Night national spotlight with Marvin Lewis as head coach. In ten games, they’ve won just one. Arrowhead Stadium is one of the loudest, most raucous environments in the league and its fans get rabid, loud, and involved, making it difficult for any opponent – even on the best of days and in the best of situations. Still, you’d think that Lewis had his team prepared to face the adversity, right?
“What we got was a clown show,” Kirkendall wrote. “The Cincinnati Bengals couldn’t have embarrassed themselves more.”
Is that vodka, Who Dey? pic.twitter.com/3xNvEdNXYt
— Grumpy Middle-aged Sports Fan (Josh Kirkendall) (@Josh_Kirkendall) August 31, 2018
Bengals weaknesses exposed in loss to Steelers
There isn’t an easy way to say it – so let’s just say it. The Bengals were riding that high, high of breezing into an early lead in the conference and the division. There were cracks beginning to show, though, and when the Bengals hosted the Steelers several weaknesses were exposed. First, linebacker Vontaze Burfict – considered to be a rallying force for the team – returned from suspension only to let the ugly side of his Jekyll and Hyde personality come out and emotionally keep him from playing solid football. What has your focus keeps your focus. After James Conner, Vance McDonald and the Steelers offense simply shoved him to the side, it wasn’t a shock that the Chiefs turned Kareem Hunt loose on a guy that can’t keep his emotions in check well enough to play a solid 60 minutes.
Yes, fellow linebacker Nick Vigil was sidelined in Kansas City. Yes, cornerback Darqueze Dennard was inactive due to a shoulder injury. Being forced to rely on Darius Phillips and Tony McRae didn’t work well against the Chiefs’ high-powered offense.
Before the game in Kansas City kicked off, however, Pittsburgh had converted 26 first downs (16 through the air) and had a third-down efficiency of 8-14 against Cincinnati. In 67 plays, the Steelers offense had 481 total yards (to the Bengals’ 275) on ten drives. They averaged 7.2 yards per play, 8.0 yards per pass and 5.3 yards per rush. And because the Bengals could not get to Roethlisberger for a single sack, the X’s and O’s were on the whiteboard for a Chiefs team that is red hot, no pun intended.
Offensively, the Bengals were flat as well against the Chiefs. Joe Mixon and Mark Walton were a non-factor despite the fact that the Chiefs weren’t boasting a best-in-the-league run defense (or pass defense for that matter). Dalton and his receivers were not successful hooking up and, with C.J. Uzomah as the only viable tight end, conditions were less than ideal once Kansas City started pulling away by putting up point after point on the scoreboard.
Steelers not taking “gift” for granted
On Monday, center Maurkice Pouncey was joking around when he said, “It took a lot of hard work,” in regards to moving into first place in the AFC North. “We didn’t do anything to get it,” he added, more serious. “Other teams put us in this position. We have to go out there and keep working this Sunday.”
The Steelers’ opponent this weekend will be the team they opened the season and tied with – the Cleveland Browns. The tie was a major disappointment and Pittsburgh would love to have it back. Since there are no do-overs in the NFL, they’ll need to be dominant in all aspects of the game in order to keep a Browns team that has forced four games into overtime from pulling off another surprise.
“They are not the same Browns of the past,” said Ramon Foster. “We have to be a team that recognizes that. Also, we have to get an AFC North victory at home too… We can’t be sluggish coming out of this bye week. We have to be a team that is red hot, especially these later months.”
The Steelers currently are 1-1-1 in the division. That means there is very little wiggle room in a division that has proven to be unpredictable and very close. They can thank the Bengals for offering them a different kind of win in back-to-back weeks, but the Steelers will have to go on the field and execute if they hope to hold on to the AFC North’s top spot for long.
Critics feel the #Steelers will come out of the "bye" slow due to past history. #SteelersNation how do you see the team entering Week 8?
— Christina Rivers (@3Rivers_Writer) October 22, 2018
