With a loss last Thursday night and a few other key teams coming away victorious Sunday, the Steelers have little room for error the rest of the way. They head to Paul Brown Stadium in hopes of getting back on track.
Fun stat. The Steelers have scored only one offensive touchdown a game in each of their past three games. The defense has nearly matched that by scoring two in those three games.
There is a lot of work to be done this week. The Steelers used Cincinnati as a springboard at home on Monday Night Football in week 4. Here we are 8 weeks later, and they will have to find their footing once again.
With as bad as this offense is, Thursday was a formula to make this offense even worse. With two of their top wide receivers in concussion protocol, starting running back out with a shoulder injury, and their pro bowl center suspended, the Steelers are trending in the wrong direction.
To make matters worse, the Colts, Bills, and Raiders each got victories and kicked the Steelers out of the picture (for now.) The point? They will have to “simply” win out.
With the inept offensive coordinator looking… well, inept… the Steelers have a lot of work to do on offense. Even the defense has some rebounding to do against the Bengals after allowing three Baker Mayfield touchdowns.
This is a very winnable game, but it is going to be a testy one. The Bengals have nothing to lose and will throw everything they got at the Steelers in hopes of their first victory.
Here’s what the Steelers must do…