The Steelers will once again show how far the Bengals are from AFC North relevance
By Austin Lloyd
Monday night’s matchup at Cincinnati is the only remaining game for Pittsburgh that feels over before it has even begun.
With the Ravens’ recent winning streak since Lamar Jackson’s return from his COVID-19 issues and the Browns currently showing off a rather respectable 9-4 record, the Bengals are just about the only team in the AFC North division with anything left to prove. Unfortunately, the only thing that they have proven is how bad they are in relation to all of their divisional counterparts. If I were a betting man, I would say that the Steelers are going to kindly remind all viewers of this fact Monday night in Cincinnati.
It is not merely the fact that the 2-10-1 Bengals are the worst squad in the AFC North, as the division is clearly one of the, if not the, most formidable in the league right now. Rather it is the size of the gap between them and the rest of the four teams, with the “second worst” being 8-5 Baltimore, who has firmly proven their ability to compete with both Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
There also seems to be no evidence of visible light at the end of this very dark tunnel that Cincy is in. Besides snagging Heisman-winning rookie quarterback Joe Burrow out of LSU with the first overall pick in the 2020 draft, there have not really been any notable signs of improvement within the Bengals’ situation. To add insult to literal injury, poor Burrow was not even able to finish his inaugural NFL season due to ACL and MCL tears being dealt to his left knee. Leading up to this, his offensive line did him no favors, as he was sacked to a mind-boggling extent every game leading up to his departure. If Cincinnati wants this guy to be the general of the offense, then they have to give him at least some adequate help first.
People can hate and say whatever they want about the Steelers “sucking,” but their performance against the Bengals was one of their best of the year, with a 36-10 walloping of the kittens. And this time around, it will be without Burrow. So all Cincy fans can do strolling into this one is pray, because they will need literally any help that they can get.
Must Read. Steelers need to sit Roethlisberger if they beat the Bengals. light
The rest of the AFC North teams outside of Cincinnati show no sign of slowing down, even with the Browns and Steelers both coming off of degrading losses. And all of the hype surrounding those three leaves the lackluster Bengals stumbling in the dust. But looking past the hate-filled rivalry, one has to admit that the NFL is more exciting when the underdogs make some noise. So if next season the orange and black decide to go 14-2 and come second to Pittsburgh in the division, I don’t feel that there would be many cries coming from the Steel City.