The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals are worlds apart on paper. Entering Thursday Night Football, Mike Tomlin's team is +12 in point differential, while the Bengals sit at dead last in the NFL with a point differential of -80. Meanwhile, the Steelers are the 9th-ranked team in DVOA, per FTN, while Cincy ranks 32nd.
When you look at the rosters of these two teams—and consider the catastrophic injury to Joe Burrow—it's not hard to make sense of.
Apart from maybe just the wide receiver position, the Steelers are the better team across the board with fewer roster holes. And most would agree that Pittsburgh possesses a better coaching staff. This feels like a recipe for success tonight, right?
While logic and oddsmakers both favor the Steelers, a few incriminating stats make this the ultimate trap game for Pittsburgh.
Ugly stats prove the Pittsburgh Steelers could be walking into a trap on TNF
There are certain situations in which Mike Tomlin has been historically excellent. The Steelers are 14-4 after a bye week and, after taking down Dillon Gabriel and the Browns in Week 6, Tomlin is 27-6 all-time against rookie quarterbacks.
Sadly, the long-time head coach has a concerning record on the road on Thursday Night Football.
During his tenure as the Steelers' head coach, Tomlin is 2-8 on the road on TNF (technically, they are 2-9 under Tomlin on Thursday night, but one of these games was a season-opener). Furthermore, when facing AFC North rivals on the road, Pittsburgh is 0-6 under Tomlin.
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These stats go from bad to worse when you consider who they are facing this week. While Joe Flacco is hardly the most daunting quarterback on the schedule, Tomlin has a .500 record of 11-11 against the now 40-year-old QB. The Steelers lost to Flacco just last year. As a member of the Colts in 2024, Flacco led his team to 27 points off the bench in a win over Pittsburgh.
In their most recent sample of playing Thursday Night Football on the road, the Steelers allowed quarterback Jameis Winston to put up 24 points in an upset Cleveland Browns win over Pittsburgh on November 21, 2024.
Tonight's game is anything but a walk in the park for the Pittsburgh Steelers. If anything, it feels like Mike Tomlin's team is walking into another trap.