When the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday night, it will be a rematch of the Steelers’ highest scoring game of the season. When the two teams met in Cincinnati, the final score was 44-38 in favor of the Steelers.
Despite allowing the most points all season, the Steelers’ defense made some key plays. They forced three turnovers, including LB Peyton Wilson returning a fumble for a touchdown. So Bengals QB Joe Burrow knows that even if the offense can score, the Steelers’ defense will cause problems.
“They’re going to play defense,” Burrow said in Thursday’s press conference. Per video from the Bengals’ X/Twitter accountt. “We had some success against them throwing the ball. But when you have T.J. Watt and Minkah and all of them up front, they’re going to make plays. They’re going to cause turnovers. But sometimes there’s not much you can do about it. And just try to stay focused and move on to the next play and execute each play to the best of your ability.”
In theory, it’s a matchup of each team’s strengths. Despite the Bengals’ performance, Burrow is having a great year. He completed 69.8 percent of his passes for 6,481 yards and 42 touchdowns, with just eight interceptions. And three of those touchdowns came in Week 13 against the Steelers.
Beyond the line of scrimmage? The Steelers defense remains the seventh-best scoring defense in the NFL. 20.5 points are allowed per game. They also led the league in turnovers with 31. That’s why Coach Burrow says they’ll play. And he’s definitely been on the receiving end of some of those plays in Pittsburgh before.
“I played there in 2022 and TJ Watt jumped up and caught my ball on the route he chose and then got slammed and I threw a pick,” Burrow said. “And another time I was throwing a curl route and someone jumped up and tipped the ball to the line of scrimmage, so I threw another pick. And there’s nothing they can do about it. We have some great players on defense who will make plays. We have to go out there and make more.”
The Bengals have won four in a row since losing to the Steelers, and the Steelers have lost three in a row. However, when it comes to divisional matchups, records don’t count.
The Steelers certainly hope to repeat the result they had against the Bengals earlier this season. However, the Steelers and Bengals will make things happen no matter who has the ball, so the final outcome will depend on which team makes more plays.
