The Pittsburgh Steelers face off against the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday Night Football. If the Steelers win, they take a commanding three-game lead over the Bengals in the AFC North. If the Bengals win, they are only one game behind the Steelers.
Who thought this would be the case prior to the start of the season? Nearly everyone believed the Baltimore Ravens were one of the top teams in the AFC and would win the North. And the Bengals would be the team hot on their tail. But the Ravens have struggled to start the season, and the Bengals are missing QB Joe Burrow. This means the Steelers are in the driver’s seat, and they have a chance to pull away.
“It is spooky season for everybody in the AFC North not named the Pittsburgh Steelers,” Former NFL OT Taylor Lewan said Thursday on ESPN’s Get Up. “After they win this game, which they should win, I am ready to crown the Pittsburgh Steelers as the winner of the AFC North. The Ravens have dug themselves too much of a hole.”
The Steelers are unquestionably the most competent team through six weeks in the AFC North. The Bengals struggled with QB Jake Browning so much that they traded for Joe Flacco last week. Ravens QB Lamar Jackson missed the Ravens’ last two games, but he wasn’t able to overcome the defensive struggles even before that. And the Cleveland Browns are the Cleveland Browns.
But can Joe Flacco turn the Bengals’ fortunes around? Despite a lack of serious practice time, he started versus the Green Bay Packers last Sunday and threw two touchdown passes. That may have surprised a lot of people, but it didn’t surprise Steelers CB Darius Slay, who was teammates with Flacco for a brief time with the Philadelphia Eagles. And we know just how much trouble the Bengals’ wide receiver duo of Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase is.
Thankfully, the Bengals’ offensive line is not very good. Opposing defenses have sacked Bengals quarterbacks 16 times in six games. And the Steelers’ pass rush has been on fire the last three games with 17 sacks. That’s more than all but five other teams’ total sacks this season. That pass rush is going to be key for the Steelers against the Bengals. And if they can bring Flacco down at least five times, they’ll do something they’ve never done before: Register at least five sacks in four straight games.
As for the AFC North, the road doesn’t get a whole lot easier for the Steelers going forward. After playing the Bengals, they have home games against the Green Bay Packers and the Indianapolis Colts. Then they travel to the West Coast to take on the Los Angeles Chargers. How that three-game swing goes could have a big impact on the outcome of the division race. The bigger a lead the Steelers can build on the Bengals and Ravens, the better their chances are.
Because the Steelers still have two games against the Ravens and another matchup against the Bengals after tonight. The big lead the Steelers have in the AFC North could crumble quickly if they aren’t careful. But it all starts on Thursday night against the Bengals. And if they win, especially convincingly, the path to winning the division is about as easy as it gets in the NFL. And Taylor Lewan will be standing by with the crown.
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