Struggling Pittsburgh Steelers offense, meet putrid Cincinnati Bengals defense. There are few cure-alls as potent for an offense as facing the Bengals defense, and a strong showing in Week 11 could give Aaron Rodgers and the offense the spark they need for a late-season turnaround.
That’s why former Steelers QB Charlie Batch uttered the dreaded “must-win game” label this early in the season.
“This is gonna be a prove-it game for the Steelers,” Batch said via 102.5 WDVE’s Morning Show with Randy Baumann. “This is not a game that by any means the Steelers can take lightly. And this is almost a must-win game this season, as early as what we are right now.”
The Steelers scored 31 points against the Bengals a few weeks ago, and that included four touchdown passes by Aaron Rodgers. After arguably the worst game of his entire career on Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers, he could use a get-right game, and the Bengals have proven to be that for many teams this season.
Cincinnati is coming off its bye week, but let’s not forget about the 47-42 defensive collapse against the Bears. It led to a pass-aggressive media battle between the Bengals offensive and defensive players.
If Rodgers can throw for a few touchdowns and Jaylen Warren has another game over 100 yards, that could be just the spark Pittsburgh needs to take on the final third of their schedule with confidence. Right now, that’s at an all-time low. Should they struggle offensively against one of the league’s worst defenses, the outside noise will grow louder than it already is, to an almost unbearable level.
Looking at what the Steelers have on their schedule the rest of the way, there aren’t too many games more winnable than playing the Bengals at home. Meanwhile, the Baltimore Ravens are nipping on their heels in the AFC North. The Ravens have a cupcake schedule the rest of the way until the final few weeks, so Pittsburgh really can’t afford to lose.
With Joe Burrow set to make an earlier return than initially expected, a Bengals win would also give them some semblance of hope down the stretch. The end of the season is already starting to feel like 2024 all over again.
While not technically a must-win for Pittsburgh, it’s about as close as it gets for Week 11.
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