The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense had an awful outing last week against the Los Angeles Chargers. It only scored 10 points and turned the ball over twice. However, it has a chance to bounce back this week. The Steelers will play the Cincinnati Bengals, who have the worst defense in the NFL. Unfortunately, the Steelers already lost to the Bengals this season, and their offense made several mistakes in that game. Bengals linebacker Barrett Carter says that turnovers will be a focus for Cincinnati once again.
“Absolutely,” Carter said recently via the Bengals’ website. “We’ve gotta get the ball back to our offense and let them do what they do. We have a bunch of playmakers on that side of the ball, and that’s what they do. They put points on the board. That’s the goal, plus-two, at least plus-two turnovers. Just get the ball back to our guys and let them go make plays.”
The Bengals were plus-two in the turnover margin in their first meeting against the Steelers. That made all the difference, too. The Bengals scored 10 points off of those turnovers. That game ended up being close, with Cincinnati winning 33-31. Had the Steelers not committed those turnovers, perhaps they would’ve won.
The Steelers have yet to win a game this season where they lost the turnover battle. They’ve been positive in the turnover margin in all but one of their wins, and that was Week 6 against the Cleveland Browns, where neither team committed a turnover.
Conversely, the Steelers haven’t won the turnover battle in any of their losses. They’ve been negative in each of those games, except for Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks, when both teams turned the ball over twice.
Therefore, if the Steelers are minus-two this week against the Bengals, their chances of victory aren’t very high. Although the Bengals’ defense has played poorly this season, their offense has flown high. Joe Flacco, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins tore the Steelers’ defense up in their last meeting. Giving them any extra chances this week could be a recipe for disaster.
We’ll see if Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers’ offense can protect the ball better this week. That’s usually been one of Rodgers’ best traits, but he’s been a little loose with the ball this year. He has thrown seven interceptions in nine games, including two picks against the Bengals. Hopefully, he plays cleaner in Week 11.
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