CINCINNATI (WKRC) - Here are five storylines of note in Sunday's Bengals game at the Pittsburgh Steelers, which will kick off at 1 p.m. in Heniz Field (WKRC-TV, Local 12 will televise):
5. Defensive line needs to carry the day for Bengals defense
The Skinny: The Bengals revamped defensive front played great in the first two games of the season and now it faces a Steelers offensive line that has four new starters from a season ago.
The Steelers averaged just 57.0 yards rushing and 3.3 yards per carry and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was sacked four times in the first two games, so this is a golden opportunity for the defensive front to turn in a third straight great performance.
"Lot of new faces, not the typical Steelers O-line that you are used to seeing," said Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard. "Starts up front. It’s no different just because it’s this OL. I feel like we go into every game as a defensive line feeling we have to impose our will and set the tone for the defense by doing what we do."
Tthe Bengals limited Bears running back David Montgomery to only 60 yards on 21 carries after holding Vikings running back Dalvin Cook to 61 yards on 20 carries.
Through the first two games the line has combined for six sacks and seven other tackles for loss, and is a big reason the first two opponents averaged only 3.4 yards per carry.
In the entire 2020 season the line combined for only 12.5 sacks and 17 tackles for loss, and opponents averaged 5.1 yards per carry, which ranked 31st in the NFL.
"I just think how active they've been both on first and second down in the run game and then pressuring that pocket in the pass game," said Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo. "We're getting TFLs, which we haven't in the past couple of years, and we're also creating quarterbacks having to throw out of a tight pocket, which is so important on getting those sacks. You can't put a premium on that. We're very excited what those guys have done."
Said Hubbard: "We’re a physical front. We play the run well because we take pride in stopping the run, swarming to the ball. You’ll see guys make the first contact and the runner not always go down, but there’s three more guys coming, swarming. It’s why we take pride in not allowing big plays, stuff like that. It’s just stuff we talked about for a long time finally showing up on film. We gotta keep it going. You win this game you start off 1-0 in the division then you have the whole season in front of you. You don’t want to play in a meaningless game. This game means a lot and we want to keep it that way. Keep winning games like this and they will mean even more at the end of the season."
4. Bengals need to get the run game back on track
The Skinny: After the Bengals rolled up 149 yards rushing in the opener against the Vikings, including 127 on 29 carries by running back Joe Mixon, they were limited to only 68 yards rushing on 20 carries last week at the Bears, all of it by Mixon.
The Bengals need the run to not only be successful to manage down and distance, but also to set up their play-action passing game.
Against Minnesota the Bengals used two tight ends on 26 of 68 offensive plays, but they used that personnel grouping on only eight snaps against the Bears.
"I feel like we’ve got a lot of playmakers on offense. and I feel like at the end of the day, no matter how boring the run may be, no matter how much we run it, as the game goes on, you wear the defense down," said Mixon. "From there, instead of a four-yard or three-yard gain turns into an eight (yard gain), and potentially a 20 and 50-yard gain. That’s pretty much the nature of it. So, you’ve just got to keep on building and getting better and doing what we can at the point of attack, which we will.”
The Bengals did run against light boxes as they tried to spread the Bears out with multiple receiver sets, but didn't take advantage of it.
"We had opportunities. We had chances, but it 's always pretty much one guy away, or even me going a little faster on certain runs," said Mixon. "I usually have a good pace coming up, but it’s doing the little things like I said to improve the run game, which I have a great feel for, and we’ll get better at. I just keep on chugging away, mastering the mundane and looking forward to playing Pittsburgh.”
3. Burrow finally gets second shot at Steelers
The Skinny: Among the many disappointing aspects of Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow suffering his season ending knee injury in Game 10 of last season at Washington is not getting a chance to face Baltimore and Pittsburgh a second time after both defenses dominated him and the Bengals offense.
In his lone matchup against the Steelers last season, which came in Pittsburgh, Burrow completed only 21 of 40 passes for only 213 yards and was sacked four times as the Bengals lost 36-10.
"It was tough the first time and I was looking forward to getting to play them again," said Burrow. "Unfortunately it didn't happen, got injured and so it is what it is. But I'm planning on being here for a long time so I plan on playing the Steelers a lot of different times."
The only divisional opponent that Burrow faced twice was Cleveland. While he was good in the first matchup against the Browns (316 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 96.6), he was even better the second time against them (406 yards, three touchdowns, one interception and a passer rating of 112.5, which was the highest of his rookie season).
Through the first two games of this season Burrow completed 39 of 57 passes (68.4 percent) for 468 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions for a passer rating of 94.8. The problem is the performance hasn't been nearly that consistent. He had a career-best passer rating of 128.8 in the opener, but then in Game 2 at the Chicago Bears he threw three interceptions on three straight plays in the fourth quarter (the last of the three was fluky) and finished with a passer rating of 66.2, which is the second-worst game of his career. He was trending toward his worst game until he threw two touchdown passes in the final five minutes.
"I think I've played decently, obviously a lot of room to improve," said Burrow. "And that's what you try to do each week. You look at what you did well, what you didn't do well and then try to improve."
Burrow's early season performance in 2021 was detailed here.
2. How much will Big Ben be compromised by injury?
The Skinny: Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had no injury designation for this game when the official injury report was released Friday after it was reported earlier in the week that he may not play due to a left pectoral muscle injury.
We'll see if that injury affects him on Sunday or how it affects him after he gets hit a couple of times.
He is 39 years old, after all, and in his 18th NFL season so his body has taken a lot of punishment, and the Steelers inability to run the ball the last two seasons has put the offensive onus squarely on him.
"He’s as a person done a lot of maturing and coming into the tail end of his career, being appreciative of every moment," said Bengals cornerback Chidobe Awuzie. "You can definitely see that. He’s also a part of my agency. As a player, his offense has always been explosive, they’re always spreading the ball around, putting it in Big Ben’s hands. We know what to expect from them, and we’re excited for the challenge."
In his career against the Bengals, Roethlisberger has made 32 starts and the Steelers are 24-8. His career passer rating against the Bengals is only 87.2, however, and while he has thrown 45 touchdowns he has also thrown 30 interceptions.
"He’s obviously a first ballot Hall of Famer and one of the all-time greats," said Hubbard. "He does a really good job of coordinating the offense, getting the ball out fast. He’s kind of running the show. He’s been doing it 18 years. You just see his total command of the offense at all times."
Two of Roethlisberger's best traits are his abilty to shed pass rushers and then extend plays and turn a potential loss into a big gain.
"Really, if you get your hands on him you have to go after his throwing arm," said Hubbard. "You have three guys hanging off him, he’s still staying up. He’s still going to get the ball out and avoid a sack. You get around it and go after his throwing arm to try and pin it."
"I got my hands on him my rookie year and I fell right off. I was like, wow, you don’t realize how big and strong he is until you try to go bring him down, so you have to try to pin that throwing arm. He’s a tough sack to get, but want to affect him and not allow him to extend the play like he has been doing for so many years."
Anarumo said the secondary has rules for how to handle situations where Roethlisberger extends plays.
"It's any receiver in our division," said Anarumo. "All three teams have guys that can extend plays: Lamar (Jackson), Baker (Mayfield)and Ben, who has been doing it longer than anybody. We plaster, where you get on your guy even if it's in zone. We just have our plaster rules and we work that stuff and they know that."
Said Awuzie: "We know what he brings to the table. We’re going to have to plaster our receivers. Obviously you have guys like Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, all these guys that have entered the league and made the average play count an extra second. It’s just kind of the name of the game these days."
1. Rookie Carman expected to get first start at right guard
The Skinny: While right guard Xavier Su'a-Filo wasn't listed as out on the official injury report the team released on Friday, he is listed as doubtul and didn't practice at all during the week so it's highly likely that rooke second round pick Jackson Carman will start in his place.
"He has made improvements every single week since training camp started, and (offensive line coach) Frank (Pollack) knows and has preached to those guys that they're all one play away and you never know when it's coming," Taylor. "I think Jackson's taking the right approach there. Frank's done a good job getting a lot of extra work with those guys, being hard on them on the scout team, because those are a lot of their reps a lot of the time. Those guys have continued to make improvements."
Carman struggled early in training camp not only making the transition from playing tackle in college, but also with what it means to be a professional in terms of preparation.
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said he has improved in both areas.
"It takes guys a minute to get adjusted to life in this league and how we practice and the competition we’re playing against," said Taylor. "He’s no different than, we sat in here and talked about Ja’Marr for four weeks and the challenges he had in training camp. Every position is a little bit different. You got to be patient with him and it’s going to come. When Jackson does play for us, it’s not always going to be perfect. We know that. Just don’t make the same mistake twice, keep learning, keep communicating with the guys around you and good things will come. He’s a smart football player, he’s got a lot of talent and he wants to do well. Good things will come."
It's not like Su'a-Filo was playing great, as he had the lowest grade among Bengals offensive linemen against Chicago (a woeful 41.7) and was the second-lowest graded lineman in the opener against Minnesota.
It also doesn't hurt that the Steelers are without two of their three starting defensive linemen due to injuries: nose tackle Tyson Alualu and end Stephon Tuitt.
PREDICITION: Bengals 23, Steelers 21
The Skinny: Yeah, the last time the Bengals beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh was 2015 and they haven't won two in a row in the series since the final game of the 2012 season and first meeting in 2013, but this isn't a very good Steelers team and they have some key injuries on top of it.
The Bengals are 1-15-1 on the road in Taylor's three seasons as head coach, but this is the perfect opportunity to make it 2-15-1 when the dust settles late Sunday afternoon.