Steelers vs. Bengals: Complete Week 14 Preview for Cincinnati
To make it four wins in a row and keep a lead in the AFC North race, the Cincinnati Bengals will need to overcome the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium.
Cincinnati returns home after a lengthy three-game road trip riddled with ups and downs that shows the team has plenty of things to iron out over the final month of the season before a potential postseason appearance.
Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers wound up losers in two of their last three, but they tout a pesky defense that ranks among the top half of the league against the pass and rush. The offense ranks top five through the air and top 11 on the ground thanks to the efforts of Le'Veon Bell.
Feel free to add in the fact that the Steelers have made a habit of stealing wins in the Queen City in recent years (10-2 in Cincinnati since 2002).
Sunday is a turning point for the Bengals. How Andy Dalton and his team perform will speak volumes as to how a season-ending stretch that includes a trip to Cleveland and Pittsburgh, not to mention a visit from Denver, will ultimately play out.
Some form of consistency has been established in recent weeks, but the Steelers will have something to say about that.
Week 13 Recap
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Last week was a strange one for the Bengals.
The team made the trip to Tampa Bay for a dance with the two-win Buccaneers, only to get a trio of interceptions from Andy Dalton to go with a touchdown through the air and on the ground.
It was a sloppy performance no matter how it gets viewed.
Giovani Bernard was given just 10 rushes, which turned into 49 yards. Jeremy Hill saw 13 go for 40. Rookie wideout James Wright wound up leading the team with three catches for 59 yards. A hobbled offensive line struggled mightily and played a large role in turnovers.
Coach Marvin Lewis was none too thrilled with his team's late-season performance.
"We had, obviously, the turnovers offensively that led to scores, we had penalties on defense that kept drives alive, and those are things we overcame," Lewis said, per The Associated Press, via ESPN.com. "They're going to show up once in a while, but we seemed to have them all today. … We kind of got in our own way all day."
The good news is that the team may have all of the sloppiness out of its system by now. Perhaps the team even overlooked Tampa Bay in favor of Week 14, as unprofessional as that may be.
Regardless, if Cincinnati turns down the turnovers, gets a boost in the offensive trenches and does not even sniff the 10 flags it received last week on the road, the Bengals stand a solid chance against Pittsburgh Sunday.
News and Notes
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Roster Moves
It was only a matter of time before the Bengals got busy when it comes to new additions.
One spot in need of a replacement was linebacker thanks to a season-ending injury to Jayson DiManche last week. Per ESPN.com's Coley Harvey, the team went out and added Chris Carter.
Sneaky—Carter just so happened to spend the first three years of his career in Pittsburgh.
More importantly, the team also added tackle Eric Winston, who took to Twitter to show his enthusiasm:
"Who dey! who dey! who dey think goin to beat them Bengals!?!?!
— Eric Winston (@ericwinston) December 2, 2014"
Winston may not see time right away, but he is an obvious answer to the issues the team saw loud and clear on display last week at right tackle as Marshall Newhouse failed to fill in well for Andre Smith.
Speaking of Smith, who is lost for the year, injuries continue to pile up.
Injury Woes Continue
Vontaze Burfict continues to rehab his injury. Adam Jones was in concussion protocol. Most important, though?
A bug.
Observers heard during the broadcast last week against Tampa Bay that part of the reason Andy Dalton struggled was that he was dealing with an illness. That notion now has serious legs—and an ability to spread around the locker room—per Harvey:
"Along with Jones and Burfict, the Bengals were without rookie H-back Ryan Hewitt, who had an illness. He's the seventh player in the last week to have fallen ill with a bug that has hopped around the locker room. Quarterback Andy Dalton had it Saturday night into Sunday, and offensive guard Kevin Zeitler had it Tuesday and Wednesday. Zeitler, who said he could barely move Tuesday because of how hard the illness hit him, practiced Wednesday.
"
Injuries are a sure thing this time of season. For the Bengals, health issues have been a season-long battle that will not cease.
Going into a showdown with the Steelers, a break would have been nice.
The Curious Case of Giovani Bernard
One of the nuggets about the team that has come to light over the course of the past week is Giovani Bernard's reduced role in the passing game.
It seemed a matter of time that more handoffs would go Jeremy Hill's way. He is a bigger back who can take more of a beating and get tough yards between the tackles. But this figured to allow Bernard more usage in the passing game, something that has just not come to fruition.
To date, Bernard has just 14 catches over the course of his past seven outings. It is a problem offensive coordinator Hue Jackson is well aware of, and he blames opposing defenses more than anything.
"We have to play to what teams are trying to do to us and what we are trying to do to them," Jackson said, per Paul Dehner Jr. of Cincinnati.com. "I've been aware that he hasn't caught as much as he normally has and that's OK. We are still winning and that is what matters."
Rest assured that Pittsburgh will look to do much of the same, which means players such as James Wright will once again be asked to step up and compensate for the difference.
Injury Report
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| Player | Position | Injury Status |
| Vontaze Burfict | LB | Questionable |
| A.J. Green | WR | Questionable |
*All injury reports are from ESPN.com. This slide will be updated when the official report is released.
Considering the aforementioned health of the roster due to illness, this injury report looks pretty good. A.J. Green's name is cause for alarm, but it does not sound like something that will hold him out of the game.
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X-Factor and Matchups to Watch
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Carlos Dunlap and Bengals Line vs. Ben Roethlisberger
Cincinnati knows all too well what can happen if defenders whiff on Ben Roethlisberger.
In short, the man is one of the most difficult in the NFL to bring down, which lets him escape and cash in on big plays down the field.
Given how the season has gone so far for the Bengals, this will once again be a major problem against Big Ben.
The Bengals have just 15 sacks on the year, good for 30th overall. Carlos Dunlap leads the way with six, while Geno Atkins is next closest with just two. The fact Dunlap is the only player who can consistently get pressure off the line is a major reason for the team's struggles this year.
When the line gets minimal pressure, it means the staff is forced to send more bodies after the quarterback. That sounds great, but with Roethlisberger's ability to negotiate the rush and hit players such as Antonio Brown and Markus Wheaton deep, it would be ideal if a basic four-man front led by Dunlap could carry the load Sunday.
Bengals Receivers vs. Steelers Corners
Cincinnati wideouts tend to go as Andy Dalton goes, but even Sunday may be an exception to this rule when tasked with dealing with the Pittsburgh cornerbacks.
In short, it has been a rough season for the unit. Over at Pro Football Focus (subscription required), there are currently 117 corners ranked. William Gay ranks 54th. Brice McCain comes in at 78th. Ike Taylor checks in at 99th. Cortez Allen flirts with rock bottom at 115th.
It seems like it will be a big day for A.J. Green, Mohamed Sanu and others. That also tends to rely on proper play calls and the like, but if the Bengals are going to come out on top in a divisional battle, it usually falls on proper exploitation of matchup advantages.
Cincinnati usually has an advantage in this regard no matter who Green lines up against.
Sunday, though? It hardly gets better, so Green and Co. being in top form puts the Bengals at a serious advantage.
X-Factor of the Week: Jeremy Hill
The Bengals want to light a fire under Jeremy Hill, as one can glean from comments made by offensive coordinator Hue Jackson, per ESPN.com's Coley Harvey:
"What Jeremy needs to do is run the ball. What Jeremy wants to do -- I don't care if it's eight men or seven men -- break tackles, OK? That's what running backs do. They break tackles and that's it. At the end of the day, his job is to run through somebody and come out the other side and go find a way to score, period.
"
Now is a good time for some encouragement. Hill may lead the team in rushing with 683 yards and six scores, but just last week he found 40 yards on 13 totes.
Against the Steelers, that sort of production will not cut it.
Pittsburgh ranks 11th against the rush this season, allowing just 105.6 yards per game on the ground. If the Steelers can keep Hill in check, it puts an inordinate amount of pressure on Dalton to make plays through the air.
There may be advantages through that avenue, but the Bengals want to pound the ball and control the pace in an AFC North encounter. In order to do so in a successful manner, though, Hill will need to be in pristine form against a tough defensive front.
Prediction
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It seems Cincinnati is set to catch Pittsburgh at just the right time.
The Steelers are one of the most erratic teams of all this season. Week 4 was a last-second loss to Tampa Bay. Week 6 was a blowout at the hands of Cleveland, 31-10 (although those do seem familiar in a way, right?).
Just last week the Steelers allowed the New Orleans Saints, a pass-first team with Drew Brees under center, to rush for 143 yards on a 5.5 per-carry average. Granted, Brees tossed five touchdowns, but the point remains.
Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard will have big days on the ground. With the way the Pittsburgh corners perform on a week-to-week basis this season, the Steelers are not going to get away with committing a large number of extra resources toward stopping the run.
So long as Dalton is healthy and effective to keep the Steelers honest, the ground game will carry the Bengals to a win at home.
Prediction: Bengals 24, Steelers 20
Note: Stats courtesy of NFL.com. All advanced metrics via Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
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