NFL
By Jalen Willingham
The Cincinnati Bengals will face their division rival Pittsburgh Steelers at home for week 12 of the 2023 NFL Season.
When: Sunday, November 26 at 1:00 pm
Where: Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio
Network: CBS
Offense
With Joe Burrow out for the rest of the season, the Bengals hope for contention is over. In comes backup quarterback Jake Browning. This will be his first NFL start. Browning hasn’t started a game since January 1, 2019, when he faced Ohio State in the Rose Bowl during his time at the University of Washington. Expectations should be kept to a minimum.
The Steelers have the highest turnover differential in the NFL at +11. This defense has also kept teams under 21 points in six straight games. They will look to put a ton of pressure on Browning too. Pittsburgh is top five in blitz percentage and top ten In pressures. If the Bengals want to win, offensively they need to account for T.J Watt and all the pressure that the Steelers front seven brings. Watt already has 11.5 sacks and 23 quarterback hits this season.
Cincinnati needs to lean more on the run game to get through this matchup with a backup quarterback in place. Joe Mixon will get the touches but I also want to see more of rookie Chase Brown with him coming off of IR. Will they actually lean on the run though? It’s a toss-up at this point. Maybe if they did it sooner, Burrow wouldn’t be hurt right now.
The Bengals will once again be without wide receiver Tee Higgins. Rookies Andrei Iosivas and Charlie Jones should get much more snaps this game. Browning has nothing to lose as a backup quarterback with no experience. Ja’Marr Chase needs to be the featured guy in the passing game. The Steelers are well-equipped to take him out of the game though. Chase only had 12 yards last Thursday against Baltimore. I just can’t imagine another poor performance from him back to back. I wouldn’t mind Browning just throwing it up to Chase just to see what happens at times.
Defense
Kenny Picket doesn’t put fear in anyone at quarterback. It’s a testament to how good of a coach Mike Tomlin is as to how the Steelers are 6-4. The bad news for Cincinnati is that offensive coordinator Matt Canada is no longer holding the offense back. Could we see a more explosive Pittsburgh offense? It wouldn’t surprise me with how down the Bengals are right now.
Pittsburgh may lean much more on the run game to get through this one. Cincinnati is at the bottom of the league giving up five yards a carry and 138 yards a game on the ground. Pittsburgh’s one-two punch of Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris could be in for a great day. The good news is that the Bengals will finally get Sam Hubbard back. Hubbard alongside D.J. Reader could be the boost needed in the run defense. If the Bengals can find a way to stop the run once again, they’ll be in great shape to win this game.
Cincinnati will also be without cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt. This is a big loss for the defense in the passing game. We’ll be able to see much more from rookies DJ Turner and Jordan Battle though. We could very well see Turner matched up with George Pickens who is the Steelers leading receiver a lot in this game. If it isn’t Turner, it may be Chide Awuzie who is someone that I honestly don’t trust as much in that matchup. Forcing an interception or turnovers in general will be big for this game.
Prediction
Steelers win 17-14
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