4 Things to Watch: Steelers vs Bengals

The 3-6 Pittsburgh Steelers welcome the 5-4 Cincinnati Bengals into Acrisure Stadium in Week 11.

Their Week 1 matchup was one of the most entertaining games of the entire season so far. One that would eventually go into overtime as the Steelers would prevail thanks largely to the defense forcing a whopping five turnovers on the afternoon. A lot has changed since then, however. The Steelers have a new starting quarterback who will be making his AFC North debut, and the Bengals have been on a roll of late, as well.

Let's talk about some things that you should be watching for when this one kicks off.

The Defense We've Been Waiting For

Before the Steelers season even kicked off, everyone knew what Mike Tomlin's philosophy was going to be this year: win games on the strength of their defense.

No team in the entire NFL spent more cash constructing their defense than the Steelers did this offseason. The results haven't been overly impressive as they rank 23rd in EPA/play, but this is also the first time that we've really gotten to see this group at full strength with T.J. Watt and Demontae Kazee back in the fold.

With Minkah Fitzpatrick somehow making his way back into the lineup just mere days after an appendectomy, Pittsburgh will finally be able to unveil their three safety looks with Fitzpatrick, Terrell Edmunds and Kazee all on the field at the same time. Expect to see this personnel grouping when the Steelers go with their dime package with Edmunds the likely guy moving down into the box.

It's no secret that the Steelers will need to force turnovers in order to win this one and having Kazee's ball skills roaming the back end is a helpful asset in those endeavors.

Can the Steelers Offensive Formula Prove Sustainable

Granted it was against a banged-up Saints defense, but the Steelers offense finally showed some life last week to the tune of 379 yards on offense.

The secret sauce was their running game which is every quarterback's best friend but especially valuable when you have a struggling rookie quarterback under center.

Pittsburgh ran for 217 yards, the most the franchise has totaled in a game since Week 14 of the 2016 season against the Buffalo Bills in a snowstorm. Pittsburgh was able to take some of the load off of their rookie quarterback's shoulders for really the first time all season, and they reaped the rewards from it in the end.

From a numbers perspective, the Bengals' defense has proven to be a bit susceptible to the run game on the season, ranking 25th in EPA/play against the run. However, they've also been missing their key cog in the middle, defensive tackle D.J. Reader.

Prior to his injury, Reader had already accumulated nine tackles against the run on the season with an average depth of tackle of 1.2 yards per attempt. Although a small sample size, he was playing some of his best football earlier in the season and the Bengals defense should look much different with him in the lineup.

Coming off of a 99-yard performance last week, the Steelers will need another strong effort from Najee Harris on the ground in order to stay balanced and ahead of the chains on offense.

Pittsburgh's Pass Rush Must Dominate

The Steelers have struggled in the pass-rushing department this season, ranking 30th in pressure rate. The good news is that they now have arguably the best rusher in football back in the lineup against an offensive line they had their way with for the majority of the first matchup in Week 1.

As you saw last week, New Orleans sent a ton of help in Watt's direction via tight ends to his side in an attempt to slow him down. Between that and protection being slid his way, Alex Highsmith and Cam Heyward should see even more one-on-one opportunities.

Highsmith's career year has been fun to watch as he racked up multiple sacks last week, one on a speed rush up the arch and another on a devastating inside spin move. He'll be lined up against Bengals left tackle, Jonah Williams, who's allowed nine sacks already this season, the most among offensive linemen, per Pro Football Focus.

It should also be noted that Cam Heyward's most impressive outing as a pass rusher also came in week one against Bengals rookie left guard Cordell Volson.

Joe Burrow is one of the more dangerous signal callers in the league when he's on, but he can be thrown off his game when under pressure. Like most quarterbacks, his yards per attempt drop from 7.9 yards per attempt when he's kept clean in the pocket to 6.2 yards per attempt when he's under pressure.

Cincinnati's New Face on the Outside

Bengals cornerback Chidobe Awuzie suffered a season-ending ACL injury a couple of weeks ago, a big blow to a pass defense that ranks 6th in dropback EPA/play. With Awuzie on the mend, Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo has turned to second-round rookie Cam Taylor-Britt.

The Nebraska product has had a rough go of it so far in limited exposure, allowing seven of eight targets to be caught for 110 yards and a touchdown, according to Sports Info Solutions. Taylor-Britt is a physical player that some believed could make the switch to safety at the next level, but his tape in man coverage coming out of college left some to be desired.

The Bengals play man coverage at the ninth-highest rate league-wide which means Taylor-Britt will see some one-on-one reps with both Diontae Johnson and George Pickens on the outside. Johnson had his way last week with Saints cornerback Paulson Adebo and really could have had several long receptions if not for external factors beyond his control. George Pickens has flashed his potential, but the passing attack has struggled which has limited his opportunities to show consistency.

Aside from the rookie, Eli Apple has also been fortunate not to allow more big plays down the field as he's had a couple of lapses in coverage which offenses couldn't capitalize on.

Pickett's only 5-16 on throws that travel 20 yards or more in the air but will need to connect on at least one play in order to provide some explosiveness to the Steelers' offense in Week 11.

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