Steelers vs. Bengals Bold Predictions: Alex Highsmith's Career Day

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers attempt to stake their claim in the AFC North and the conference playoff picture.

Taking on the Cincinnati Bengals, the Steelers can take the season series against their rival while earning their seventh victory of the season. After a bye week, the team is hoping to shake off the cobwebs before Week 10 action begins.

It’s the middle of the regular season schedule, but there is a playoff atmosphere to this matchup. The Steelers can get their seventh win of the year, and a few of these bold predictions might come true as well.

Alex Highsmith’s Career Day

It’s been a little too quiet for veteran outside linebacker Alex Highsmith. He recorded 0.5 sacks in the team’s latest win, but he hasn’t recorded an individual sack since Week 2 against the New England Patriots.

His previous in-game highs are 11 tackles and 3.0 sacks. Against the Bengals this week, Highsmith breaks the tackles record and posts multiple sacks.

Jaylen Warren Records Two Receiving Touchdowns

Jaylen Warren is the best piece of the Steelers’ offense, and It’s undeniable. He’s one of the best running backs in the NFL this season and he’s single-handedly carried this offense at times.

What he hasn’t done, however, is consistently find the endzone. He has just two rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown on the season, with two of his total scores coming in the same contest against the Indianapolis Colts.

That changes in Week 10. Against the Bengals, I predict Warren will dominate both out of the backfield and as a receiving threat. As a receiver is where I believe he will do his most damage, finding the end zone twice on passing plays.

The Bengals might have a plan to limit Warren on the ground, but that’s not enough to keep him from making an impact.

Nov 1, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jaylen Warren (30) runs out during player introduction prior to an NFL game against the Cleveland Browns at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Steelers Stifle Bengals on 3rd Down

One area the Bengals have been so successful on offense is converting on third down. It doesn’t matter if they have significant yardage to gain, they tend to convert. Senior NFL researcher Tony Holzman-Escareno shared an interesting statistic recently that sheds light on this specifically.

The Bengals are the NFL leaders at converting on third down whenever they have at least seven yards to gain. When they are facing a third and long situation like that, the Bengals are picking up the first down 39.5% of the time. It leads the next-best team, the San Francisco 49ers, by nearly 5%.

Highest 3rd & long (7+ yards) conversion rate this season:

1. Bengals – 39.5%
2. 49ers – 34.6%
3. Raiders – 31.4%
4. Panthers – 30.0%
5. Jaguars – 29.2%
6. Bills - 28.9%
7. Seahawks – 28.8%
8. Bears – 28.6%
9. Chiefs – 28.2%
10. Lions – 27.9%

Lowest:

28. Vikings – 18.5%…
— NFL Researcher (@NFL_Researcher) November 13, 2026

The Steelers are likely to put the Bengals in third and long situations throughout Week 10. The only difference between Cincinnati’s previous success and this matchup, is Pittsburgh's pass rush. While the Bengals lead the league in pass touchdowns and third and long conversions, the Steelers are the best team when it comes to taking down the quarterback. It's a matchup of two unstoppable forces, and I'm betting on Pittsburgh's pass rush to limit Joey B and the Bengals to less than a 20% success rate on third down.

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