November 11, 2025 • 22 mins
Tom Opferman and Matt Williamson look at the Steelers upcoming matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We got some work to do.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
This is the Advanced Scout with Tom Opferman and Mac Williamson.
Steelers lost to the Chargers on Sunday Night Football last week.
They are now five and four. They have a one
game lead in the AFC North over the Baltimore Ravens,
and now they welcome the Cincinnati Bengals to town. Bengals
coming off of a bye, but they are in the
(00:22):
midst of a two game losing streak. This is the
return match in the Sincy Steelers series. Cincinnati got the
better of the Steelers a few weeks ago Week seven,
Thursday Night Football in Cincinnati, thirty three to thirty one.
Matt this game's importance it can't be understated. Obviously, every
division game is extra important.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
You want to win them.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
But if you lose this game, Cincinnati gets a little
bit of life breathed back into them. They can talk
themselves more into being in this race again, and they
have the tiebreaker over you with the season sweep, whereas
if you are to beat them, you basically hand the Bengals.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
I think the kill shot this year.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Yeah, you said that perfectly. I couldn't agree more. And
the only thing I would add is. Oh. By the way,
you know, there might be some optimism in Cincinnati going
forward with Joe Burrow practice against He's not gonna play
in this game. But if they get this win and
look over and there's a franchise quarterbacks slinging it around
in practice, they might have a lot more life.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
No question about it. So take that life away from them.
Sunday at Akroscher Stadium. It was not a great day
for the Steelers offense against the Chargers Sunday night. That's
understating it a little bit. But this is really a
perfect team to come into Akroscher for a quote unquote
get right game for an offense.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Yeh man, I mean to say the least. I mean,
they have a very very strong case for being the
worst defense in the league. We just saw, you know,
a couple of weeks ago this matchup, and they weren't
much resistance for the Steelers offense. Then, by the sounds
of it, we record this on Tuesday evening, Trey Hendrickson
sounds like a long shot. And you know, since then
(02:04):
they traded Wilson the linebacker. Yes, I mean, in terms
of getting your offense right, you want to play the Bengals.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Yeah, no question about it.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Ever since Joe Flacco has taken over at quarterback. You know,
the Packers game, his first game there, he got there
like two minutes before the game started. They only scored
eighteen points in that game. But in the win over
the Steelers, Flacco put up thirty three points. In a
loss to the Jets, Flacco in the offense put up
thirty eight points, and then a loss to the Bears,
Flacco in the offense put a forty two points. So
you see Joe Burrow practicing that, and it's like, okay, yeah,
(02:37):
that's a little spooky. But then I'm like, wait a minute.
Their offense has been elitd with Joe Flacco and they're
still losing games. Joe Burrow's not gonna play middle linebacker,
so I don't even know if his return is going
to be enough for this team to rally.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Yeah, what have they scored more points with than you know?
I mean, is that even enough. It's the same thing
that happened all last year when Burrow was a quarterback.
So yeah, it'd be great to get him back for them.
Doesn't get me wrong, but I'd much rather have Lawrence
Taylor or Aaron Donald.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
You know, this is the part in the podcast where
we give you a serious history between these two teams.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
We did that last time they met.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
So let's just kind of give a recap of what
happened in week seven on Thursday Night Football. It was
a lot of Joe Flacco beating you with his mind,
getting the ball out quick. He averaged two point four
to four seconds for throw in that game. He hit
Jamar Chase twenty three times. As far as targets are concerned,
Chase had a monster game. T Higgins had a big
game too, and maybe most importantly, they couldn't stop Chase
(03:32):
Brown in the Sincy running game, which is still and
was back then one of the worst in football.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
One hundred percent. And to me, that was the bigger crime,
you know, like, oh, Chase goes crazy. I can live
with that. Yeah, I mean that was extreme, don't get
me wrong. And I would have liked to see different
tactics to try to slow him down than what they did.
Not that they didn't try to change things they weren't
static on. They did some different things throughout the game.
None of it worked. But I used comparison after that
(04:01):
game sometimes Michael Jordan dropped sixty on you. Yeah, okay,
but stopping the run when you're the worst run offense
in the league, that to me was the crime.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Yeah, no doubt about it.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Both of these teams are absolutely garbage when it comes
to time of possession. The Bengals are lasting time of
possession and then the Steelers are second to last in
time of possession in this game, so neither one wants
the ball.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
But man, I think it's telling that.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Maybe another get right game. Right to me, that's a
big sorry interrupt, but that's the biggest problem with the.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Steelers right now is time and time of possession.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
And there's so many reasons for it, I mean, and
we can get I mean, that's a much deeper conversation.
But maybe you could actually hold the ball and make
life a little easier on your defense.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Yeah, the Steelers have not run more plays than their
opponent in any game this season so far. We talked
about how bad Cincinnati is too with time of possession,
but the last time they played in Week seven, Cincinnati
held the ball for thirty four minutes and thirty two seconds.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Well, Pittsburgh only had.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
A fort twenty two minutes in twenty five seconds last week,
so I know I kind of jumped back and forth there.
But since he played the Steelers, they were able to
hold onto the ball. And then the Steelers are coming
off of a game where it was abysmal against the Chargers.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
One thousand percent. Then again, it's just there's so many
reasons for it. You know. Early in the year, I
thought the defense was the blame for bad time of possession,
couldn't get off the field. Late lately it's the offense.
I mean, the offense is going three and out way
too much. They've been terrible on third downs. I don't
think they're running the ball enough. So, yeah, they need
(05:35):
to take a step back and be like, as a team,
how can we start to be a good time of
possession team again?
Speaker 2 (05:41):
And maybe it starts against Cincinnati. Let's look at that defense,
one of the worst in the league. They allow six
point four yards per play, that is last in the league,
and it has gotten worse since Joe Flacco has gotten
in there. Their average seven point four yards per play
over the past three games.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
As a defense, thinking about that, every time you start
the ball you get three quarters of a first out.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Yeah, I know, it's crazy. Uh, you mentioned the Steelers
not running the ball enough. They're throwing the ball on
fifty nine point four percent of their snaps. That's the
ten times percentage in the league. And over the last
three games, Pittsburgh is throwing the ball sixty six point
one percent of the time. Cincinnati allows one hundred and
sixty four point four rushing yards per game. That's the
most in the league by fourteen point three yards. Matt,
(06:24):
you gotta run the ball. You got to commit to
it against these guys.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Yeah, and it really bothered me going back to the
second half of the Packer game. I mean, they were
running the ball as well as they have all year
against a great run defense. In the first half of
that game, Warren gets three carries. You look at the Chargers,
you know, when we did this a week ago, you said, hey,
Chargers have a really good defense, they're great in time
of possessions, but you can run on them. They didn't
(06:49):
really give that enough effort either.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
No, and then I open up the box score and
it was kind of the same thing where it's like,
oh wow, Jayalen Warren was he kind of you know,
stifled a little bit. Oh no, he was almost averaging
five yards of carry whenever he did touch them. So
I don't know, I know, I don't know what it's
gonna take for them to really start to lean into
the running game, because apparently success in the running game
wasn't enough because they were starting to have it and
(07:11):
they're not committing still. I don't know if it's a
quarterback thing at the line of scrimmage or what.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
I've been leaning towards that, just because Arthur Smith's history
is pretty clear that he likes to run the football,
you know. Uh.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
In Rogers's first appearance speaking of the quarterback against the
Bengals as the Steeler, he threw for two hundred and
forty nine yards and four touchdowns. All four of his
touchdowns Matt in that game were passes targeted between the numbers,
so he's using the middle of the field. Rogers yards
per attempt, though, have dropped in each of his past
four games seven point three to six point one to
five point eight, and that was at five point two
(07:44):
against the Chargers and Matt. I thought last week was
really the first time I noticeably with the eye tests,
saw him looking a little skittish in the pocket.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Yeah, and I'm sure he would tell you, the coaching
staff would tell you. Anybody would say the that was
his worst game as a steel Yes, I mean that's
pretty clear. But I did think that was concerning, especially
factoring his age. You know that each game over the
last four weeks has gotten a little worse, a little worse,
(08:14):
a little worse. You know.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
No, I think it's cost for concern. It's also cost
for concern that the wide receivers aren't doing anything lately.
Pittsburgh wide receivers caught just seven passes in week ten.
DK Metcalf was virtually invisible for a second straight week.
That's a big problem. I know that they love their
tight ends, and when the trio of tight ends are
playing at a good level, they can produce some pretty
(08:36):
good statistics in the passing game. But your receiver's gotta
do better than this. I mean, seven catches in week
ten is terrible.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
It really is.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Should be getting that Matt, not the entire core exactly.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
I mean that should be Metcalf almost every week by himself,
let alone. You know, the guy's thrown in and you
were losing, and a lot of it was garbage time.
I mean much of the game it was way lower
than that, you know, even like the Roman will some
touchdown was inconsequential.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Yeah, And you know I said how the Bengals are
the worst run defense in football. You got to run
on them. You don't have to shy away from passing
on them either. I mean, they're terrible against the passers.
You can rip them the shreds in the secondary. Pat
Fairemouth always rips the Bengals to the shreds. Five catches
for one hundred and eleven yards and two touchdowns in
Cincinnati earlier this year. I have no idea what that
(09:23):
is about, but I know I would take him as
any time touchdown the store in this game, because there's
just something about, Yeah, he just loves playing that straight helmet.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
I'll probably add to it and go back and look.
But last year his two games against since he were
phenomenal too, ran his best two games of the year.
You know, So he always does it.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
I don't know why, but owns the Bengals.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Cincinnati has a real struggle generating a pass rush. They
did not sack Rogers at all in the first meeting
in Week seven.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Between these teams.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
They have just thirteen sacks on the season, averaging just
one point four sacks per game. Only three defenses are
worse than the Bengals in that category. The Chargers Matt
did not blitz Rogers at all on Sunday night, just
one time they sent a blitz after Rogers.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Do you think the Bengals will take a different approach
just to try to generate a little more pass rush,
especially seeing kind of how skittish he was in that pocket?
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Probably? I mean, their defensive scheme is much more basic
and less complex than the Chargers. The Chargers did some
really interesting things like Bud Dupree comes to mind, where
he was dropping right into those quick hitting passing spooks. Yeah. Yeah,
(10:35):
and that's not something that the one thousand percent, and
they did it with their edge guys a fair amount.
You know. I think that's time for the Steelers to
question being so quick game reliant because people were kind
of flood attacking those areas, making him double clutch it
and then things are going south in a hurry. I
just don't know that since he's gonna do offer that
(10:56):
kind of resistance.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Though, here's the real scary stat when it comes to
the Steelers offense. They converted just two of eleven third
down opportunities in Los Angeles, and they did not convert
a third down until the fourth quarter of that game,
before that garbage time drive that ended in a room
and Wilson touchdown.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
They row for nine.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
So they have been and it's been a thing. It's
not just you know, a fluke in Los Angeles. Over
their last three games, they're converting just fifteen percent of
their third down attempts.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Now, it's not good.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
On the season, that's thirty six percent, and that's better
than just six offenses. But Matt fifteen percent in the
past three games. That is abysmal on third down. No
one ever could play winning football that way.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
I mean, I'm not a math major, but I mean
those three games have just toileted, you know, your percentage
for the year. Like this hasn't been a massive problem
Week one through seven or whatever. It wasn't the best
in the league, but it wasn't so horrific fifteen percent,
I mean, and that's like the worst stat on that
(12:01):
entire sheet.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Now, the Bengals have the second worst third down defense,
behind only Dallas. They allow a third down conversion basically
fifty percent of the time. It's forty nine point one percent.
So I think the theme of this game as far
as the Steelers offense is concerned, is get right against
an opponent that's kind of low hanging fruit to get
right against.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Yes, I mean if and I guess you look at
it that way, or what if you don't against these guys,
the time'll really be worried.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Yeah, right, Bengals offense is obviously the identity of this
team and it's the biggest threat when it comes to
the Bengals beating the Steelers and sweeping the season series.
We mentioned the defense, excuse me, the defense in the
past three games averaging over seven yards per play. Well,
the offense over the past three games is averaging seven
(12:46):
yards per play as well. It's really remarkable how Joe
Flacco came in and kind of stabilize things as far
as the offense is concerned, and then some has taken
them to great heights and then the defense got even worse.
Like you'd think the defense would be like, Okay, we
got the old Joe Flacco in there, let's really step
up and show some pride and help us stay kind
of afloat in the season, and instead they were just
(13:07):
kind of like, you know, what Flaco, Why don't you
take it We're gonna be even worse than we've been.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Yeah, And what's funny, Tom, is like when we did
these two Cincinnati podcasts last year, it was exactly the
same thing. It's like, is the offense will get better
and better, and then the defense got worse and worse.
They were even steven like all the time, you know
what I mean, especially like from just breaking it down
in like the Yards for Play fashion where Okay, they're
first on offense, but they're thirty second on defense. So
(13:34):
this week they're second on offense, but they're thirty first
on defense, you know, like almost identically good as they
are bad.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
The Bengals employ eleven personnel at a seventy five percent clip.
Only the Titans use eleven personnel more, which is very
bizarre to me. That's leaving your rookie quarterback way out
to drive being an eleven personnel.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
I just think they're losing all the time. You got
to Chase Well, I think they're I think that's how
you get fired as a head coach and you're losing
a ton.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
But the Bengals, the Bengals do it because they have
a plethora of weapons, starting with t Higgins and Jamar
Chase obviously on the outside, and they throw the ball
on sixty seven percent of the snaps. That's the highest
percentage in the league. Oh and look at that the
Titans are second in that category.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Two.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Yeah, Now, what does that mean for the Steelers is
you're gonna have to have a lot of defensive backs
on the field. You know, you're not gonna be able
to play in your heavier defensive personnel and Slay with
his concussion situation is I would say unlikely to play.
That's just my guess. I'm not a concussion expert, but
it seems like those guys rarely play the day after.
(14:37):
So Pierre, you know, those type of guys are going
to have to be out there a lot. And I'll
be honest, I mean Pierre played a lot better. Yeah,
he's played quite well lately, So I mean that's not
as scary as it might have been in years past.
And the Steelers have basically two new safeties, which is
I guess you know, something different at least, and I
(14:57):
think is encouraging.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
It's a different wrinkle to throw at Cincinnati. As you
mentioned earlier, we're recording this on Tuesday evening. So the
news did break a little bit ago Matt about a
Sante Samuel Junior being signed to the Steelers productice squad.
I don't think there's a chance that he gets active
for this game against Cincinnati. Maybe there's a puncher's chance
and they say, hey, we just need you on a
couple of plays here and there, just to go out
there and cover. But he will not be on the
(15:18):
practice squad for long. He will definitely help. I really
wish that he could now though, because it's gonna be
an all hands on deck effort, a lot of nickel,
maybe even some dime because of that eleven personnel from Cincy.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Yeah, but I am really happy about the addition. Just
a side note, I read today that the surgeon that
did his back neck issue that was a really major injury,
also works for He's one of the Steeler surgeons, you know. So,
I mean, people come to Pittsburgh for great medical care,
no doubt, and there was maybe that connection might help things.
(15:51):
But I'm hoping in these coming weeks we're talking about
Samuel quite a bit.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
The theme of the first game between the Steelers and
the Bengals was Jamar Cha targeted twenty three times, converting
sixteen of those into catches. He had one hundred and
sixty one yards, He had a touchdown, but his longest
reception was just eighteen yards in that game, Matt it
was a lot of like death a thousand paper cuts
between Flacco and Chase.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Oh, everything was out quick boom, makes nothing happen after
the catch. You know, you can't get to him because
the time to throw is so short, much like the
Charger situation. I mean, that's how teams are attacking the
Steelers through the air. I mean, the Steelers do not
face many deep passes because they take too long to translate,
(16:34):
and they're getting the ball in their guys' hands quick.
I mean. And obviously that worked extremely well for the
Bengals and Chase. And I'm sure you're looking at it here,
but since Flacco has been the quarterback, he's not bashful
about throwing at the Chase.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Fifty times.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Jamar Chase has been targeted by Joe Flacco in this stretch.
He's caught thirty four passes for sixty three yards in
that three game span. So Chase is It'll been a
total number one elite wide receiver with Joe Flacco as
his quarterback, what do you do against him?
Speaker 1 (17:07):
In this game?
Speaker 2 (17:08):
They tried Ramsey first go around. Ramsey got cooked. I
think that kind of started to push him towards that
transition in safety. Is what happened to him against Cincinnati.
I bet you Ramsey will get his chance at an
element of revenge against Chase, but it'll be coming more
from the safety help over the top aspect instead of
that I'm taking you one on one.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Yeah, I mean they're not going to do that. Ramsey's
now a safety at least, you know. I mean, I
would say a full time safe.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
So he's not going to follow him around or align
on the outside as a corner. I mean, that stuff
won't happen, and I'm happy about that. I think it's
a good usage of Ramsey. Well, the one suggestion would
be just the blitz less and get more people in
the middle of the field, you know, to have these
guys the cover men defend, have more help defend less grass,
(17:58):
you know. I mean, so, I think that's one approach
to take, is cut down on the blitzing and kind
of flood the field with zone defenders and whatnot.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Now, T Higgins can't be ignored.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
He caught six passes for ninety six yards and a
touchdown in Week seven. Now the answer for him a
lot of the times what the Steelers has been just
to put Joey Porter Junior on him and follow T.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Higgins around.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
But it's not very successful, is it, Matt? I mean,
Higgins usually has pretty good games against Joey Porter Junior.
So I don't know if you go back to that.
If you do, it would sure help dealing with Chase,
if Joey could have his best game against Higgins and
kind of island him up. Or do you maybe try
Porter on Chase more in this game and say, hey,
it doesn't work as much Higgins, maybe we try it
(18:40):
on this one. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
I don't have the answer A lot to contribute to
that conversation, but I will be all eyeballs on seeing
how they at least start the game. You know what
they're practicing as we speak for this regard.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
You know now, Pittsburgh's defense averages three point six sacks
per game. Only Denver is better and Cincinnati allow two
point four sacks per game. They got to get Joe Flacco.
They did twice in the first meeting, but they.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Were very, very low impact sacks.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Right, and he's not the most mobile guy, but he is,
like Rogers, a veteran that knows how to get the
ball out of his ends. And those were pressures coming
from But yeah, I think you got to get some
hits on them because I don't think their protections a
very good.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
And as we mentioned Chase Brown, he went for one
hundred and eight yards on just eleven carries against Pittsburgh
in Week seven. It really all starts there. You gotta
stop Chase Brown. You got to make sure that the
Bengals are one dimensional, and the Bengals want to be
one dimensional. I bet it was almost surprising to them
how well they were running the football against the Steelers
in that first meeting. They were probably I can't believe
we keep doing it. We should probably just do it
(19:42):
more and more. But in this game, cut the head
off of that snake early.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
I would think. So. I mean, even despite what Chase
and Flacco and the numbers they put up from what
I remember the postgame press conference with Cam and especially Tomlin,
got to stop the run, you know, And I know
people were even making fun of them, They're like, boy,
these guys are archaic. Didn't they notice that Chase went
all went crazy on them? Well, I'm with the Steelers
(20:11):
on this one. You can't allow Chase Brown to get
going at all.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
All right, Our key matchups in this game come from
both the wide receiver versus cornerback matchup on both sides
of the ball. You got DK Metcalf versus Bengals corner
d J.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Turner.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
You think he'll see Metcalf a lot, Turner will follow
him around.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
I don't know if we'll follow, but we do remember
in the first matchup he ripped the ball out of
Metcalf's hands for what they call an interception. And you know,
we've been pretty harsh, rightfully so on this Bengals defense.
Turner's been a very bright spot. I mean, they've drifted
defense like crazy lately with little success. But this guy
(20:53):
is one of the true success stories and one of
the clearly above average starters on their defense.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
And the other key matchup is what we literally just
talked about, the Steelers and what they do at cornerback
against Jamar Chase, the number one threat in the passing
game for the Bengals, and maybe the number one threat
in any passing game around the NFL. He's spectacular. Stopping
him is impossible, but slowing him down as best as
possible is gonna be a huge key.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Yeah right. I mean, like I do a Thursday show
with Missy Matthews and Rob King and we do three
we do three keys on each side of the ball,
and one of the ones I suggested is just you're
not gonna stop him. Like I said, let's stop Chase Brown.
You're not gonna stop Jamar Chase, you know, but don't
let him go berserk.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
You know, no question.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
That's gonna be a huge key for the Steelers if
they want to bounce back in the win column. Steelers
and Bengals at one o'clock at Akroscher Stadium. That'll do
it for Matt and myself on this podcast.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
But we will be with.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
You at nine am on DVE to start coverage of
Steelers and Bengals. We'll be back also next week for
another edition of the Advanced Scout as we preview the
Steelers and the Chicago Bears. For Matt, I'm Tom. Thanks
has always for giving us a listen
We got some work to do.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
This is the Advanced Scout with Tom Opferman and Mac Williamson.
Steelers lost to the Chargers on Sunday Night Football last week.
They are now five and four. They have a one
game lead in the AFC North over the Baltimore Ravens,
and now they welcome the Cincinnati Bengals to town. Bengals
coming off of a bye, but they are in the
(00:22):
midst of a two game losing streak. This is the
return match in the Sincy Steelers series. Cincinnati got the
better of the Steelers a few weeks ago Week seven,
Thursday Night Football in Cincinnati, thirty three to thirty one.
Matt this game's importance it can't be understated. Obviously, every
division game is extra important.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
You want to win them.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
But if you lose this game, Cincinnati gets a little
bit of life breathed back into them. They can talk
themselves more into being in this race again, and they
have the tiebreaker over you with the season sweep, whereas
if you are to beat them, you basically hand the Bengals.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
I think the kill shot this year.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Yeah, you said that perfectly. I couldn't agree more. And
the only thing I would add is. Oh. By the way,
you know, there might be some optimism in Cincinnati going
forward with Joe Burrow practice against He's not gonna play
in this game. But if they get this win and
look over and there's a franchise quarterbacks slinging it around
in practice, they might have a lot more life.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
No question about it. So take that life away from them.
Sunday at Akroscher Stadium. It was not a great day
for the Steelers offense against the Chargers Sunday night. That's
understating it a little bit. But this is really a
perfect team to come into Akroscher for a quote unquote
get right game for an offense.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Yeh man, I mean to say the least. I mean,
they have a very very strong case for being the
worst defense in the league. We just saw, you know,
a couple of weeks ago this matchup, and they weren't
much resistance for the Steelers offense. Then, by the sounds
of it, we record this on Tuesday evening, Trey Hendrickson
sounds like a long shot. And you know, since then
(02:04):
they traded Wilson the linebacker. Yes, I mean, in terms
of getting your offense right, you want to play the Bengals.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Yeah, no question about it.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Ever since Joe Flacco has taken over at quarterback. You know,
the Packers game, his first game there, he got there
like two minutes before the game started. They only scored
eighteen points in that game. But in the win over
the Steelers, Flacco put up thirty three points. In a
loss to the Jets, Flacco in the offense put up
thirty eight points, and then a loss to the Bears,
Flacco in the offense put a forty two points. So
you see Joe Burrow practicing that, and it's like, okay, yeah,
(02:37):
that's a little spooky. But then I'm like, wait a minute.
Their offense has been elitd with Joe Flacco and they're
still losing games. Joe Burrow's not gonna play middle linebacker,
so I don't even know if his return is going
to be enough for this team to rally.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Yeah, what have they scored more points with than you know?
I mean, is that even enough. It's the same thing
that happened all last year when Burrow was a quarterback.
So yeah, it'd be great to get him back for them.
Doesn't get me wrong, but I'd much rather have Lawrence
Taylor or Aaron Donald.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
You know, this is the part in the podcast where
we give you a serious history between these two teams.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
We did that last time they met.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
So let's just kind of give a recap of what
happened in week seven on Thursday Night Football. It was
a lot of Joe Flacco beating you with his mind,
getting the ball out quick. He averaged two point four
to four seconds for throw in that game. He hit
Jamar Chase twenty three times. As far as targets are concerned,
Chase had a monster game. T Higgins had a big
game too, and maybe most importantly, they couldn't stop Chase
(03:32):
Brown in the Sincy running game, which is still and
was back then one of the worst in football.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
One hundred percent. And to me, that was the bigger crime,
you know, like, oh, Chase goes crazy. I can live
with that. Yeah, I mean that was extreme, don't get
me wrong. And I would have liked to see different
tactics to try to slow him down than what they did.
Not that they didn't try to change things they weren't
static on. They did some different things throughout the game.
None of it worked. But I used comparison after that
(04:01):
game sometimes Michael Jordan dropped sixty on you. Yeah, okay,
but stopping the run when you're the worst run offense
in the league, that to me was the crime.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Yeah, no doubt about it.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Both of these teams are absolutely garbage when it comes
to time of possession. The Bengals are lasting time of
possession and then the Steelers are second to last in
time of possession in this game, so neither one wants
the ball.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
But man, I think it's telling that.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Maybe another get right game. Right to me, that's a
big sorry interrupt, but that's the biggest problem with the.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Steelers right now is time and time of possession.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
And there's so many reasons for it, I mean, and
we can get I mean, that's a much deeper conversation.
But maybe you could actually hold the ball and make
life a little easier on your defense.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Yeah, the Steelers have not run more plays than their
opponent in any game this season so far. We talked
about how bad Cincinnati is too with time of possession,
but the last time they played in Week seven, Cincinnati
held the ball for thirty four minutes and thirty two seconds.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Well, Pittsburgh only had.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
A fort twenty two minutes in twenty five seconds last week,
so I know I kind of jumped back and forth there.
But since he played the Steelers, they were able to
hold onto the ball. And then the Steelers are coming
off of a game where it was abysmal against the Chargers.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
One thousand percent. Then again, it's just there's so many
reasons for it. You know. Early in the year, I
thought the defense was the blame for bad time of possession,
couldn't get off the field. Late lately it's the offense.
I mean, the offense is going three and out way
too much. They've been terrible on third downs. I don't
think they're running the ball enough. So, yeah, they need
(05:35):
to take a step back and be like, as a team,
how can we start to be a good time of
possession team again?
Speaker 2 (05:41):
And maybe it starts against Cincinnati. Let's look at that defense,
one of the worst in the league. They allow six
point four yards per play, that is last in the league,
and it has gotten worse since Joe Flacco has gotten
in there. Their average seven point four yards per play
over the past three games.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
As a defense, thinking about that, every time you start
the ball you get three quarters of a first out.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Yeah, I know, it's crazy. Uh, you mentioned the Steelers
not running the ball enough. They're throwing the ball on
fifty nine point four percent of their snaps. That's the
ten times percentage in the league. And over the last
three games, Pittsburgh is throwing the ball sixty six point
one percent of the time. Cincinnati allows one hundred and
sixty four point four rushing yards per game. That's the
most in the league by fourteen point three yards. Matt,
(06:24):
you gotta run the ball. You got to commit to
it against these guys.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Yeah, and it really bothered me going back to the
second half of the Packer game. I mean, they were
running the ball as well as they have all year
against a great run defense. In the first half of
that game, Warren gets three carries. You look at the Chargers,
you know, when we did this a week ago, you said, hey,
Chargers have a really good defense, they're great in time
of possessions, but you can run on them. They didn't
(06:49):
really give that enough effort either.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
No, and then I open up the box score and
it was kind of the same thing where it's like,
oh wow, Jayalen Warren was he kind of you know,
stifled a little bit. Oh no, he was almost averaging
five yards of carry whenever he did touch them. So
I don't know, I know, I don't know what it's
gonna take for them to really start to lean into
the running game, because apparently success in the running game
wasn't enough because they were starting to have it and
(07:11):
they're not committing still. I don't know if it's a
quarterback thing at the line of scrimmage or what.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
I've been leaning towards that, just because Arthur Smith's history
is pretty clear that he likes to run the football,
you know. Uh.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
In Rogers's first appearance speaking of the quarterback against the
Bengals as the Steeler, he threw for two hundred and
forty nine yards and four touchdowns. All four of his
touchdowns Matt in that game were passes targeted between the numbers,
so he's using the middle of the field. Rogers yards
per attempt, though, have dropped in each of his past
four games seven point three to six point one to
five point eight, and that was at five point two
(07:44):
against the Chargers and Matt. I thought last week was
really the first time I noticeably with the eye tests,
saw him looking a little skittish in the pocket.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Yeah, and I'm sure he would tell you, the coaching
staff would tell you. Anybody would say the that was
his worst game as a steel Yes, I mean that's
pretty clear. But I did think that was concerning, especially
factoring his age. You know that each game over the
last four weeks has gotten a little worse, a little worse,
(08:14):
a little worse. You know.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
No, I think it's cost for concern. It's also cost
for concern that the wide receivers aren't doing anything lately.
Pittsburgh wide receivers caught just seven passes in week ten.
DK Metcalf was virtually invisible for a second straight week.
That's a big problem. I know that they love their
tight ends, and when the trio of tight ends are
playing at a good level, they can produce some pretty
(08:36):
good statistics in the passing game. But your receiver's gotta
do better than this. I mean, seven catches in week
ten is terrible.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
It really is.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Should be getting that Matt, not the entire core exactly.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
I mean that should be Metcalf almost every week by himself,
let alone. You know, the guy's thrown in and you
were losing, and a lot of it was garbage time.
I mean much of the game it was way lower
than that, you know, even like the Roman will some
touchdown was inconsequential.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Yeah, And you know I said how the Bengals are
the worst run defense in football. You got to run
on them. You don't have to shy away from passing
on them either. I mean, they're terrible against the passers.
You can rip them the shreds in the secondary. Pat
Fairemouth always rips the Bengals to the shreds. Five catches
for one hundred and eleven yards and two touchdowns in
Cincinnati earlier this year. I have no idea what that
(09:23):
is about, but I know I would take him as
any time touchdown the store in this game, because there's
just something about, Yeah, he just loves playing that straight helmet.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
I'll probably add to it and go back and look.
But last year his two games against since he were
phenomenal too, ran his best two games of the year.
You know, So he always does it.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
I don't know why, but owns the Bengals.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Cincinnati has a real struggle generating a pass rush. They
did not sack Rogers at all in the first meeting
in Week seven.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Between these teams.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
They have just thirteen sacks on the season, averaging just
one point four sacks per game. Only three defenses are
worse than the Bengals in that category. The Chargers Matt
did not blitz Rogers at all on Sunday night, just
one time they sent a blitz after Rogers.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Do you think the Bengals will take a different approach
just to try to generate a little more pass rush,
especially seeing kind of how skittish he was in that pocket?
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Probably? I mean, their defensive scheme is much more basic
and less complex than the Chargers. The Chargers did some
really interesting things like Bud Dupree comes to mind, where
he was dropping right into those quick hitting passing spooks. Yeah. Yeah,
(10:35):
and that's not something that the one thousand percent, and
they did it with their edge guys a fair amount.
You know. I think that's time for the Steelers to
question being so quick game reliant because people were kind
of flood attacking those areas, making him double clutch it
and then things are going south in a hurry. I
just don't know that since he's gonna do offer that
(10:56):
kind of resistance.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Though, here's the real scary stat when it comes to
the Steelers offense. They converted just two of eleven third
down opportunities in Los Angeles, and they did not convert
a third down until the fourth quarter of that game,
before that garbage time drive that ended in a room
and Wilson touchdown.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
They row for nine.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
So they have been and it's been a thing. It's
not just you know, a fluke in Los Angeles. Over
their last three games, they're converting just fifteen percent of
their third down attempts.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Now, it's not good.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
On the season, that's thirty six percent, and that's better
than just six offenses. But Matt fifteen percent in the
past three games. That is abysmal on third down. No
one ever could play winning football that way.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
I mean, I'm not a math major, but I mean
those three games have just toileted, you know, your percentage
for the year. Like this hasn't been a massive problem
Week one through seven or whatever. It wasn't the best
in the league, but it wasn't so horrific fifteen percent,
I mean, and that's like the worst stat on that
(12:01):
entire sheet.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Now, the Bengals have the second worst third down defense,
behind only Dallas. They allow a third down conversion basically
fifty percent of the time. It's forty nine point one percent.
So I think the theme of this game as far
as the Steelers offense is concerned, is get right against
an opponent that's kind of low hanging fruit to get
right against.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Yes, I mean if and I guess you look at
it that way, or what if you don't against these guys,
the time'll really be worried.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Yeah, right, Bengals offense is obviously the identity of this
team and it's the biggest threat when it comes to
the Bengals beating the Steelers and sweeping the season series.
We mentioned the defense, excuse me, the defense in the
past three games averaging over seven yards per play. Well,
the offense over the past three games is averaging seven
(12:46):
yards per play as well. It's really remarkable how Joe
Flacco came in and kind of stabilize things as far
as the offense is concerned, and then some has taken
them to great heights and then the defense got even worse.
Like you'd think the defense would be like, Okay, we
got the old Joe Flacco in there, let's really step
up and show some pride and help us stay kind
of afloat in the season, and instead they were just
(13:07):
kind of like, you know, what Flaco, Why don't you
take it We're gonna be even worse than we've been.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Yeah, And what's funny, Tom, is like when we did
these two Cincinnati podcasts last year, it was exactly the
same thing. It's like, is the offense will get better
and better, and then the defense got worse and worse.
They were even steven like all the time, you know
what I mean, especially like from just breaking it down
in like the Yards for Play fashion where Okay, they're
first on offense, but they're thirty second on defense. So
(13:34):
this week they're second on offense, but they're thirty first
on defense, you know, like almost identically good as they
are bad.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
The Bengals employ eleven personnel at a seventy five percent clip.
Only the Titans use eleven personnel more, which is very
bizarre to me. That's leaving your rookie quarterback way out
to drive being an eleven personnel.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
I just think they're losing all the time. You got
to Chase Well, I think they're I think that's how
you get fired as a head coach and you're losing
a ton.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
But the Bengals, the Bengals do it because they have
a plethora of weapons, starting with t Higgins and Jamar
Chase obviously on the outside, and they throw the ball
on sixty seven percent of the snaps. That's the highest
percentage in the league. Oh and look at that the
Titans are second in that category.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Two.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Yeah, Now, what does that mean for the Steelers is
you're gonna have to have a lot of defensive backs
on the field. You know, you're not gonna be able
to play in your heavier defensive personnel and Slay with
his concussion situation is I would say unlikely to play.
That's just my guess. I'm not a concussion expert, but
it seems like those guys rarely play the day after.
(14:37):
So Pierre, you know, those type of guys are going
to have to be out there a lot. And I'll
be honest, I mean Pierre played a lot better. Yeah,
he's played quite well lately, So I mean that's not
as scary as it might have been in years past.
And the Steelers have basically two new safeties, which is
I guess you know, something different at least, and I
(14:57):
think is encouraging.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
It's a different wrinkle to throw at Cincinnati. As you
mentioned earlier, we're recording this on Tuesday evening. So the
news did break a little bit ago Matt about a
Sante Samuel Junior being signed to the Steelers productice squad.
I don't think there's a chance that he gets active
for this game against Cincinnati. Maybe there's a puncher's chance
and they say, hey, we just need you on a
couple of plays here and there, just to go out
there and cover. But he will not be on the
(15:18):
practice squad for long. He will definitely help. I really
wish that he could now though, because it's gonna be
an all hands on deck effort, a lot of nickel,
maybe even some dime because of that eleven personnel from Cincy.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Yeah, but I am really happy about the addition. Just
a side note, I read today that the surgeon that
did his back neck issue that was a really major injury,
also works for He's one of the Steeler surgeons, you know. So,
I mean, people come to Pittsburgh for great medical care,
no doubt, and there was maybe that connection might help things.
(15:51):
But I'm hoping in these coming weeks we're talking about
Samuel quite a bit.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
The theme of the first game between the Steelers and
the Bengals was Jamar Cha targeted twenty three times, converting
sixteen of those into catches. He had one hundred and
sixty one yards, He had a touchdown, but his longest
reception was just eighteen yards in that game, Matt it
was a lot of like death a thousand paper cuts
between Flacco and Chase.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Oh, everything was out quick boom, makes nothing happen after
the catch. You know, you can't get to him because
the time to throw is so short, much like the
Charger situation. I mean, that's how teams are attacking the
Steelers through the air. I mean, the Steelers do not
face many deep passes because they take too long to translate,
(16:34):
and they're getting the ball in their guys' hands quick.
I mean. And obviously that worked extremely well for the
Bengals and Chase. And I'm sure you're looking at it here,
but since Flacco has been the quarterback, he's not bashful
about throwing at the Chase.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Fifty times.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Jamar Chase has been targeted by Joe Flacco in this stretch.
He's caught thirty four passes for sixty three yards in
that three game span. So Chase is It'll been a
total number one elite wide receiver with Joe Flacco as
his quarterback, what do you do against him?
Speaker 1 (17:07):
In this game?
Speaker 2 (17:08):
They tried Ramsey first go around. Ramsey got cooked. I
think that kind of started to push him towards that
transition in safety. Is what happened to him against Cincinnati.
I bet you Ramsey will get his chance at an
element of revenge against Chase, but it'll be coming more
from the safety help over the top aspect instead of
that I'm taking you one on one.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Yeah, I mean they're not going to do that. Ramsey's
now a safety at least, you know. I mean, I
would say a full time safe.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
So he's not going to follow him around or align
on the outside as a corner. I mean, that stuff
won't happen, and I'm happy about that. I think it's
a good usage of Ramsey. Well, the one suggestion would
be just the blitz less and get more people in
the middle of the field, you know, to have these
guys the cover men defend, have more help defend less grass,
(17:58):
you know. I mean, so, I think that's one approach
to take, is cut down on the blitzing and kind
of flood the field with zone defenders and whatnot.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Now, T Higgins can't be ignored.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
He caught six passes for ninety six yards and a
touchdown in Week seven. Now the answer for him a
lot of the times what the Steelers has been just
to put Joey Porter Junior on him and follow T.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Higgins around.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
But it's not very successful, is it, Matt? I mean,
Higgins usually has pretty good games against Joey Porter Junior.
So I don't know if you go back to that.
If you do, it would sure help dealing with Chase,
if Joey could have his best game against Higgins and
kind of island him up. Or do you maybe try
Porter on Chase more in this game and say, hey,
it doesn't work as much Higgins, maybe we try it
(18:40):
on this one. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
I don't have the answer A lot to contribute to
that conversation, but I will be all eyeballs on seeing
how they at least start the game. You know what
they're practicing as we speak for this regard.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
You know now, Pittsburgh's defense averages three point six sacks
per game. Only Denver is better and Cincinnati allow two
point four sacks per game. They got to get Joe Flacco.
They did twice in the first meeting, but they.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Were very, very low impact sacks.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Right, and he's not the most mobile guy, but he is,
like Rogers, a veteran that knows how to get the
ball out of his ends. And those were pressures coming
from But yeah, I think you got to get some
hits on them because I don't think their protections a
very good.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
And as we mentioned Chase Brown, he went for one
hundred and eight yards on just eleven carries against Pittsburgh
in Week seven. It really all starts there. You gotta
stop Chase Brown. You got to make sure that the
Bengals are one dimensional, and the Bengals want to be
one dimensional. I bet it was almost surprising to them
how well they were running the football against the Steelers
in that first meeting. They were probably I can't believe
we keep doing it. We should probably just do it
(19:42):
more and more. But in this game, cut the head
off of that snake early.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
I would think. So. I mean, even despite what Chase
and Flacco and the numbers they put up from what
I remember the postgame press conference with Cam and especially Tomlin,
got to stop the run, you know, And I know
people were even making fun of them, They're like, boy,
these guys are archaic. Didn't they notice that Chase went
all went crazy on them? Well, I'm with the Steelers
(20:11):
on this one. You can't allow Chase Brown to get
going at all.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
All right, Our key matchups in this game come from
both the wide receiver versus cornerback matchup on both sides
of the ball. You got DK Metcalf versus Bengals corner
d J.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Turner.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
You think he'll see Metcalf a lot, Turner will follow
him around.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
I don't know if we'll follow, but we do remember
in the first matchup he ripped the ball out of
Metcalf's hands for what they call an interception. And you know,
we've been pretty harsh, rightfully so on this Bengals defense.
Turner's been a very bright spot. I mean, they've drifted
defense like crazy lately with little success. But this guy
(20:53):
is one of the true success stories and one of
the clearly above average starters on their defense.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
And the other key matchup is what we literally just
talked about, the Steelers and what they do at cornerback
against Jamar Chase, the number one threat in the passing
game for the Bengals, and maybe the number one threat
in any passing game around the NFL. He's spectacular. Stopping
him is impossible, but slowing him down as best as
possible is gonna be a huge key.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Yeah right. I mean, like I do a Thursday show
with Missy Matthews and Rob King and we do three
we do three keys on each side of the ball,
and one of the ones I suggested is just you're
not gonna stop him. Like I said, let's stop Chase Brown.
You're not gonna stop Jamar Chase, you know, but don't
let him go berserk.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
You know, no question.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
That's gonna be a huge key for the Steelers if
they want to bounce back in the win column. Steelers
and Bengals at one o'clock at Akroscher Stadium. That'll do
it for Matt and myself on this podcast.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
But we will be with.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
You at nine am on DVE to start coverage of
Steelers and Bengals. We'll be back also next week for
another edition of the Advanced Scout as we preview the
Steelers and the Chicago Bears. For Matt, I'm Tom. Thanks
has always for giving us a listen
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