By Darragh Holland

Monday, Dec. 21 at 8:15 PM ET

ESPN

SPREAD: Steelers, -11.5

If ever the Pittsburgh Steelers needed to play a team with just 2 wins, now is that time.

While many thought they weren’t as good as their 11-0 record indicated, they haven’t done anything to negate that criticism the past two weeks.

A shocking defeat to the Washington Football Team left people really wondering how legit the Steelers are. It also left their supporters thinking they would come out with a bang against the Buffalo Bills and show everyone what they are all about. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen at all.

Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs tore the Steelers secondary apart while Big Ben struggled all night as he threw two picks, one being returned 51 yards by Taran Johnson for a touchdown.

Cincinnati on the other hand is just trying to see the season out and find some sort of positivity from any area possible.

For a season that started with so much promise, the Joe Burrows injury has really taken the wind out of their sails, and a heavy loss last week to their old quarterback Andy Dalton and the Dallas Cowboys was just another example of how their season has gone south.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers follow this game up traveling to Indianapolis next week to face the 9-4 Colts and then a mouth-watering season finale against the Cleveland Browns in Cleveland.

So there is no doubt that they absolutely need a win this week for their playoff ranking or to even make the playoffs at all as another three defeats would leave it very difficult in the super-competitive AFC standings.

The reason why there has been a big question mark over the Steelers’ record this season is due to the teams they have faced.

Wins over the New York Giants, Denver Broncos, Houston Texans, Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Cincinnati Bengals and the Jacksonville Jaguars account for 7 of their wins so far.

All of these teams have losing records and some of those teams have been abysmal all season long.

Another victory came against the Baltimore Ravens after the Ravens had a lot of issues with COVID-19 and had to play without star quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Though they did also beat down the Cleveland Browns in Week 6 and had good victories over the Ravens in Week 8 and the Tennessee Titans in Week 7.

So there has been a lot of debate about how good the Steelers really are and if they can compete with a top team like the Kansas City Chiefs. 

The last two weeks haven’t been a good answer but of course, there is still plenty of opportunities for them to turn it all around again.

Steelers Offense

The Steelers offense has really struggled lately and a lot of that comes down to their poor run game.

They rank second-worst in the league in total rushing yards with just 1,158 yards and only 3.7 yards per carry. This leaves their offense very predictable and easier to defend against.

Their pass game has also slowed down lately and their receivers have been getting a lot of stick for the amount of dropped balls, especially in the Washington game. Receiver Diontae Johnson currently leads the league in dropped passes with 9 and tight end Eric Ebron has 4.

Getting their run game established will help take the pressure off their receivers and also push the defense up to the line of scrimmage, allowing more space for the receivers to work.

Steelers Defense

The Steelers’ defense had been playing great all season and was a big reason for their 11-0 start. They still rank second in the league against the pass with 2,628 yards allowed and sixth against the run with 1,312 yards allowed.

Last week, however, Stefon Diggs went for 10 receptions for 130 yards and a TD to help Josh Allen to have a big night. Even with 1 pick, Allen still threw for 238 yards and 2 TDs.

The good news for the Steelers is that there isn’t much danger of Brandon Allen and the Bengals offense posting up numbers like that, or anywhere near it. The bad news though is that they really need to improve things for the coming weeks if they want a deep playoff run.

Cincinnati Bengals

At the start of this season the Bengals we’re competing in nearly every game and only losing by narrow margins late on.

Joe Burrow was also showing a lot of promise at quarterback. With a rookie QB and a young coach in only his second season, there was lots of reason for optimism in Cincinnati. While all is not lost, there is no doubt they are very reliant on Burrow coming back fit and healthy next season.

On the plus side, they will get another high draft pick this year so if they can combine a solid pick with Burrows return and the good performances from early this year, 2021 really could be a much better year for the Bengals.

The team will have to be better for Zac Taylor as the 2-14 record last season equaled a franchise record worst season dating back to 2002 and this season won’t end much better.

So the pressure will be on next season to show progress and things won’t get much easier in the super-competitive AFC North division.

Bengals Offense

While Brandon Allen got off to a poor start with a QBR of 11.9 against the New York Giants and 23.7 against the Miami Dolphins and interceptions in both, he was actually a bit better last week with a QBR of 77.9 against the Dallas Cowboys. He also had a 75% completion rate and didn’t throw any picks.

But it’s really a case of clutching at straws for this Cincinnati offense as they rank 29th in the league in rushing yards and without Joe Burrows, there isn’t much confidence in their passing attack.

Bengals Defense

The Bengals rank 22nd against the pass and 28th against the run and have conceded a lot of points this season, including 36 to the Steelers when these teams met in Week 10.

Andy Dalton coming back to town to put up 30 points last week with his last TD coming off a 4th and 1 when the game was effectively over, was just another nail in the coffin for the Bengals season.

Expect Big Ben and the Steelers receivers to get their confidence back here on Monday night.

The Prediction

With both teams so poor at running the ball, this game has the potential to be a very entertaining shootout with a few interceptions and pick 6’s thrown into the mix.

Or it could just as easily turn into a Pittsburgh beat down where they get their season back on track.

The Steelers will really want to just play sound, mistake-free football in all areas so that they can go into the last two games, and they will hope for the playoffs, with some confidence. With such a poor run game, they will need to try to get that established and then open up the passing game so the receivers can get catching some balls and build their confidence.

After a poor display against the Bills, the defense will need to come out with a bang.

Expect a long day for Brandon Allen and the Bengals’ offense as it’s hard to see the Steelers not coming out with a big performance here.

The Bengals just have to try to salvage whatever positives they can get from this season so they can have a good offseason and build on Joe Burrow and the early season promise from this year.

AJ’S PREDICTION: Bengals 13 - 9

DARRAGH’S PREDICTION: Steelers 27 - 7

Darragh is a sports writer for La Tonique.