CINCINNATI — The Bengals are approaching the finish line and they’ll have the chance to extend that race at least another 24 hours if they take care of business Saturday night in Pittsburgh.
By now, most everyone knows that if the Bengals win Saturday and the Jets upset the Dolphins and the Chiefs – with the No. 1 clinched – somehow beat the desperate Broncos in Denver, the Bengals will return to the playoffs as the third and final wild card in the AFC.
“We’re really just solely focused on Pittsburgh, which is great because you can say all you want that (we need help), we’ve got to block the other stuff out,” Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said. “But the good news is we’re first (on Saturday night) so we have to take care of our job first and then whatever happens Sunday, hopefully we’ll get some help, but if we don’t take care of our job then Sunday doesn’t matter anyway. So I’m glad it’s on Saturday. I’m glad we’re first. So let’s go play our best ball of the year and give ourselves a chance to get to Sunday to get some help. That’s what we got to do.”
Then there’s the weather forecast. There’s a chance of snow with temperatures expected to be in the low 20s. In other words, typical Pittsburgh weather for Jan. 4.
“So like it’s not going to be 20-below or something like that, where it really affects (the game),” Anarumo added. “It’s going to be cold but we’ve played in cold games before and scored a bunch of points. So I’m not going to speak for Joe (Burrow) but I’m sure those guys like it to be 60 and sunny like it was the other day, but it’s not going to be. So AFC North at its finest, 8 o’clock at night in Pittsburgh, cold, and all of it on the line for us.”
The other thing that’s typical is the need to contain Pittsburgh in the trenches. On Dec. 1, in Pittsburgh’s 44-38 win at Paycor, the Steelers were able to dominate both lines of scrimmage and it led to a pair of strips of Joe Burrow, including a scoop-and-score by linebacker Payton Wilson that put the Steelers up, 41-24, midway through the fourth.
The last time the Bengals played the Steelers, they also allowed Russell Wilson to tune them with 414 passing yards, including eight explosive pass plays of over 20 yards. In total, the Steelers amassed 520 yards of total offense.
“Well, no big plays first and foremost,” Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said. “We gave up over 110 yards receiving to the running backs just on checkdowns. We were trying to play some coverages to try to help some people. We’ll try to eliminate the checkdown yards. We can not give up that much, there’s no way, so that will be a big part of it.”
Since that game, the Bengals defense has improved in not allowing as many explosives, giving up the 51-yard bomb on the score by Marvin Mims Jr on Saturday and the 31-yarder that tied the game with eight seconds to go in regulation.
“I think everybody playing in sync and playing with confidence. Unfortunately we had a couple the other night. I think that will be a big part of this game Saturday night is making them earn everything they get.”
“We had a good first half,” Anarumo said of his defense against the Broncos. “We played really well on fourth down – they were 4-of-12 on third down. Certainly the two big stops in overtime. (They) had the three touchdowns – one where they kind of ran the ball at us and really pushed us up front and then they threw to (Courtland Sutton), and then one from midfield (to Marvin Mims) and the last one Mike (Hilton) and Geno (Stone) were hanging all over guy (Mims) and the guy makes a great catch. Other than that I thought we settled down and played pretty good the rest of the way.”
Offensively, assuming the Steelers play their starters, the Bengals have to account for Cam Heyward inside. The 35-year-old defensive tackle has always given the Bengals fits, including on Dec. 1 when he had five tackles and a sack. T.J. Watt gives everyone problems, including the Bengals. In the Dec. 1 matchup, Watt had a pair of sacks to go with three tackles.
“Listen, I thought based on the volume that we ask those guys to protect and the situations that they ended up in, I thought by and large we were we were solid and protection the other night,” offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said. “They’ve got good players, and when plays get extended, sometimes plays are going to be made. Sometimes we find ourselves in situations at the quarterback position where he’s going to extend the play up and until he’s going to take a sack, i.e., the fourth down in the low red zone. And so it’s important, I think it’s important to have context with all of those assessments that you make.
“Now, about Cam Heyward, I mean, the guy in my opinion is a shoe-in future hall-of-famer. He’s one of the best football players I’ve seen over the course of time. He’s outstanding. He’s always presented a challenge to us. I don’t expect (Saturday) will be any different. It’ll take a team effort from multiple people, and we’ll do what we can schematically to help get that done. But I’m confident our guys are going to go out and play their best football game in our biggest spot of the year.”
If Burrow has the time, Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase could have another big game. Higgins is coming off a three-touchdown, 131-yard effort against the Broncos.
“Overall, it’s tough to say that there’s been one better,” Pitcher said of Higgins’ performance. “I look at just plays that he’s made and are in some of the Cincinnati Bengals biggest football games since I’ve been here, plays he’s made in the AFC Championship game, plays he made in the Super Bowl, plays he made in playoff games to get us to those spots. And so I think there’s a lot of individual plays and efforts that rank up there. But he had a special night the other night. It’s hard to hard to top what he was able to do.”
The last time against the Steelers on Dec. 1, he caught five passes on 10 targets for 69 yards and a touchdown. Most notably, he drew five penalties in the Pittsburgh secondary, including four by corner Joey Porter Jr.
“Tee’s a big, physical player. He’s strong. He’s playing super strong at the catch point,” Pitcher said. “I think he drew five coverage penalties in the first game. Those are things that sometimes get forgotten in the stat line when you check back a couple of months later to see catches and yards and things of that nature. Those, at times, are just as valuable to the offense as those recorded stats. So, he poses a problem, especially when he’s lined up across from, on the same side as, stacked with, motioned to Ja’Marr Chase. They’ve got a lot of work to do to figure out how to solve that problem, and that’s good for us.”
