Pittsburgh Steelers v Cincinnati Bengals preview - Tale of the tape

	STEELERS	BENGALS
PPG OFFENCE	22.9 (14/32)	27 (6/32)
PPG DEFENCE	16.9 (3/32)	26.9 (28/32)
PASSING YPG - OFFENCE	192.8 (26/32)	262.7 (1/32)
PASSING YPG - DEFENCE	214.9 (17/32)	225.6 (23/32
RUSHING YPG - OFFENCE	135.2 (7/32)	91.5 (27/32)
RUSHING YPG - DEFENCE	90.3 (4/32)	129.8 (20/32)

Keys to victory

1.Successful Conversions

Taking advantage of a horrendous Cincinnati third down and red zone defence is an absolute necessity if the Steelers are to walk away with the Dub. The Bengals rank 6th worst in third down defence and dead last in red zone defence - so there is a real opportunity here for Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, these aren’t something Pittsburgh has been able to take advantage of this year to any great degree, but this could be a get-right game.

2. Don’t allow Joe Burrow to heat up

As you can see from the tale of the tape, the Bengals passing offence has been lights-out this year and stopping this will be the focus for the defense through a combination of post snap adjustments, double coverage, two high safeties, and bracket coverages focusing on Ja’marr Chase - as league leader in yards and YAC.. Pittsburgh have the fewest missed tackles in the league though,  which should at least help to minimise some of those ‘Run After Catch’ yards. A key component to containing Burrow, would be winning the time of possession battle by Pittsburgh building sustainable drives on offence, which goes back to the first key.

3. Time for a breakout game for the offensive line

The Bengals defence has had an anaemic pass rush this year - with the third lowest sack rate at 4.9% and ranking last in ‘tackles for loss’ with only 38. This shows a clear lack of penetration when defending the pass or run - so there is certainly potential for this young offensive line of the Steelers to take advantage of this. For this to happen though, Russell Wilson needs to try and disregard some of his tendencies for playing himself into trouble. He has been given the third longest time to throw on average in the pocket by his offensive line, and yet in spite of this he has the third highest percentage of times pressured. He has always been known for hindering his offensive line with his play style but when there is a clear advantage like this that Pittsburgh can exploit - he must play his part in doing so.