Pittsburgh Steelers (4-1) vs. Cincinnati Bengals (2-4)
Thursday, 8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video
FanDuel odds: Steelers -5.5, total 43.5
Inside Edge Info: Steelers receivers lead the NFL with an average of 8.7 yards after the catch this season. The Bengals have allowed 5.2 yards after catch per reception to WRs this season (third worst in the NFL). Last season, the Bengals allowed 10 touchdown passes to tight ends.
Returning Series: The Steelers have won 11 straight games in the series from 2015-2020 and hold the all-time advantage over the Bengals, 71-40, including a 2-0 record in the playoffs.
Starting quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers, in his first season with the Steelers, and Joe Flacco, in his second start for the Bengals, are trying to make 40 the new 37 in NFL passer parlance. This is the third meeting ever between starting quarterbacks in their 40s, with Tom Brady and Drew Brees – who met twice during the 2020 season – sharing the only prior occurrences.
Cincinnati acquired Flacco before last week’s trip to Green Bay and immediately installed him as the starter. The Bengals were 2-0 in games started by Joe Burrow, who is on IR with a toe injury. Jake Browning threw eight interceptions in three-plus games and Cincinnati was 0-3 in his last three starts, prompting the move to acquire Flacco from Cleveland to start for his third different AFC North team (Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns). He threw two touchdown passes in his debut last week and it’s fair to say Steelers coach Mike Tomlin wasn’t thrilled to learn he’d be seeing Flacco for the 26th time in his career (the first 22 as a member of the rival Ravens and last September when Flacco replaced an injured Anthony Richardson with the Indianapolis Colts).
Rodgers may not be the MVP-level quarterback of decades ago, but he’s mostly found success in a career reset with the Steelers. He enters Week 7 with 63,973 career regular season passing yards and is just 115 yards behind former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (64,088 passing yards), who is currently fifth all-time in regular season passing yards. Cincinnati was hit early and often with big plays, especially in the passing game. The 43 assists allowed by the Bengals since the start of the 2024 season are second-worst in the NFL.
Pittsburgh’s offseason investments on the other side of the ball are boosting the secondary. CB Jalen Ramsey gets a one-on-one matchup with Ja’Marr Chase, Flacco’s clear No. 1 target, as the Bengals try to find a spark in the running game. Chase caught his 50th career TD last week and his 2,176 receiving yards since the start of the 2024 season lead the NFL. Although his numbers are down from a superhuman 2024 effort, Chase is averaging seven catches per game, tied for third in the league.
RB Chase Brown’s average of 2.7 yards per carry and 1.5 yards after contact ranks in the bottom five of 43 NFL qualifying backs in the league.
–Field level media
