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Pittsburgh in driver’s seat in AFC

4 min read
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PITTSBURGH – The Steelers’ 29-14 win Sunday over the Cincinnati Bengals has has placed them in an enviable position.

They are 3-0 in the division, with two of those victories having been on the road. Their remaining road game in the AFC North comes in the first week of December in Cincinnati, where they have lost just two times with Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback.

“It was a big win, a big win,” said Steelers guard David DeCastro, emphasizing the second part of that proclamation.

Coupled with Kansas City’s two losses in the past week, including one to the Steelers, Pittsburgh is in the driver’s seat in the AFC.

Keep checking off wins, including one Dec. 17 at home against New England, and the Steelers will be the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs.

But that is really putting the cart ahead of the horse. There’s a lot of football remaining to be played before we get to that point.

More importantly, the Steelers put together back-to-back wins for the first time since the opening two weeks of the season, finally showing the consistency you’d expect from a team with as much talent as this one possesses.

It was perhaps the Steelers’ most complete performance of the season, though they weren’t exactly ready to admit that after this beatdown.

“I don’t know,” said quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who threw touchdown passes on two of the Steelers’ first three possessions.

“I’m just glad we got the win.”

This, however, had been a team that had been up and down like a roller coaster.

Beat Minnesota handily one week, lose to Chicago next. Go into Baltimore and win, then inexplicably get blown out at home by Jacksonville. Win at Kansas City … you get the idea.

The Steelers are a better team, at leats on paper, than what they have shown thus far.

The defense, expected by many to be a top-10 unit as it continues to mature, has lived up its potential. That defense proved in the second half Sunday that it can be a shutdown unit. Cincinnati had 20 yards of total offense.

To this point, however, the offense hasn’t lived up to its potential.

But Sunday was another important step.

It got a solid performance from Roethlisberger. Le’Veon Bell was a hammer when he needed to be, a surgeon when required.

He rushed for 134 yards on 35 bruising carries and caught three passes for 58 yards, including a 42-yard catch-and-run in the second quarter during which he seemingly left the entire Cincinnati defense in his wake. And that included as punishing a stiff arm as you’ll see at any level of football.

“I’ve been boxing a lot,” Bell quipped. “I guess that’s paying off.”

Everything seems to be paying off for the Steelers.

They are playing a physical style of football that makes them as dangerous as any team in the league.

The much-maligned pass defense gave up 108 total yards one week after shutting down the supposedly potent Kansas City passing game.

Cincinnati wide receiver A.J. Green had three catches for 41 yards on six targets. The Steelers didn’t follow him around with any one cornerback, choosing to keep Joe Haden and Artie Burns on their respective sides. It didn’t matter.

This team has a long way to go to finish out this season. But it’s starting to take on the look of a true Super Bowl contender.

That’s especially true in a season in which there are seemingly so few top notch teams in the league.

Dale Lolley can be reached at dlolley@observer-reporter.com.

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