Cincinnati Bengals 6-0 @ Pittsburgh Steelers 4-3 1:00 PM ET – TV: CBS
Both offensive coordinators, Pittsburgh’s Todd Haley and Cincinnati’s Hue Jackson have weapons galore to stress the backend and negate pass rushes. Starting with Haley’s unit, it begins with Pittsburgh’s multi-faceted running back, Le'Veon Bell, who’s arguably the best all-around back in the game. Inside zone runs are part of Haley’s playbook, but where Bell and the Steelers’ ground game has found most of its success has been executing on man blocks (counter and power) runs that fit the style of Bell’s patience and vision. As an extension of the running game to negate Cincinnati’s pass rush, look for Haley to use empty spread sets, utilizing Bell’s tremendous receiving skills, lining him up in the …show more content…
Cincinnati’s defense has improved from a year ago, particularly on getting after the quarterback. DC Paul Guenther has a healthy Geno Atkins penetrating on the interior that’s freed up Carlos Dunlap on the outside. Mike linebaker, Ray Maualuga will likely spy Bell, but for Guenther’s unit to contain Pittsburgh’s ground game, the interior of Cincinnati’s line needs to be a force to clog Bell’s lanes to limit him from getting to the second levels. Once Bell gets in the open, he’ll be able to run circles around Cincinnati’s suspect linebackers that’ve been the weak link of Guenther’s defense. Roethlisberger is one of the best on making schoolyard plays outside the hash marks, but if Guenther’s unit pressures the middle while Dunlap and Michael Johnson can take advantage of Pittsburgh’s vulnerable tackles (Alejandro Villanueva and Marcus Gilbert), they’ll be able to lay hits on Roethlisberger and mitigate him from surveying the field with pressure coming from all