Message clear for Steelers: get job done against Bengals
The words “do your job,” “attack,” “get to work,” were all brought up this week ahead of Week 18 of the 2024 NFL regular season finale that pits the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Cincinnati Bengals in their second AFC North divisional meeting, this time at Acrisure Stadium. While the Bengals are surging, the Steelers have fallen back a few steps. Frustrated and disappointed after the three game losing streak leading into the league-flexed Saturday afternoon game, the message is clear for the Steelers: do what it takes to get the job done.
The personnel haven’t changed much
Both Pittsburgh and Cincinnati will field essentially the same roster as they did when the two teams met in Week 13. The game plan is likely to cater more to adjustments as a result of successes versus failures in recent weeks.
The Steelers played one of their best, complete-team games when they defeated the Bengals earlier this season. The pressure of having played, and lost, to the Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens, and Kansas City Chiefs on a condensed schedule looms over the Steelers, but the sentiment appears to be a shared one: that is in the past.
“I think the most important thing is you have got to have amnesia,” quarterback Russell Wilson said Wednesday. “This is one of those games that they’ve got good players. We’ve got good players. There’s going to be highs, there’s going to be lows… just having amnesia, that’s when the great things are happening, to be able to move on and move to the next play. I think that’s going to be key for winning football.”
The only player on the Steelers roster that likely would have started but was on the injury report as a “did not participate” due to injury as of Wednesday was cornerback Donte Jackson (back).
The Bengals listed the following players on their report: RB Chase Brown (Ankle, DNP), OT Orlando Brown Jr. (Fibula, Limited), QB Joe Burrow (Right Wrist/Knee, Limited), WR Tee Higgins (Ankle/Knee, Limited), DE Sam Hubbard (Knee, DNP), TE Tanner Hudson (Knee, Limited), DT Kris Jenkins Jr. (Knee, Limited), WR Charlie Jones (Groin, Limited), DT Amarius Mims (Ankle/Hand, Limited), and TE Drew Sample (Groin, DNP).
No one should assume game status, at this point, for players on either list. Both teams have a lot on the line in this game. It’s highly unlikely Burrow or Higgins or Mims will not be on the field come Saturday.
“We’ve got to play our best game to get the momentum back. I think it’s always great just to stay on a momentum high. I think that’s always helpful,” Wilson clarified to the media. “But it doesn’t determine anything. Our present is going to determine how we work. Is going to determine where we go.”
Focus on the opponent at hand
The locker room boiled over for Pittsburgh after the loss to Kansas City, but things appear to have been addressed.
“Because of the open dialogue and the transparency we have, starting with Mike (Tomlin), and that we all aspire to have in our rooms, me as a coordinator, the position coaches that have their rooms, I don’t think you’ll have something like that,” defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said about potential finger-pointing and addressing the job ahead. “We know if you do give (the work) the attention it deserves like we do, that the results will come.”
That has required some fine tuning in practice, and continues, as the team focus locks in on the Bengals.
“We have the talent. We have the coaching staff. We have the belief in this room that we can be a great defense, we can be a great team as a unit, and there’s nothing left to talk about at this point,” 2024 team MVP T.J. Watt explained. “It’s all about getting it done on the field and going from there.”
The Steelers offense and defense both seek better outcomes through improved execution. That will be key to getting the job done against the Bengals. Pittsburgh’s veterans are anxious to step up to the task and encourage teammates to do so as well.
“For me, and I think for a lot of guys in here, hopefully the whole team, it’s about just playing good ball,” Cameron Heyward said earlier this week. “We’ve got to get back on good footing, play with good technique. We control what we can control.”
Even the youngest members of the team understand that it won’t be easy finishing off the regular season with a win, especially against a hot Bengals squad.
“Obviously, the Bengals are playing really good football right now,” said rookie offensive guard Mason McCormick. “We have a big task this week and I think the guys are excited to get back into it.”
