The Cincinnati Bengals got off to a rough start this regular season. After going one-and-four in the preseason, the Bengals lost three in a row (to the Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans, and Green Bay Packers) before beating the Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills. They will enter Heinz Field on Sunday against a Pittsburgh Steelers team that is on the rebound after handing the Kansas City Chiefs their first loss in 2017. Let’s take a look at what the Bengals did during their Week 6 ‘bye’ and scout where they are at entering Week 7.

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Dalton talks injury, prep and the rivalry

Veteran quarterback Andy Dalton has struggled this season and in the Week 5 win over the Bills, he suffered an ankle injury. Although he had a visible limp, Dalton didn’t leave the game but did show some inaccuracy in the passing game. It was a toss to A.J. Green late in the third quarter that set up rookie rusher Joe Mixon‘s first ground touchdown, securing the win.

Andy Dalton said his ankle is fine now. He was sore for a few days last week, "as anybody would be," but said no pain at this point.

— Katherine Terrell (@Kat_Terrell) October 18, 2017

When asked about how productive the bye week was, Dalton admitted that he “didn’t do much” but that the team spent time examining what they’ve done up to this point in the season. “We looked at what we’ve done, the positives and the negatives and where we can do better, things we’re doing well,” Dalton told the media. “A lot of times the bye week, it’s a self-scout week (to) see what you’re doing.”

In his past three games against the Steelers, Dalton has seven touchdown passes and two interceptions for a 116.2 quarterback rating. Entering the game, Dalton’s passing stats are as follows:

Att	Comp	Pct	Yds	Avg	Yds/G	TD	Int	Sck	QB Rating
159	104	65.4	1,220	7.7	244.0	7	6	15	87.5

I feel like the city [of Cincinnati] and everybody puts more into (the rivalry) than what it is. It’s a game — a division game — it counts just the same … At the end of the day, it’s just another football game. – A. Dalton

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The Bengals haven’t been good at finishing – something that Paul Guenther and Marvin Lewis have preached as necessary for wins. On Sunday, the Bengals need to change their stripes against Pittsburgh – a division rival – who they have been unable to beat since the 2015 regular season. The Steelers sit in the top spot (4-2) and even though they can’t secure the division with a win this week, they would like to use a win to kick-start a three-game road stretch against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, and Denver Broncos. The Bengals are 8-20 (including playoff records) against the Steelers under Lewis.

Bengals need more from offense

Where the Bengals need to get more from their offense goes beyond how well Dalton and Green mesh into establishing a run game. Mixon has yet to make a big leap in rushing production week-to-week and after watching the Bears and Jaguars gain big numbers, they’ll look to try to get the run going this weekend.

One area that has hurt the offense is the play of the offensive line. They have made small adjustments but overall are likely to get heavily tested by Pittsburgh, but offensive coordinator Bill Lazor feels his squad believes they can be good – and competitive. “I think they believe in each other and maybe some of it has to do with what we’re doing or calling…” Lazor said. “I think on the sideline it feels to me that they believe.”

This is where the Andrew Whitworth trade really hurt Cincinnati. In the season opener, Dalton was chased out of the pocket and pressured so consistently that it looked like Cedric Ogbuehi wasn’t going to be a long-term answer at right tackle. Ken Zampese got the boot and now the Bengals are rotating Andre Smith, Jake Fisher and Ogbuehi.

We’ve had an opportunity to right our course a bit, and for everybody to understand what has to be done and the urgency it has to be done with. – M. Lewis

If the Bengals want to make a statement, they are going to have to get all hands on board on the offensive side of the ball. While their defense ranks second in the league in points allowed, second in passing yards allows and second in passing yards allowed – carrying this team – the Steelers have the number one passing defense and rank third in yards allowed; fourth in points allowed.

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What they’re saying

And @George_iloka answer on why #Bengals vs. #Steelers games are so chippy. pic.twitter.com/iAyMYAUjjb

— Elise Jesse (@EliseJesseTV) October 18, 2017

https://twitter.com/Elise_JesseWLWT/status/920683623619219457

w/Bengals
Palmer: 97 games, W-L 46-51, 62.9%, 154 TD, 100 INT, 86.9 rating
Dalton: 98 games, W-L 58-38-2, 62.8%, 149 TD, 87 INT, 89.0 rating

— LanceMcAlister (@LanceMcAlister) October 18, 2017

https://twitter.com/JimOwczarski/status/920681713117908992