The Bengals have been so good because Andy Dalton has spread the wealth among his many reliable receivers. Though the Steelers have gotten important production from running back DeAngelo Williams, they have the league’s second-most productive offense because Ben Roethlisberger is almost always looking to push the ball down the field.
Sunday’s Steelers-Bengals game in Cincinnati could bring fireworks.
In the past against the Steelers, Dalton has relied heavily on A.J. Green. In nine career games against the Steelers, Green has 64 catches for 805 yards and five touchdowns. Over the last four, he’s averaging 129.3 yards against the Steelers.
Green ranks eighth in the NFL with 1,037 receiving yards. He’s over 1,000 yards for the fifth-straight season and with 70 catches still has a chance to break his personal best of 98. He caught the winning touchdown in the Bengals’ 16-10 win in Pittsburgh earlier in the season.
This one figures to feature more points. Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown is second in the league in catches (93) and yards (1,310). He’s matched Green with seven touchdown catches.
Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert leads the NFL with 12 touchdown catches. He missed last week’s game with a stinger but the Bengals may have just been playing it safely against the Browns. The Bengals return to practice Wednesday, so we may know more about Eifert then.
Steelers wide receiver Martavis Bryant has scored a touchdown in four straight games and has 15 touchdowns in 17 career games. The last time he didn’t score a touchdown was in that loss to the Bengals back on Nov. 1.
The Bengals are 10-2 and can clinch the AFC North with a win Sunday. The Bengals head into the weekend as the AFC’s No. 1 seed.
The Steelers are 7-5.
