Dec 4, 2017 By Jim Wexell for The 9 min read

MEMORABLE SERIES MOMENT

Bengals 20, Steelers 10

Sept. 16, 2013 at Paul Brown Stadium

The Steelers have won 10 consecutive prime-time games (start after 7 p.m.), but their last loss on a Monday night was here in Cincinnati in the second week of what would become an 8-8 Steelers season. Bengals RB Giovani Bernard scored the first two touchdowns of his career to give the Bengals a 17-10 lead by the end of the third quarter. and the Bengals kicked a short field goal early in the fourth quarter for a 10-point lead. Ben Roethlisberger was intercepted by Reggie Nelson deep in Bengals territory on a third-and-2 play to effectively end the Steelers’ chances. The Bengals went on to win the AFC North with an 11-5 record.

TALE OF THE TAPE

“Which Vontaze Burfict will show up? I flipped on the film starting from the first game this year against the Steelers, when he filled in for an injury and looked out of place at middle linebacker, and I really think that with all the penalties and fines and ejections he’s accrued his fighting spirit has been dampened a little bit. In their last game, what made me go ‘wow’ was when the Browns were running to the sidelines away from him and he didn’t even so much as trot after the ball carrier. He just stood there and watched it. I was shocked. And when he’s thrown down by offensive linemen, he doesn’t even react. He’s normally very feisty when he gets back up. I just wonder how much of his game has been taken away due to all of the fines and suspensions. They need him, and they need him big for this game because it’s a huge game for Cincinnati.” — Steelers Radio Network analyst Craig Wolfley.

TOP QUESTION

Can the Steelers cover A.J. Green without Joe Haden?

The Steelers lost Haden with a fractured fibula three games back, and his replacement, Coty Sensabaugh, has allowed touchdown passes of 75 and 55 yards in the last two games. Haden had been a thorn in Green’s side going back to their college days, and intercepted the only pass thrown to Green while he was covering him in the first meeting this season. Green caught three passes for 41 yards that day. In the Bengals’ last three games, he’s caught 14 passes for 231 yards (16.5 avg.) and two touchdowns.

THREE QUESTIONS

With TE JESSE JAMES

Q: When you think about the Bengals, do you think about blocking Burfict?

JJ: “As a tight end, the first things I think about are their ends, Carlos Dunlap and Michael Johnson, and the young guy, Carl Lawson, is awesome. That’s what I think of when I think of the Bengals: 4-3, big defensive ends, play the run great and get-after-it pass-rushers. I go there, and then I start thinking about Burfict. Great instinctive player who makes a lot of plays. Obviously he has a bunch of controversy, but whenever he’s on the field he’s playing hard and you’ve got to make sure you finish and keep things clean.”

Q: Last game he started off by kicking Rosie Nix in the head, but was patting Nix on the head by the end of the game. Do you see the human side of him at times?

JJ: “I don’t pay attention to that. If I’m going up against him, I’m tying to block through the whistle to keep him from getting an extra hit on the quarterback or running back, whoever I’m blocking for.”

Q: Mike Tomlin stresses those defensive ends when he talks about the Bengals. Is this traditionally one of the more challenging games for a tight end?

JJ: “It’s just a great matchup. I think Dunlap’s one of the best 4-3 defensive ends. He’s special. His length and the way he reacts to plays, he’s just a great matchup. I didn’t play much my first two years, but last year we went against each other a lot. It was in the rain, and that was a grind, obviously. It was my first time going against a guy that big. Good player. I have a lot of respect for the way he plays the game.”

GAME BREAKDOWN

What to look for from the Steelers on Monday night:

ON OFFENSE:

Antonio Brown will be a game-time decision with a toe injury that became news late in the week. The Steelers will get rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster back. He and Martavis Bryant have the potential to threaten a Bengals secondary that will be without hard-hitting safety Shawn Williams. The Steelers will be without Vance McDonald (ankle), their best blocking tight end. He’ll miss his third consecutive game, fourth of the last five, and as James mentioned the tight end group is on the spot against the Bengals’ big defensive ends. It may help that Johnson is questionable for the Bengals with a back problem that also cropped up late in the week.

ON DEFENSE:

Joining Haden on the sidelines will probably be FS Mike Mitchell, who’s doubtful for the game. The Bengals hope to continue the recent streak of big pass plays given up by the Steelers, but also have an improved running game now that the three-man tackle rotation was put to rest and rookie Joe Mixon has been made the full-time running back. Mixon gained 48 yards on seven carries in the first meeting, but didn’t carry the ball in the final 38 minutes. The second-round pick is coming off his best pro game, rushing 23 times for 114 yards and adding 51 receiving yards in a win over Cleveland.

PREDICTION

The Steelers are 14-2 at Cincinnati during the Marvin Lewis era, and the aforementioned 10-0 in their last 10 prime-time games, while the Bengals are 2-8. Injuries and karma (Mike Tomlin’s commentary on the New England Patriots) have me thinking about a Bengals upset, and home underdogs have always been galvanized on Monday nights anyway. But Roehlisberger is hard to beat both here, and anywhere in December. If Brown doesn’t play, I expect the Steelers’ young wideouts to struggle against the Bengals’ cornerbacks, and James, Xavier Grimble and the Steelers’ tackles to struggle blocking their defensive ends, but look for Chris Boswell to come through again in a hard-fought game. … Steelers, 19-17.

BY THE NUMBERS

4.5: Sacks by Dunlap in his last five Monday night games.

7: Sacks by Lawson to lead all NFL rookies.

11: Number of field goals converted by Boswell in the Steelers’ last two games against the Bengals. The Steelers’ most accurate all-time kicker accounted for 66 percent of the Steelers’ points in those games. In six career games against the Bengals, counting playoffs, Boswell has converted all 21 field-goal attempts and all nine extra points.

179: Bengals’ offensive yards against the Steelers in their last meeting, the fewest allowed by the Steelers this season.

192: Bell’s yards from scrimmage in the last game against the Bengals, his high for the season. He carried 35 times for 134 yards and caught three passes for 58 yards.

238: Passing yards needed by Roethlisberger for 50,000 in his career. He would join Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Dan Marino, John Elway and Eli Manning in the select club. In 27 regular-season games against the Bengals (20-7), Roethlisberger averages 236 yards passing.

DOWNLOADS

n Brown leads the NFL in receiving yards (1,195) and receptions (80), and Bell leads the NFL in rushing (981). No NFL team has ever had a player lead all three categories, although three tandems have led in rushing and one of the receiving categories: In 1999, Marvin Harrison and Edgerrin James of the Colts led the NFL in receiving yards and rushing; in 1991, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith of the Cowboys led in receiving yards and rushing; and in 1954, Billy Wilson and Joe Perry of the 49ers led in rushing and receptions.

n The Steelers have won four consecutive Monday night games to total 44 such wins with a won-loss percentage of .647. Both numbers rank third-best in the NFL. Seattle has the best winning percentage (.719) and San Francisco has the most wins (48) on Monday night. The Steelers are 6-3 against the Bengals on Monday night, 2-2 at Cincinnati.

n Cameron Heyward with nine sacks is looking to become the Steelers’ all-time single-season sacks leader among 3-4 defensive linemen. Keith Willis had 14 sacks in 1983 and 12 sacks in 1986. Even though sacks didn’t become an official stat until 1982, the Steelers did pore over their gamebooks and, during their 4-3 years, found that interior linemen Ernie Holmes had 11.5 sacks in 1974 and Joe Greene had 11 sacks in 1972.

n The Bengals are 5-6 but have won their last two games and are only one game behind 6-5 teams Buffalo and Baltimore in the wild-card race. Since the first year of the current playoff format (1990), 20 teams with 5-6 records or worse after 11 games have qualified for the playoffs, including one in 12 of the past 13 seasons.

n The Steelers scored two touchdowns in each of their red-zone appearances last Sunday against Green Bay but are still a lowly 28th in the league with a 46.5 percent touchdown conversion rate. The Bengals lead the NFL in red-zone defense, allowing touchdowns on only 39.5 percent of opponents’ trips inside the 20.

PARTING SHOT

“They’re kind of in position that if they want to get in the playoff hunt, they’ve got to win out and certain things have to go their way. So we know they’re going to come hard, play tough, knowing it’s a divisional game.” — Le’Veon Bell on the 5-6 Bengals.