Kareem Elgazzar / The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY NETWORK

The path to victory has just become a little more difficult for the Cincinnati Bengals.

Cincinnati is going to be without two key starters in Tee Higgins and Cam Taylor-Britt in this weekend’s matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers, according to reports. This is somewhat expected but still a disappointing development for the Bengals. Higgins has not played the past few weeks due to a hamstring injury, while Taylor-Britt injured his quad in last Thursday’s game against Baltimore.

While not having Higgins is a big blow, it is not as big as losing Joe Burrow for the rest of the season. Not having Higgins with Burrow is one thing, but being without both will make it significantly more difficult to put points up on the board.

But the news is not all bad for the Bengals. 

Cincinnati will have the services of Sam Hubbard for their divisional matchup. Hubbard has missed the last two games with an ankle injury. Having Hubbard available to them should result in being more successful in making Kenny Pickett life’s difficult. Getting to Pickett early and often is a must for the Bengals if they are going to keep Pittsburgh’s offense in check and force them to play left-handed.

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