Steelers Scouting Report: Cincinnati Bengals, Week 7

Regardless, it will be familiar Flacco that the Steelers face on Thursday.

Last week, the veteran completed 29-of-45 passes for 219 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Green Bay Packers in a 18-27 loss. Flacco was only sacked once and threw no interceptions; both of those stats were an improvement over his performances in Cleveland.

Historically, when facing Flacco as quarterback, the Steelers have split even: 11 games they’ve won vs. 11 games Flacco was victorious against them per StatsMuse. The last time Pittsburgh played against Flacco was on September 9, 2024, when he was quarterbacking the Indianapolis Colts offense; the Steelers lost by 3 points.

According to Steelers.com, Thursday night will mark the fourth time Aaron Rodgers and Flacco will have quarterbacked against each other. Rodgers’ Packers beat Flacco’s Ravens in 2009 and 2013, and also beat Flacco’s Broncos in 2019. Two veterans over 40 years of age, battling it out for their newest teams.

Darius Slay and Flacco were teammates in 2021 on the Philadelphia Eagles squad. “He’s seen every coverage possible,” Slay said of Flacco. “We’ve got to continue to keep playing ball and just compete…Joe’s been in the game for a long time. There aren’t too many new concepts you can do in this game that he did not see before.”

Familiarity goes both ways, in this case. Will the Steelers defense run something more exotic that Flacco isn’t ready for, or will Flacco have a few new plays in his toolbox to cause the Steelers issues? That can only be answered on game day.

Injuries

The Bengals have a few players working back into rotation. Defensive end Trey Hendrickson (hip) was listed as a non-participant for Tuesday’s walkthrough (the team did not hold a regular practice) and is considered day-to-day. Meanwhile defensive coordinator Al Golden indicates defensive end Shemar Stewart (ankle) is ready.

• Bengals/Steelers official injury reports

The Steelers are likely to be without WR Calvin Austin (shoulder) and S Miles Killebrew (knee). Everyone else who showed up on Tuesday’s report was mainly a non-participant due to rest.

Matchups to watch

Rookies Dylan Fairchild, the Bengals’ left guard and Jalen Rivers at right guard will be facing a true test opposite Cameron Heyward and Keeanu Benton. It’s not clear, yet, how many snaps Derrick Harmon and Yahya Black may get, but Pittsburgh’s defensive front has been making noise and plays.

Cincinnati relies heavily on receivers
Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, which presents a challenge for the Steelers defensive backfield. Through six weeks (five games due to an early bye), Pittsburgh has allowed six passing touchdowns to opponents but have  given up 1,225 yards through the air (an average of 245 passing yards per game). That ranks as sixth-most in the NFL per game. It will take a committee for Pittsburgh to contain these two top playmakers.