This past weekend, the Steelers had their bye week and did not play a game. The bye weeks around the league range from week four until week twelve, so a bye during the seventh week of the season falls right near the middle. As they did not play, there is no game to discuss, so I will instead briefly cover Steeler news, as well as provide some insight as to how the rest of the division fared last weekend.
James Conner suffered a quad injury in the win over the Chargers two weeks ago, and his missing the entire fourth quarter has raised some questions whether or not he will be ready to compete Monday night. While the bye weekend did give Conner time to rest up, soft tissue injuries such as his can often times persist and limit productivity for weeks. If Conner is restricted or completely out, backup Benny Snell Jr. will get the call to fill the feature back position. In his injury update early on Tuesday morning, coach Mike Tomlin gave no mention of Conner’s injury status. Instead, his report focused on T.J. Watt’s abdominal injury and cornerback Mike Hilton’s calf injury, both of which seem to be slowing the players down early on in the week. Tomlin also seemed optimistic about Mason Rudolph, who seems to be a part of Pittsburgh’s game plan this Monday night. Finally, linebacker Anthony Chickillo was arrested on Sunday for simple assault, harassment, and property damage after getting involved in a physical altercation with his girlfriend. The Steelers asked Chickillo, who has struggled with a foot injury for much of the season, to not report for practice at the beginning of the week until the situation is sorted out. As the week progresses and it nears the Monday night kickoff, we should receive more news surrounding these headlines, as well as others for the organization.
Around the rest of the AFC North, the Baltimore Ravens remained atop the division with a convincing 30-16 win against the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle. The Seahawks dropped to 5-2, still recording one of the best records in the league. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson rushed for 116 yards and passed for another 143, helping lead the Ravens to their third straight win. Baltimore looks to be the team to beat in the division, as their 5-2 record puts them three wins ahead of the second place 2-4 Cleveland Browns. The Steelers already lost to the Ravens in overtime a few weeks ago, and they head to Baltimore for the last game of the season in an attempt to get revenge for that heartbreaking loss.
The Cincinnati Bengals dropped to 0-7 after losing at home to the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-17. The Jaguars sit in third place in a highly contested AFC South division, as the first place Colts are only one win ahead of the rest of the division. With wide receivers A.J. Green and John Ross both injured, Cincinnati has had to rely on its run game throughout the past few weeks – and opposing teams have quickly picked up on this. The Bengals have only recorded 372 yards on the ground this year, which places them last in the NFL in the category. To make it even worse, they have also given up the most rushing yards in the league at 1,323. This coming week the Bengals travel to London to play the defending NFC champions Los Angeles Rams, then have to face the Baltimore Ravens following a bye week. In other words, the next few weeks do not look promising for the winless Bengals.
The underwhelming Cleveland Browns also had a bye week last week, and sit at 2-4 as well. However, they are ranked above the Steelers because of the second tie breaker, win percentage within the division (the first being head-to-head matchup record, but the two teams have not played yet). Cleveland has a 100 win percentage in the division (1-0), while Pittsburgh has a 50 win percentage (1-1) in the division. Following a 7-8-1 final record last year after going a combined 1-31 the past two seasons, Cleveland had high hopes going into this season. While the first six weeks have not gone as they hoped, the Browns still serve as a threat in the division. Cleveland travels to New England this weekend in an attempt to hand the Patriots their first loss of the season.
Heading off of the bye week, the Steelers are poised to make a run for first place in the division. The off week could not have come at a better time, as the injury-plagued team badly needed a week to rest up. The next few weeks will prove to be quite important for Pittsburgh and will give them the opportunity to turn the season around for good. Hopefully this past weekend will be the beginning of a new phase of 2019 Steelers football, so tune in on Monday at 8:15 PM to find out!