Going Downhill Fast

In a single week the Steelers went from a top contender in the league to a team fading fast out of the playoff picture. This past week the Steelers suffered a disappointing loss to the previously 1-5 Kansas City Chiefs. This was a trap game to say the least. In other words, players on the Steelers were likely looking ahead to this week’s game against the division leading Cincinnati Bengals. By taking the Chiefs lightly and overlooking them, the Steelers were doomed for failure.

This wasn’t helped by the fact that Landry Jones, who is now the third starting quarterback for the Steelers this season, had an extremely poor outing. Jones most certainly looked like a third string quarterback to say the least. He missed receivers and made poor decisions nearly all night.

All in all, it was a very forgettable day for the Steelers. The only thing they can do now is put the loss behind them and move forward. If they linger on this loss it will certainly affect their performance in a must win game this coming Sunday.

Now moving forward, the Steelers got the best news of the season thus far. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is set to return form his MCL sprain this weekend! Prior to his injury, the Steelers were one of the most dynamic offenses in the league. Hopefully, with Ben’s return the Steeler offense can pick up where they left off. If they can do so, the Steelers will without a doubt be inserted immediately back into the playoff discussion.

Steeler wide receiver Antonio Brown, will surely be happy about the return of Ben. Brown had been complaining about his lack of targets and therefore lack of production in the past weeks whenever Ben was removed from the picture. Back-up quarterbacks Vick and Jones just simply didn’t value Brown as an asset as much as Ben does. Surely, Brown can expect an increase in targets and yards this week. This will be a blessing for fantasy owners who had been suffering due to Brown’s lack of production.

Nevertheless, Brown and Ben will have to produce an immense amount of points in order to overcome the undefeated Bengals. The Bengals are being led by the phenomenal play of quarterback Andy Dalton. Dalton has been near perfect this season. In addition, running backs Jeremy Hill and Giovanni Bernard have been effective forces in the backfield. However, neither of them are good fantasy options due to the fact that neither receive enough carries to be the clear leader in the Bengals backfield.

This leads into the key to the game for the Steelers. They must shut down the Bengals offense early. If the defense cannot limit the run game of the Bengals, then the Steelers are doomed. Overall, if Steelers do lose then they have relatively no chance at a division title this year.

With this being said Steeler fans have one job this coming week, pack Heinz Field and ROOT FOR A STEELER VICTORY!!!