AFC North's Fierce Rivalries Set the Stage for an Unforgettable Showdown

Steelers vs. Bengals, 8:15 ET

We’ve got Thursday Night Football ahead of us, and you know what that means… Yes, another play from yours truly. This has been a solid football season for me and us, and hopefully you’ve faded my losses and cashed with me on the wins. We have a divisional game to kick off our Week 7 slate, which is kind of crazy to think we are already more than a third of the way through the year. Let’s see how we can take on this matchup between the Steelers and Bengals.

The Steelers come into the game leading the division and looking like they probably are the cream of the crop in the AFC North. The Steelers are 4-1, and their lone loss was a bit of an odd occurrence for the Steelers against the Seahawks. There were a lot of mental mistakes, and Pittsburgh basically stopped getting anything going on offense in the second half of that game. Since that game, the Steelers have looked a lot better, beating the Browns, the Vikings, and the Patriots. This isn’t exactly a tough schedule, but let’s look a bit closer at this: The Patriots weren’t really playing all that great, and have since improved. The Steelers were also rebounding from their loss. The Vikings were without JJ McCarthy and the game took place overseas and anything can happen there. The Browns, last week, started Dillon Gabriel, and now the Steelers have to face the former starter for the Browns in Joe Flacco. The Bengals defense can be exploited in many ways, but they’ve been decent against wide receivers. They have given up five touchdowns to opposing tight ends so Jonnu Smith might be a good look.