Cincy Jungle
Thursday night is the Bengals’ season. There’s no two ways around it.
If the Bengals win on Thursday night, they’d be 3-4 but 2-0 in the AFC North. All of a sudden, in a wide-open AFC, you can see a path where the Bengals can get back in the thick of the playoff picture. After the Steelers, the Bengals play the Jets and Bears at home, leading into their Week 10 bye. Getting to 5-4 sounds realistic.
However, a loss Thursday night, which would drop them to 2-5, would be the end of anything the Bengals were hoping to accomplish this season. They wouldn’t technically be out of it, but being 2-5 as opposed to 3-4 is a massive difference. Not to mention, a loss Thursday night would be a fifth straight defeat for the Bengals.
The season is, at least it feels like, on the line Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Here goes nothing.
No secrets here. Aaron Rodgers is one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history and will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer when he retires. That very well could be after this season.
So far this season with the Steelers, through five games, Rodgers has 1,021 yards and 10 touchdowns against just three interceptions. Say what you want, but he’s putting up good numbers.
The MVP of Super Bowl XLV, a four-time AP MVP, a 10-time Pro Bowler, and a four-time All-Pro, Rodgers is 27 yards away from 64,000 passing yards in his career. He has 513 career touchdown passes against just 119 interceptions.
1. No. 90: Edge Rusher, T.J. Watt — 6-4, 252 lbs. 9th Season (Wisconsin)
Again, no secrets here. T.J. Watt is one of the most fearsome pass rushers in the NFL. There’s a reason the Steelers gave him a massive contract extension back in July. Watt can singlehandedly win games by himself.
The 2021 Defensive Player of the Year, Watt, is a seven-time Pro Bowler, a four-time First-Team All-Pro, and has 111.5 sacks in his career. He has 3.5 sacks this season with five tackles for loss, nine quarterback hits, four passes defensed, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.
2. No. 97: Defensive Tackle, Cameron Heyward — 6-5, 295 lbs. 15th Season (Ohio State)
Heyward may go down as one of the most underrated defensive players of this generation and one of the most underrated Steelers players of all time. The seven-time Pro Bowler and four-time First-Team All-Pro, Heyward began his career playing alongside Troy Polumalu and James Harrison, and he’s now playing alongside T.J. Watt.
It’s easy to overlook Heyward in that sense, but he shouldn’t be overlooked in any way. His ability to stuff the middle and collapse the pocket is extraordinary. With the Bengals struggling in the running game, this can be a matchup nightmare for their interior offensive line.
**3. No. 56: Linebacker, Alex...
