Behind the Steel Curtain
The star QB saw a premature end to his 2023 campaign with a season-ending wrist injury.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are headed to Cincinnati this week for their first of two matchups with the Bengals this week, kicking off on Sunday, December 1 at 1 p.m. ET from Paycor Stadium. Though these two teams are familiar foes, set to face each other for their 108th regular-season meeting, there is one element of play that could shift the playing field from their previous meetings with the Bengals starting QB Joe Burrow under center.
Just last season, Burrow’s season ended prematurely with a torn ligament in his wrist (throwing hand) that required surgical repair. Though he’s been a full go this season, there’s still been plenty of questions about whether or not he’s actually 100% healthy. He remains listed on the Bengals’ injury report with the issue, though listed as a full participant, which does indicate he could be dealing with a chronic wrist issue.
Most of the questions about his health status have stemmed from clips of him fidgeting with the injury, occasionally shaking out his wrist, plus this clip, where he picked a water bottle awkwardly:
Ahead of Week 12, another complicated question mark was added to the discussions, however. When asked about whether or not the cold weather could impact his wrist, he didn’t seem overly confident.
AccuWeather projects a high of 34°F on Sunday afternoon with 17 mph wind gusts.
Bengals beat writer Kelsey Conway shared:
“That’s a question that remains to be answered,” Burrow said of how the cold weather could impact his game. “I haven’t experienced a cold weather game with that yet. In the past when I’ve had injuries, cold weather does affect it, so we’ll find out. Maybe I’ll have a heater on the sideline or something. I haven’t really thought about that yet, but we’ll see.”
Burrow holds a 3-2 record against the Steelers in his career dating back to 2020, averaging 253.6 pass yards per game with an 11:8 TD:INT ratio and an 88.0 NFL passer rating. Burrow has been on an incredible run this season, ranked third in passing yards while tied to lead the league in passing touchdowns (27) with MVP candidate — and former AFC North-er — Lamar Jackson. He’s also thrown just 4 INTs all year.
It remains to be seen how the weather will impact Burrow’s wrist (and therefore, accuracy, currently ranked 10th in accurate throw rate at 65% among QBs with 100+ attempts). The good news is that the Steelers' defense has been an opportunistic one, tied to lead the league with 21 offensive turnovers forced through the first 12 weeks of the season.
