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5 Reasons why the Steelers will beat the Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals are seven point favorites against a team they've beaten just once in the last four games. Cincinnati is a good team, but a beatable one. Here's why.

By Neal Coolong
Joe Robbins
A center who knows how to play center

Don't even begin to underestimate the value of a player who understands the nuances of the position. With all due respect to Kelvin Beachum, he's not a center. For whatever reason, the Steelers have prepared Beachum to be a jack of all trades, and in return, they found out, in horrifying fashion, he's a master of none.

A tight end who may not be a tight end, but can block

While that same logic can be applied to the fact Beachum is likely to see snaps at tight end against the Bengals, Beachum knows how to block on the edge. He's basically going to be used as a tackle, but with another tackle next to him. That's something he'll be more comfortable with, and judging by the blocking performances of David Paulson and David Johnson, it will be an improvement. A clean edge will equal more time for the Steelers to actually develop some offensive rhythm.

Troy Polamalu

He has two regular season touchdowns in his career. Both against Cincinnati. He has four interceptions against the Bengals, and he's 7-3 in 10 starts against them. Polamalu looked like the unpredictable and destructive player he's been when healthy against the Titans in Week 1, and the Steelers will let him play cat-and-mouse with Andy Dalton in this game.

Andy Dalton

Speaking of Dalton...the Steelers have tormented the Red Rifle in each of his four games against Pittsburgh - 64-for-123 (52 percent), four touchdowns, five picks, 5.5 yards per attempt and a 1-3 record. This is perhaps slightly slanted, considering he's shown improvement over those two years, but the Steelers have beaten him plenty of times, and it's a good game to continue their hot hand against him.

Run defense

The Steelers faced 42 rushes last week against the Tennessee Titans. They gained 112 yards. That kind of commitment to futility can only come through a higher-level mandate to continue doing what shouldn't be done. The Bengals aren't going to run the ball that much. When teams get one-dimensional against the Steelers, their defense tends to lock teams down. Last year, Cincinnati rushed 37 times for 94 yards against the Steelers in two games. The Bengals scored 30 points in two games - and seven of those came off a defensive touchdown.

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