Cincinnati Bengals: Ranking the AFC North entering Week 2
By Steve Rivera
Losing 33-3 in New England is no sin. The Patriots were raising a championship banner, it was Opening Night of Sunday Night Football, and it’s Brady and Belichick. That’s a tall hurdle for any NFL team.
However…,
The Pittsburgh Steelers are no garden variety NFL team. They have a recent history as being a winner on their side. They have a Hall of Fame quarterback and head coach, and a pedigree that screams contender. In Week 1, they looked like a team with no identity.
The Steelers were a team who should have a big season. That still may happen. The logic of a team now void of the drama brought by Antonio Brown and a malcontent like Le’Veon Bell should have yielded a better result. Those two were a weekly assault on a locker room who was still in position for the playoffs late in 2018. Against the Patriots, they looked like a team missing two players they still desperately need.
In Week 2, they get to open their home slate against a good NFC West team in Seattle who stumbled to a win over the Steelers division rival, Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals showed that Russell Wilson and the Seahawks offense has some rust to knock off, and a defense that Andy Dalton shredded for 418 passing yards.
Pittsburgh looked awful in Week 1. They will need a big performance and a win to convince anyone that they are a player in the AFC North. Against the Seahawks, that might not be so easy.