It was only the Bengals, but the Steelers showed some promise, particularly with their young players



… most wins now: 9

When a team is 0-3, a win is a win is a win — regardless of the opponent.

However, the Steelers’ 27-3 victory over the Bengals gave the fans some hope. I was one of them, and we had some reason for hope — and some reasons for concern.

The positives were simple: First-year starting QB Mason Rudolph had a quarterback rating of about 125, which was great. He completed 24 of 28 passes for 229 yards and two touchdowns. Most important, he was not sacked at all, and he threw no interceptions.

[In the wildcat, Jaylen Samuels had three shovel passes to James Conner to pad those passing stats to a 87.2 completion rate and 31 more yards.]

Second, the defense had eight sacks. Forget about the fact that the Bengals were 0-3 coming into the game. Any time that a defense records eight sacks is a good one.

Third, the Steelers found a way to take the pressure off of Rudolph, and I liked the ingenuity of the Wildcat. It showed that both James Conner and Jaylen Samuels can still run the ball, and it definitely threw off the Bengal defense.

Fourth, young players are really shining, and using just one, first-round pick Devin Bush, the MLB. I had been advocating for a first-round pick for an ILB for years until they actually traded up and selected Bush at #10 last year.

Fifth, Conner and Samuels, the two top running backs, had 125 and 81 yards respectively. That was more than the entire Bengal offensive effort of 175 yards. [Those numbers were affected by the eight sacks that lost 69 yards.]

Last, the offensive effort was balanced, unlike last year when Roethlisberger wanted to throw the ball every down, particularly after Conner was injured in the second half of the season

Still concerned about third down conversions ...

Still, ESPN says 12 percent chance of making the playoffs

In one of the dumbest pieces that I read this morning, ESPN placed the Steelers at 26th in their power rankings. That is down one from last week … go figure.

Note that this was written after the Monday night game, but still,

26. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-3)

Week 4 ranking: 25

FPI chance to make the playoffs: 12.0%

How to increase their playoff chances: It all comes down to the run. RB James Conner, who averaged a paltry 2.9 yards per carry before Monday's game, needs to get it going on offense. The only way to get a green quarterback comfortable is to find more balance in the offense, and right now, the Steelers' No. 31-ranked rushing offense isn't getting it done. If Conner can't be effective, then it might be time for the team to look at other options -- including rookie Benny Snell Jr. or second-year back Jaylen Samuels -- to avoid missing the playoffs for the second year in a row.

 Brooke Pryor, ESPN Power Rankings, Oct. 1, 2019

Jeremy Fowler usually covers the Steelers for ESPN, and I do not know where he was with this.

Granted, the rushing game was a concern, and the game up the middle is still a worry. However, the only way to improve on that is to change that 1-3 record to 2-3 and then 3-3. If they do that, they will move up in these rankings.

Game with Ravens will be key

One key point that fans should remember is that the collective record of the three teams that gave them losses is 10-1 right now. New England and the 49ers are undefeated, and Seattle has just one loss. In addition, Pittsburgh was in two of those games.

However, all of this is moot if they lose to the Ravens at home next week. The Ravens have lost two in a row, one to the Chiefs and an embarrassing one to the Browns in Baltimore last Sunday.

So, this looks to be an intense game, as usual, without Roethlisberger and Flacco. Times, they are a-changing, and hopefully, the Steelers’ record will move upward next Sunday.

Playoffs: I had picked the Steelers to win 11 games at the start of the season. Unfortunately, I thought that they would defeat the Seahawks and 49ers.

Now, I think that 9 wins is more realistic, and that could be enough to get into the playoffs.

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