Cincinnati Bengals face AFC North rivals Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 7 – NFL Preview
It is a clash between two mid-tier teams in the American Football Conference (AFC) North as Cincinnati Bengals host Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 7 tie on Sunday, October 21, 2012, at Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Steelers (2-3) are looking like a diminishing power house after going through their worst start in six seasons.
They are desperate to get a win and a victory against Bengals (3-3) will again place them as contender for the playoffs. Accompanying an aging roster, it will become difficult for them to get good number of wins later on the season.
Bengals are hoping to regain form after losing two games in a row. The losses in Week 5 and 6 came after consecutive wins in Week 2, 3 and 4.
Steelers are struggling to retain their lead in the final quarter. This has been the case in all of their defeats.
In their week 6 game against Tennessee Titans, Steelers allowed 10 points in final five minutes to lose by 26-23.
Steelers have gone through to playoffs in eight out of last 11 seasons. It seems to be a tough task now, but the team has not given up hope. Linebacker Larry Foote said:
"The panic button, we're tapping on it. We ain't got two hands on it, but we're kind of nibbling on it a little bit. We can't lose no more, that's the approach. Five, six losses you ain't going to be in the playoffs."
Bengals also had similar fortunes last week. They allowed as many as 21 points in their 24-34 loss against Cleveland Browns.
Going into bye week with a winning record will be perfect for Bengals. Talking about Bengals’ performance in this season, offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth said:
"It's not time to jump ship. We're 3-3 just like everybody else in our conference. At the end of the day, it's not about wins and losses, it's about who makes the playoffs. Our goals are all still right there in front of us. Somebody that's 3-3 has to go
win some games and get in the playoffs.”
Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton is in good form. He finished last week with career-best 381 yards for three touchdowns.
Bengals will fancy their chances against injury-plagued Steelers, who have many of their starters unavailable for this tie.
Steelers will be without safety Troy Polamalu who is out with a calf injury. Right tackle Marcus Gilbert is unavailable due to an ankle injury and linebacker Chris Carter is rehabilitating from a hamstring injury.
The availability of Steelers running backs Isaac Redman and Rashard Mendenhall is also in doubt as they missed most of the practice sessions this week.
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