I think most of us expected the battle at the top of the AFC North to still be close in early November at the start of the year. But how many of us expected the Cincinnati Bengals to be up there with the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers? Not me that’s for sure. But when your defense is playing as well as the Bengals' is and with an offense that is solid and has a big play threat in rookie A.J. Green it isn’t as surprising as you’d think.
This week they get the chance to prove that they are for real in the AFC North when they take on the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers need to rebound after Joe Flacco’s stunning final drive snatched victory from them last week. The race to win the AFC North is nowhere near ready for it’s conclusion but both teams will be looking at this game as a key matchup in deciding the division going forward. With that in mind, let’s have a look at the three areas to focus on this week.
Ike Taylor v A.J. Green
Despite the penalties he has committed in his rookie year, A.J. Green’s (-3.4) ability as a receiver cannot be denied. His 15.0 yards per catch average and 5 touchdowns are proving his worth as the fourth overall pick in the 2011 draft. The Week 3 game against San Francisco has been the only game so far this season where he hasn’t managed a play of more than 20 yards, although he still had a reception for 18. He is clearly Andy Dalton’s favourite target and for good reason. As he did against Baltimore’s Anquan Boldin, expect Ike Taylor (-5.7) to follow Green on Sunday. On the season, only 35.7% of the passes thrown at Taylor have been caught. However he has allowed six receptions in each of the last two games and for all the hype about his ability in coverage this season he has only broken up the one pass while giving up six penalties.
Carlos Dunlap v Marcus Gilbert
Marcus Gilbert (+5.2) has stability at the right tackle spot in Pittsburgh since his first start in Week 2. His best two games of the season have come in the last two against Baltimore and New England where he allowed just one sack on QB Ben Roethlisberger in both games. This week represents a huge test for the rookie as he has to deal with Carlos Dunlap (+28.2). What Dunlap has done as a pass rusher this season so far is incredible. He has recorded three sacks, 10 hits and 24 pressures on just 202 pass rushes. He doesn’t get much attention because of the low sack total, but make no mistake about it, Dunlap is as big a reason for the Bengals 6-2 start as anyone. The only question about him is why the Bengals don’t get him on the field more often. If he can get to Roethlisberger on Sunday then the Bengals may just still be at least tied for the AFC North lead when the night is over. Let’s just hope Dunlap is healthy.
Antonio Brown
After his huge catch in the AFC Divisional playoffs against Baltimore last season, Antonio Brown has grown even more as a playmaker, with 540 yards as a receiver through the first nine games of the season. In every game this year he has a reception of 15 or more yards and while he has only found the endzone once so far this year as a receiver, he has gone over 100 yards receiving in two of the last three games. His impact is also felt as a returner where he has averaged 28.7 yards per return with a long of 52 as a kick returner and an impressive 11.9 yards per return with a long of 41 as a punt returner. Adding it all together, Brown has averaged 16.05 yards per touch for a total of 1,268 yards already this season. With his form the last few games, it wouldn’t come as a shock at all to see Brown come up with the big play on Sunday.
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