Category: 2020 Steelers vs. Bengals NFL Week 15

Steelers vs. Bengals injury update: RB James Conner OUT

James Conner (quad) will not play tonight versus the Cincinnati Bengals.

Steelers running back James Conner (quad), who has been limited in practice this week, was downgraded from questionable to out for their matchup in Cincinnati tonight. Conner sustained a quadricep injury in the Buffalo Bills game.

If the Steelers ground game is to get back on track, it’ll be up to Benny Snell, Jaylen Samuels and rookie Anthony McFarland.

Conner joins guard Kevin Dotson, who Pittsburgh announced on Saturday is out with a shoulder injury.

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Steelers HC Mike Tomlin admits ‘fatigue makes quitters of us all’

The Steelers are physically tired and this leads to mental fatigue according to Mike Tomlin.

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The biggest thing COVID-19 has done to the Pittsburgh Steelers this season is by disrupting their schedule significantly on two separate occasions is to wreck the team’s rest and training schedule. First it was giving up their bye week early in the season and then pushing a game back six days forcing a stretch of three games in 12 days.

What happens, in this case, is fatigue. Physical and mental. Head coach Mike Tomlin talked about this when he spoke to Steelers team reporter Bob Labriola he acknowledged the relationship between physical and mental fatigue.

Absolutely. And that’s why we say, “Physical conditioning precedes anything else.” We acknowledge fatigue makes quitters of us all. That’s a human characteristic, and that’s why we have to be in the very best condition to start a season, or to get this train out of the station, because we acknowledge that is a real component.

Going all the way back to the draft you hear Tomlin talk about physical preparedness. It’s his gauge for how soon and how much rookies get on the field. There’s no doubt this team is worn down physically. In part because the roster is built so top-heavy with such a huge chunk of the salary cap spent at the top, the talent on the back of the depth chart is somewhat subpar. This forces starters into heavier workloads and when starters go down with injuries, those remaining are under even more pressure to produce.

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Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger leads the league in passes dropped

No team has dropped more passes than the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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NFL quarterbacks love it when they lead the league in something. Passing yards or touchdowns are great. Interceptions, not so much. This season, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger doesn’t lead the league in any major statistical category.

But he does lead the league in one category and it isn’t his fault. According to CBS Sports, Roethlisberger leads the NFL with the most dropped passes on the season with 37. The next closest is Detroit Lions quarterback Matt Stafford with 29.

If it feels like all these drops have happened in the last two weeks and most of them belong to wide receiver Diontae Johnson, you aren’t completely wrong. The wheels have fallen off the passing game completely in recent weeks and it has led to two straight losses.

Hopefully this week, with a woeful Cincinnati Bengals team on the roster and a full week of practice under their belts this group will show some distinct improvements headed into the final stretch run of the season and more importantly into the playoffs.

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Steelers vs Bengals injury update: G Kevin Dotson OUT

The Steelers offensive line depth is being pushed to the limit this week.

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The Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line continues to be decimated by injuries. Last week against the Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh lost starting guard Matt Feiler and his replacement Kevin Dotson. According to the team, Feiler was placed on IR and Dotson will be out for this week’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Dotson’s replacement will be reserve center J.C. Hassenauer. This move spreads the Steelers offensive line depth to the max, especially if center Maurkice Pouncey is injured.

The only other injury of note is running back James Conner. Conner returned last week after missing the previous game on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. If Conner’s injury history means anything him being listed as questionable doens’t bode well for his availability this Monday against the Bengals.

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Steelers vs. Bengals: Cincinnati’s starting QB out for Monday’s matchup

Quarterback Ryan Finley will start in place of injured Brandon Allen versus Steelers on Monday.

The Cincinnati Bengals announced on Saturday that quarterback Brandon Allen (knee) is ruled out and Ryan Finley will start in the Steelers-Bengals Monday Night Football showdown. 

It won’t be Finley’s first rodeo versus Pittsburgh. Starting in place of Andy Dalton, Finley completed less than half of his passes, fumbled twice and was sacked four times en route to a 16-10 loss last season.

In seven total games, Finley has thrown two touchdowns and four interceptions.

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Bengals S Vonn Bell calls JuJu Smith-Schuster’s dances disrespectful

Steelers Wire looks at the comments from Bengals safety Vonn Bell about JuJu Smith-Schuster’s pregame dances.

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Everyone has an opinion about the pregame TikTok dances Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster has been doing on the opposing team’s logo. Most Steelers fans are playing it down, while those outside the organization are less understanding of Smith-Schuster.

Smith-Schuster himself has said this is just who he is and he has no plans to stop dancing. Smith-Schuster dedicates a lot of time and energy to his social media presence and all the things that come along with that. But to Cincinnati Bengals safety Vonn Bell, it’s disrespectful but he understands what you have to do if Smith-Schuster continues. The Bengals are hosting the Steelers this week on Monday Night Football.

“He’s still young minded. He loves the game. He loves going out there playing,” Bell said. “It’s kind of disrespectful at the end of the day. But they’re on top right now so you can’t really say nothing right now. We just gotta go out there, between the lines, go out there and hit him and let him know where he stands.”

It sounds like Bell is just itching to go out there and lay a hit on Smith-Schuster to let him know exactly how he feels about him dancing on the logo but acknowledges the Steelers are the class of the AFC North and the Bengals are holding up the floor.

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Steelers OC Randy Fichtner has no fear of throwing deep

Is Randy Fichtner willing to open up the offense this weekend?

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Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner has come under tremendous scrutiny this season for the struggles the Steelers offense has had. It’s something he will have to answer for at the end of the season if this team cannot make a deep playoff run but on Friday he had to address it to the media, especially the apprehension to throw the ball down the field.

“I would say that (Ben Roethlisberger) is more than capable of throwing the ball down the yard and making plays,” Fichtner said. “We have enough guys that can actually go up and make a play. I think we have probably done it less than most. Just those numbers alone might say that and that might be an emphasis for us moving forward. I’m not afraid to throw it deep.”

The numbers definitely say it. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is currently averaging 6.3 yards per attempt. This is the worst of his career by a full yard removing 2019 when he was lost with an injury. And among the league, this number is good enough for 31st, just edging out guys like Carson Wentz, Sam Darnold and Andy Dalton. Not good.

All this talk is great but will Fichtner put it into practice this week against the Cincinnati Bengals? And perhaps bigger than this, does Roethlisberger have the confidence in his arm to attack down the field more than he has this season? Getting past Cincinnati is one thing but to compete against the top teams, the Steelers offense has to open things up.

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Steelers vs. Bengals Week 15 injury report

Ben Roethlisberger and James Conner back at practice on Friday. Kevin Dotson’s shoulder injury has kept him out of practice this week.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was back at practice on Friday, along with running back James Conner (limited) and safety Sean Davis (full). Roethlisberger sat out Thursday’s practice with a non-injury related designation. Conner has been dealing with a quad injury that he sustained in the Buffalo Bills game.

Guard Kevin Dotson exited the Bills game with a shoulder injury and has not practiced this week.

It appears that cornerback Joe Haden (concussion) is on track to play in Cincinnati on Monday night.

The full injury report from Steelers.com is below.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Friday, December 18
QB Ben Roethlisberger (NIR) – Full
S Sean Davis (Illness) – Full
CB Joe Haden (Concussion) – Full
RB James Conner (Quadriceps) – Limited
OL Kevin Dotson (Shoulder) – DNP

Thursday, December 17
QB Ben Roethlisberger (NIR) – DNP
S Sean Davis (Illness) – DNP
CB Joe Haden (Concussion) – Full
RB James Conner (Quadriceps) – DNP
OL Kevin Dotson (Shoulder) – DNP

Cincinnati Bengals 

Friday, December 18
QB Brandon Allen (Knee) – DNP
LB Logan Wilson (Ankle) – DNP
S Brandon Wilson (Hamstring) – Limited
DT Mike Daniels (NIR – Rest) – Full
WR A.J. Green (NIR – Rest) – Full
OT Bobby Hart (Back) – Full
G Xavier Su’a-Filo (Finger) – Full

Thursday, December 17
QB Brandon Allen (Knee) – DNP
DT Mike Daniels (NIR – Rest) – DNP
WR A.J. Green (NIR – Rest) – DNP
LB Logan Wilson (Ankle) – DNP
S Brandon Wilson (Hamstring) – Limited
OT Bobby Hart (Back) – Limited
G Xavier Su’a-Filo (Finger) – Full

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NFL expert picks literally all in on the Steelers over the Bengals

Steelers Wire looks at who the experts are taking in this week’s game between the Steelers and Bengals.

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You might not think a showdown between the 11-2 Pittsburgh Steelers and 2-10-1 Cincinnati Bengals would be must-see TV but for the Steelers is definitely is. Pittsburgh can secure an AFC North crown with a win over the Bengals and can perhaps take a breath going into the final two weeks of the regular season.

NFL experts have been incredibly down on the Steelers in terms of the place among the NFL elite and rightfully so. But when it comes to taking on the underwhelming Bengals, the pundits are confident in Pittsburgh.

NFL Pick Watch has pulled together NFL picks from experts all over the internet and it is a clean sweep for the Steelers 100 percent of the picks they aggregated so far are taking the Steelers over the Bengals.

With the way the Steelers have played, I’m not sure any fans have this level of confidence but this should be a game the Steelers win.

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Steelers vs Bengals Thursday practice update

Steelers Wire takes a look at the players missing from Thursday’s practice for Pittsburgh.

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The Pittsburgh Steelers were down two starters due to injury on Thursday as they prepare to take on the Cincinnati Bengals this week. Here is the rundown of practice participants and their statuses.

RB James Conner (quad) DNP

G Kevin Dotson (shoulder) DNP

S Sean Davis (illness) DNP.

CB Joe Haden (concussion) FULL

It is great having Haden back at practice and hopefully, this is a sign he will be released from the concussion protocol fully and can play on Monday. If Conner is unable to play this week it will be some combination of Benny Snell, Jaylen Samuels and Anthony McFarland manning the run game.

In addition to the injuries, linebacker Vince Williams remains on the Reserve/COVID-19 list and isn’t likely to play this week. Guard Matt Feiler and linebacker Robert Spillane remain on IR.

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