After six weeks of solid football, the Pittsburgh Steelers are in pretty good shape heading into their Week 7 road clash with the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday Night Football.
At 4-1, the first-place Steelers are the only team above .500 in the AFC North. They hold a comfortable 2.5-game lead over the second-place Bengals, which will grow to 3.5 games if Pittsburgh wins tonight.
The Steelers have surged over the last month while their competition has collapsed. Their three-game winning streak is tied for the longest active streak in the NFL.
Meanwhile, they’re the only team in their division with a win over the last three weeks. Cincinnati and Baltimore haven’t won since Week 2, while Cleveland hasn’t won since Week 3.
Their early struggles have allowed Pittsburgh to build the biggest division lead in the NFL. Accordingly, the Steelers have a 78 percent chance to win the AFC North entering Week 7 according to ESPN Analytics. If they hang on, it will be their first division title since 2020, back when Ben Roethlisberger was still under center.
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That said, there’s still a lot of football left to be played. Pittsburgh’s schedule is about to get considerably tougher, as its next three games are against the Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Chargers. Accordingly, Mike Tomlin’s squad must capitalize on its relatively soft matchup against Joe Flacco and the reeling Bengals.
Meanwhile, the Ravens are hoping to get Lamar Jackson back after their bye week and could be poised to make a run, so the Steelers need to put as much distance as possible between themselves and Baltimore.
Many Pittsburgh players remember what happened last year, when the team lost its final four games of the regular season and coughed up the division. That can’t happen again.
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The Steelers are in good shape, but they’ll be in even better shape if they take care of business in Cincinnati tonight.
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Featured image via Kirby Lee/Imagn Images