The Pittsburgh Steelers are in the midst of the 2024 regular season, and with it being the team’s latest game fans’ hopes remain high heading into the second half of the season. The hope is there is a winning performance on the horizon on Sunday in Week 13 when the team travels to play the Cincinnati Bengals.

What exactly do the Steelers need to do to on offense to claim their ninth victory of 2024? Let’s break it down…

Offense

Score Early

When you look at the Steelers game dating back to the Las Vegas Raiders game, and you’ll see a team who hasn’t started fast. In those games, the Steelers have been able to muster points, but in no game have they been able to reach double digit points after their first three possessions. They’ve dominated time of possession, but often just have to settle for field-flipping drives or Chris Boswell field goals. Against the Bengals the Steelers will need to challenge the Bengals offense by putting up points early.

Protect the Football

The Steelers have 9 turnovers this season (3 INTs / 6 Fumbles), which is a low number heading into Week 13, but the team can’t afford to gift the Bengals free possessions. Think back to Week 12 when Myles Garrett was able to strip the football away from Russell Wilson. It changed the game, giving the Browns offense an extremely short field. If the Steelers want to go into Cincinnati and beat the Bengals, they can’t aid them by giving them the football via turnovers.

Keep Pace, but Set the Pace

The Steelers are one of the top teams in the league in terms of Time of Possession, which is great, but at the same time they aren’t finishing their drives well. The Steelers’ red-zone offense is one of the worst in the league, and if they possess the football and settle for field goals, a trend we’ve seen way too much this season, the Bengals might be on their way to a big win. But if the Steelers can score above their 22.9 average, they could be back in the win column when they desperately need it.

I talk about this, and MUCH more on the “Let’s Ride”, and you can hear that podcast in the player below this article. In the meantime, be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the team as they gear up for game time!