PLAYER NOTES
–LB Vince Williams, who missed the Falcons game with a hamstring injury, returned to practice Wednesday.
–LB L.J. Fort suffered an ankle injury against the Falcons. He did not practice Wednesday. Fort helped fill in for Vince Williams against the Falcons, playing on passing downs.
–S Terrell Edmunds injured his calf against the Falcons, but he was able to practice Wednesday.
–S Morgan Burnett, who missed the past three games with a groin injury, did not practice Wednesday. The Steelers could shut him down until after their bye week in hopes of getting him healthy for the second half of the season. Burnett has been bothered by the injury since training camp.
–QB Ben Roethlisberger did not practice Wednesday. He said he’s been dealing with an elbow injury since the first week of the season, but said it’s not a big deal.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: RB James Conner. The second-year back out of Pitt had his second game with 100 rushing yards and two touchdowns this season. Le’Veon Bell has never had multiple 100-yard rushing/two-touchdown games in the same season. Bell only has three such games in his five-year career.
GAME PLAN: The Steelers might have found their offensive identity after a balanced effort that resulted in their best game of the season. Running back James Conner rushed for 110 yards, and Ben Roethlisberger threw for 250 and three touchdowns in a 41-17 win over the Falcons. The Steelers didn’t strike that kind of balance in their first four games. The Steelers will want to feed Conner the ball again against a Bengals defense that ranks 23rd against the run. They give up 118 yards per game on the ground. The Bengals aren’t much better against the pass so Roethlisberger can take advantage of their secondary after the run is established.
The Steelers shut down the prolific Falcons offense by putting cornerback Joe Haden on Julio Jones and having him follow Jones all over the field. They will employ similar tactics this week against Bengals receiver A.J. Green. The Steelers will take their chances that Tyler Boyd and John Ross won’t make big plays. The Steelers stuffed Falcons running back Devonta Freeman on Sunday and they will have to do the same against talented Bengals back Joe Mixon, who is averaging 4.5 yards per carry. If the Steelers can stop the run they will have a much better chance of slowing down quarterback Andy Dalton, who has led the Bengals to 27 points or more in four of their first five games.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
–Steelers OLB T.J. Watt vs. Bengals T Bobby Hart. Watt is tied for the league lead in sacks with six after getting three more against the Falcons. Hart is in his first year as a starter for the Bengals after being waived by the Giants last year. Hart gave up two sacks to Colts defensive end Margus Hunt earlier this season and has struggled at other times.
–Steelers WR JuJu Smith-Schuster vs. Bengals CB Darqueze Dennard. Smith-Schuster is the most productive slot receiver in the league. He ranks seventh in the league in receiving yards and has five touchdown catches. Dennard hasn’t lived up to expectations after being drafted in the first round of the 2015 draft. Smith-Schuster has to exploit that matchup if the Steelers want to beat the Bengals on their home field.
