As they have under every other scenario so far this season, the Pittsburgh Steelers have run through the first half of their divisional slated unblemished, having recorded victories over the Cleveland Browns, the Baltimore Ravens, and now the Cincinnati Bengals over the course of the past five weeks.
They still have rematches with each of those teams, of course, including a home game against the currently 6-2 (pending tonight’s result) Ravens on Thanksgiving, but they’re obviously off to a very good start. And This evening’s game was an important introductory course for one player in particular: the Bengals’ first-overall pick, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, quarterback Joe Burrow.