Both teams enter Sunday night at 6-2, and Cincinnati left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. says this one means more than the usual division game.
Pittsburgh heads to Paycor Stadium Sunday night with the AFC North lead up for grabs, and nobody on either side is pretending it is a normal week. The Steelers and Bengals both sit at 6-2, and a win keeps a team squarely in control of the division with the season's second half still to play.
Kickoff is set for 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC, giving Cincinnati a national audience and a home crowd for what amounts to the biggest game on the schedule this week. Bengals left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. did not downplay the stakes when asked if this game carries more weight than any other right now. "Hell yeah," Brown said, adding that he wants the home fans to feel the kind of atmosphere that comes with a game this meaningful.
Aaron Rodgers and Joe Burrow will be the headline quarterback matchup, with both franchises treating the result as an early signal of who controls the division down the stretch. With identical records and a head to head meeting at stake, the loser drops back in the pack while the winner claims sole possession of first place in the AFC North heading into the rest of November.