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Bengals Without Leading Tackler vs. Steelers
The Cincinnati Bengals will be without a key defender for their Week 13 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bengals will be without one of their top defenders when they take on the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. Linebacker Logan Wilson is expected to miss the first meeting between the two teams this season, per NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport.
Wilson hasn’t missed a regular season game since the 2022 season, but the odds were stacked against him after missing practice all week with a knee injury.
It’s a tough blow for the Bengals defense in what feels like a must-win game for Cincinnati, which currently sits in third place in the AFC North at 4-7.
Wilson has been all over the field for the Bengals this year as the team’s leading tackler (104 tackles). He also has two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and one pass defensed.
The third-round pick in 2020 has played a key role in Cincinnati’s defense and will surely be missed on Sunday. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin agrees, naming Wilson the Bengals next best defender after pass rusher Trey Hendrickson, the NFL’s sack leader.
“Logan Wilson is a homegrown guy. They drafted him in the third round in 2020, and he plays in all circumstances and situations,” Tomlin said via the team’s website. “He’s got a new wrinkle this year – on third-and-5-plus he’s a component of the rush, oftentimes as the fourth or fifth rusher. They get in dime-32, and he becomes a component of the rush. He’s a really good and versatile player, and he has done a nice job evolving over his time in Cincinnati. So I would definitively describe him as a key and central figure in what they do on defense.”
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Cincinnati enters the matchup with the fifth-worst defense in the league in points allowed per game (26.9). Wilson’s absence will only make things more difficult for the unit.
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