Steelers Must Prevent Another Tee Higgins Takeover

It’s time for some AFC North football in December. It doesn’t get much better than that especially when you consider that both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals are still vying for Wild Card playoff spots. It’s been less than a month since these two teams squared off in a contest that the Steelers came away victorious. Since that time, both of these squads have been heading in opposite directions.

Bengals backup signal caller Jake Browning looks significantly more comfortable in Zac Taylor’s offense since his lackluster debut against the Steelers in November. Cincinnati’s offense has been finding its groove in recent weeks but they will be without their best weapon in Ja’Marr Chase who will miss this contest with a shoulder injury. However, his co-star Tee Higgins will be available after missing the first matchup between these two teams. The talented former second-round selection will be the focus of a recently depleted, struggling Steelers defense.

A popular and admittedly overused expression around football circles is saying that a team has two “number-one” receivers. In the Bengals case, this is actually true. The Steelers can certainly attest to that, too. In the four full rivalry games that he’s participated in, he’s went over the century mark three times. Last November, Higgins torched the Steelers secondary for 148 yards on nine catches in a 37-30 win despite the absence of the aforementioned Ja’Marr Chase.