Cincinnati Bengals Know Time is Now If They're Going to Turn Things Around This Season

The Bengals enter Sunday's game with the Steelers with a 4-7 record.

Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton (21) gestures after tackling Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Tre Tucker (11) in the third quarter of the NFL game at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. / Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Bengals' bye week has come to an end, and with the ping pong tables back in the locker room, the team has seen the energy around the building increase.

“Got refreshed, got recovered and got just a whole mental reset,” Mike Hilton said. “Obviously, the season has been a little rough so the bye week kind of came at a good time and it was a refresh, reset for the back half of the year.”

The final six games of the year will either fuel their small playoff chances or it will provide an opportunity to book an early flight to Cancun. The sense of urgency to win has matched the new-found energy in Cincinnati. 

“Six games left”, Hilton said. “Everything is still in front of us and we’ve just got to go execute”

The final stretch starts with an AFC North foe in Pittsburgh on Sunday. Starting fast is a task that players and coaches in the franchise talk about often. They see the importance in scoring quickly, and maintaining a lead through halftime, the number supports that strategy. Jumping out into a lead against an AFC North opponent is easier said than done. 

Cincinnati is 3-2 when leading after one quarter, and 4-3 this season when leading at halftime. While the Steelers rank in the middle of the pack in season sacks with 25, they rank as the second-best tackling team in the NFL with a 72.6 grade according to Pro Football Focus. 

"They're physical,” Burrow said on Wednesday. “They're really good tacklers, their safeties are two of the best tandems in the league.”

Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick is still in search of his first interception of the season, but he and DeShon Elliot have contained most teams they have faced on the back end. The team has only allowed an average of 16.9 mpg ranking them 4th in the NFL. 

A player who could present a matchup issue for Pittsburgh is Chase Brown. The second-year running back has come into his own posting 143 all-purpose yards against the league’s No. 1 defense in Week 11. Brown ran for 86 yards on 22 carries and also caught five passes for 57 yards in Cincinnati’s 34-27 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. 

Brown seems to have gained a second wind as the team enters Week 13.

“Now it’s like the playoffs for the next six weeks,” he said. “Every game matters, we know what’s at hand and what’s at stake so just kind of like what Joe (Burrow) said earlier in the week just focus on everything you can, lock in on all of the little details, and do everything you can so we can take this next step.”

The Bengals have managed to score a touchdown or a field goal on 32 straight drives that reached their opponents’ 20-yard line, which is the longest active streak in the league. While streaks like this are cool to write about, the meaning is devalued about a 4-7 record. 

Cincinnati has shown a clear ability to make the most of their red-zone situations and that could be a big factor in Sunday’s match up with Pittsburgh’s defense who has a knack for making points hard to come by. 

The Steelers' defense might scare some but Ja’Marr Chase doesn’t flinch in these situations. 

"They're up front killing it right now,” Chase said on Wednesday. “They secondary is pretty smooth, too, but up front is really the biggest key right now. And they've got good linebackers, too that are moving around.” 

Hilton was drafted by Pittsburgh in 2017, so he’s familiar with what Mike Tomlin expects of his team’s secondary. 

Physical, mentally strong, great chemistry group, there’s a lot of things,” Hilton said. “The way Mike T coaches over there over my four years I really enjoyed it and I really took a lot of the things he told us and I kind of brought it over here and that’s just a team that is going to be a four-quarter game.”

Hilton has emerged as a vocal leader on Cincinnati’s defense and while this year has been disappointing, especially for his group, he takes pride in holding his teammates to the standards he was brought up on in Pittsburgh. 

“Obviously when I came over, I’m not saying I’m the main reason, but a lot of things turned around you know what I mean," Hilton said. "I feel like I was a part of that and being with Pittsburgh for my first four years, and learning under Mike T and just that organization as a whole you know, it kind of grew me up as a player and helped me turn things around.”

Hilton’s signature smile grew even larger when we asked him about his ability to blitz.

“Best in the league but I don’t what to say it, turn on the tape," he said. "Everybody knows who I am when it comes to the blitzing, I’m the best blitzing db when it comes to the league probably the best pure blitzes in the league. Turn on the tape.”

The Bengals have struggled to get off the field in third down situations which has been one of the biggest factors contributing to multiple losses on the season.

They’ve allowed teams to convert on 44.3% of third downs which ranks them just outside of the top 5 worst teams in the league. Hilton and Lou Anarumo have listed the reason why Hilton is called off the field in third-down situations and Anarumo has dubbed it a match up decision. Hilton, a consistent playmaker for Cincinnati would like to be on the field during critical moments, an opportunity all great players would like to see in their game scripts. 

“I get really excited, especially when the quarterback is under center and he’s looking at me dead in my eyes and alerting his linemen that I might be coming,” Hilton said. “It’s all fun and just knowing I have a chance to make a play to change the game, you know I get excited about the opportunity.”

Utilizing this trait against Pittsburgh would be ideal against a quarterback like Russell Wilson. He has struggled under pressure this year.

“He does,” Hilton said when asked about Wilson's ability to thrive under pressure. “Once he gets out the pocket that’s the he’s best so upfront we have to make sure he’s in a tight pocket, make sure he can’t really scramble around and  extend plays. That’s something he’s been great at his whole career. This team is running the ball a lot more and taking deep shots so we have to be prepared to stop the run and eliminate the explosives.”

The time for Cincinnati to win is now, the intensity is here, and the Bengals know that nothing will come easy against the 8-3 Steelers.

“We treat this game, not like it's a regular game,” Brown said. “The AFC North is a physical division and that’s what it's going to be on Sunday.”

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