When the Steelers faced the NFL's top-ranked defense against the pass in week five, the Jaguars intercepted Ben Roethlisberger five times and proved how good a unit they were.
Now the Steelers face their division rival in the Bengals, who have surrendered the second-fewest yards per game to the pass heading into Week 7.
We take a look at what has made the Bengals' defense so good against the pass so far this season, and how the Steelers can counter it:
KEY MATCHUP:
Ben Roethlisberger vs. Bengals' pass defense
The Bengals' 4-3 defense is bolstered by a physical group upfront that has the fifth most sacks in the NFL with 18. Their sack leaders are Geno Atkins with 4.0, rookie Carl Lawson with 3.5 and Michael Johnson with 3.0 sacks.
The Bengals are very good at rushing with their four down linemen and collapsing the pocket onto quarterbacks, which is why Atkins, a defensive tackle, leads the team in sacks.
Watch Atkins as he starts the play as sort of a spy who engages with the linemen, but as soon as he realizes Tyrod Taylor isn't going to scramble, he works his way into the pocket and brings down the quarterback:
Many of the Bengals' sacks have come from their ability to play their gap assignments responsibly off the snap and then converge on the quarterback without giving too many escape lanes.
Roethlisberger won't be looking to scramble around, but he still can extend the play and make a throw while on the move if given the opportunity. But the Bengals have been very good at countering that kind of opportunity with their defensive linemen and rushing linebackers.
Watch how their defensive end, Johnson, comes off of his block and is able to twist around Atkins in order to get to Taylor before he could start to create a play with his legs:
For the Steelers to counter this, Roethlisberger will have to decipher the Bengals' defensive looks and pick them apart from the pocket. The Steelers' offensive line can win battles and buy him time, but if he tries to rely too much on them, a good defensive front will eventually make their way to the quarterback.
The Bengals have long confused Roethlisberger with their one high safety looks, even disguising it with having two high safeties at the onset of the play, only for one of them to drop down and play underneath coverage while another patrols the deep middle part of the field.
Often when the Bengals show one safety standing in the deep middle part of the field, it is either a Cover 3 zone defense or a Cover 1 man defense. The difference is that Cover 3 leaves certain parts of the field vulnerable as they are the soft spots of that particular zone defense, while Cover 1 relies on each man to be able to stick to his assignment and deny the ball to his receiver as they run around the field.
One of the primary ways to attack a Cover 3 defense is by attacking the seams of the defense between either cornerback and the middle safety with streak patterns.
A perfect example of how this can work came from Taylor and the Bills offense weeks ago. Watch how the Bengals' defense lines up to see how they can give away the Cover 3 defense. Notice the three deep defenders highlighted in yellow, as both the cornerbacks on the outside are at relatively the same depth while the safety in the middle stands in the very middle of the field even further back.
The target is the receiver in the slot, highlighted in red, running a straight line into the end zone. The cornerback lined up with him cannot stick with him as he is responsible for underneath coverage. If thrown correctly without staring down that particular receiver, the quarterback should have a chance for a big play.
Watch how Taylor scored a touchdown with this deep pass into the end zone:
But the other side of this defensive look is when it ends up being man coverage. Roethlisberger has gotten fooled in distinguishing between these defenses before, and must be prepared to pick through them as they come.
The Bengals are more than comfortable in man coverage schemes as they have first-round talents across the board at cornerback: Dre Kirkpatrick, Adam Jones, Darqueze Dennard, and William Jackson III.
Jackson leads the team with four passes defensed in his second NFL season, while he fits the mold of what the Bengals look for in cornerbacks.
To identify Cover 1, notice how the safety is still deep and in the middle of the field, but also how close the cornerbacks are to their assignments.
If the cornerback can read the pass or the quarterback's timing is off, it could result in a big play like when Jackson intercepted Aaron Rodgers and returned it for a touchdown:
It will be key for Roethlisberger to be able to recognize these defenses and make confident throws from the pocket to the soft spots in the zone and where the mismatches dictate opportunity.
THREE OTHER MATCHUPS
Le'Veon Bell vs. Bengals' linebackers
The Bengals' defense does not rank too high against the run, but No. 12 is just above the middle of the pack. Twice this season they have allowed more than 100 yards on the ground, and much of that comes from their linebackers either missing their gaps on the edge or overplaying their role and running past their responsibility.
Vontaze Burfict plays weak outside linebacker on the below play and not only hesitates, but fails to bring down LeSean McCoy as he runs right to his edge:
The key for the Steelers to open up their ground game will be to make sure their linemen match up well with the Bengals' defensive line, so that Bell can make the Bengals' linebackers miss in space.
Attacking them with outside zone runs could put the kind of schematic stress on Cincinnati's linebackers that wears them down throughout a game, and keeps the Steelers' offense on a balanced attack that takes time off the clock and keeps A.J. Green and the Bengals' offense off the field.
Take another zone run as an example when Lamar Miller reads how the highlighted linebacker, Vincent Rey, jumps to the inside and opens up the edge:
One of the main storylines of the game will undoubtedly be Bell's history of injury against the Bengals. Twice in his past four games against Cincinnati, Bell has suffered a season-ending injury. But in the other two games, he has been a key force in the Steelers' victories, rushing for 185 yards in 2014 and gaining 131 total yards last season.
If Bell gets going this weekend it could ease the pressure on Roethlisberger against the better part of the Bengals' defense.
Andy Dalton's connection with A.J. Green vs. Steelers' secondary:
Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton has been overly reliant on his superstar receiver, Green, to move the ball. No player on the Bengals' roster has half the receptions that Green has on the season, and while that dependence on him for production has helped the Bengals, it may be the biggest key to taking him away.
We have talked about how the Steelers' defense has been prepared throughout the season to take away the preferred passing lanes of opponents and be in position to counter how they have wanted to move the ball through the air.
If the Steelers key in on Green, it will force Dalton to rely on his other receivers, something he has yet to show that he can consistently do this season. One example came during the Bengals' season opener when they were shutout by the Ravens.
Watch how Green works to get open with a slant, but the Ravens are able to clog the passing lanes to Green and force the interception:
Watch during the game to see if the Steelers send help to anyone covering Green, or if they rely on their scheme to take away the passing game as they have all season.
Running back by committee vs. Steelers' defensive front
While the Bengals seemingly have committed to rookie Joe Mixon as their primary running back, they still have yet to find a reliable ground attack. Mixon leads the team with 67 carries and 187 yards, but that is only an average of 2.8 yards per attempt.
Behind him are veterans Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard, each with 20+ carries and less than 100 yards on the season. If the Steelers continue the trend of shutting down the Bengals' rushing game, it will force Dalton's hand even more and give the Steelers' secondary more chances to key in on his strong focus on Green.
If that happens, this defense could be looking at some of its best chances to rack up turnovers this season.