Steelers vs. Bengals

The weather prediction is a high of 38 degrees in Cincinnati with a chance of snow early in the day, but by game time it should be clear and brutally cold. Not exactly the forecast anyone is looking for in a matchup of two offenses that rely on a vertical passing game.

If either team had something resembling a dominant running game, it would have to be considered the favorite, but with DeAngelo Williams very likely to miss the game for Pittsburgh with an ankle injury and Cincinnati not getting consistency from Jeremy Hill or Giovani Bernard, it would appear that both teams will have to stick to passing and hope their receivers can catch a frozen ball.

If Andy Dalton had not broken his thumb against the Steelers in the regular season, this would most likely be the first round’s best matchup, but it is hard to take A.J. McCarron too seriously as a playoff quarterback regardless of his 2-1 record as a starter: His wins came against lowly San Francisco and Baltimore.

McCarron will try to keep pace with the Steelers, who have one of the game’s most devastating passing attacks when Ben Roethlisberger is healthy. He and Antonio Brown have become among the best quarterback-receiver duos in football history and Martavis Bryant provides a credible deep threat, making it nearly impossible for teams to focus on Brown enough to slow him down.

The Steelers’ defense gives up a lot of yards, but it was among the best at sacking the quarterback and intercepting passes. That pressure and threat of turnover will be quite a bit for a rookie quarterback to handle. Considering the last time the Bengals won a playoff game was eight months before McCarron was born and the fact that a quarterback with as little experience as McCarron has not won a playoff game since Gifford Nielsen won one for the Houston Oilers in 1979, it is not a surprise that Pittsburgh is favored on the road.