Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger Praises Rival Team's Recent Strong Addition

The Pittsburgh Steelers recently defeated the Cleveland Browns 23-9 in a game that was in no means a contest from start to finish. The Browns game might have been a high point for the Steelers on all sides of the ball, but not every team the Steelers will be facing every week is on the level of the Browns. Future opponents will be much more difficult to defeat, and this stretch starts with a short week against the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday Night Football in Week 7.

With regards to the upcoming game against the Bengals, former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had some interesting comments about Cincy's latest addition to the team, mentioning their recent acquisition of veteran quarterback Joe Flacco on his latest episode of Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger. In this episode, Roethlisberger mentioned how he believes Flacco is exactly what the Bengals need to be considered dangerous.

"They have great weapons on the outside. They just needed a quarterback that could get them the ball. The Bengals just got a lot better," Roethlisberger said. "They now are a much more dangerous team."

Roethlisberger's comments hold a significant amount of weight, considering the abysmal performances the Bengals' offense put up in the weeks before they signed Flacco. Prior to his first start against the Green Bay Packers in Week 6, the Bengals were completely unable to move the ball consistently against their previous opponents, despite the Bengals possessing superstars at the wide receiver position. Against the Detroit Lions the previous week, Bengals quarterback Jake Browning was able to throw for 251 yards, completing 26 out of 40 passes, but threw three backbreaking interceptions that ultimately led to the Bengals losing 37-24. 

The next week was the pivotal moment in which the Bengals organization realized that they needed to make a change at quarterback, and quickly, considering the loss to the Lions dropped them to 2-3 on the year. Signing Flacco didn't help them win the game against the Packers the following week, but the Bengals looked much better on offense, which was a much needed change for a team that had Super Bowl aspirations at the beginning of the season.

Roethlisberger's comment about the Bengals improving greatly with Flacco starting games comes on the heels of the Steelers' best performance of the entire year against the Browns, but despite how great the Steelers looked in the win, there were areas that Roethlisberger addressed that served as two weaknesses he saw while watching the game. He didn't make many comments regarding those weaknesses, but both areas are places the Steelers need to clean up, and they won't get much time to accomplish this in between the Browns game last Sunday and the upcoming Bengals game this week.

Steelers Must Play Disciplined Football And Convert On Third Down Against The Bengals

Roethlisberger's comments about the improved state of the Bengals thanks to their recent signing of Flacco only reinforce the fact that the Steelers need to clean up the mistakes they made against the Browns. Notably, the Steelers committed 10 penalties that gave the Browns a free 59 yards. Cleveland was never able to truly capitalize on those penalties with points, but the Bengals' offense is much stronger, giving them a much higher chance to take advantage of a timely penalty to score against the Steelers.

Flacco's arrival does indeed give the Bengals a much stronger offense, improving their chances of winning week in and week out. It will be on the Steelers to continue playing strong defense as they have in consecutive games, and get pressure on Flacco to make him uncomfortable in the pocket, in a similar approach they took against Browns rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel.

What do you think about Roethlisberger's comments about the improved state of the Bengals now that they've signed Flacco? Let us know in the comments or on X at @SteelersSwamp7.

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