The Bengals have a GOLDEN opportunity...

The Bengals have a golden opportunity to start 3-0 with a division win under their belt. If they focus on these key areas in tomorrow's game in Pittsburgh, we're going to be highlighting these key areas offensively and defensively. Things that they need to do to overcome some of the injuries on both sides and key areas to focus in on. But welcome back into the Bengals Digest everyone. I'm your host Adam Magnani. We really appreciate you guys joining us here today. Here in Cincinnati, we're feeling good. It is perfect football weather. It's feeling great. Windows are open. Vibes are high. It just feels like football and what better way to start that off that feeling than with a game against the Steelers tomorrow. We know how this works. I mean it is not in Cincinnati, but I imagine it feels pretty similarly in Pittsburgh. So I'm hoping that continues. Gets the players primed and juiced up ready to go. I'm excited about it. I really am and right now on Cal. She the Bengals are favored to win this one with a 62% chance. You can see Pittsburgh there with a 38% chance and the payouts pretty good right now. The payout is pretty good. If you put $25 on that yes contract for the Bengals to win your trading. Yes on the Bengals you win $38.09 on Cal. She and the great thing about Cal. She is you're trading directly against other users like you saw in that first chart. They're not the house like traditional sports books. So you're buying these yes or no contracts on real life events like politics weather or sports in this case. And if you're interested in trying it out use the link in the description as well as a pin comment down below and use code digest NFL there on the screen. You can see it digest NFL to get $55 added to your account instantly when you trade your first 25. So be sure to click the link in the description big shout out to Cal. She for sponsoring today's video, but we dive in talking about first the defense. This is a key matchup because the Bengals have a history of struggling a little bit with the tight ends defensively. And so here's what Al Golden had to say about Pat Friermuth the Steelers tight end said a lot of respect for Pat and obviously the career he's had. He's a challenge. It's a good group. I think quarterback does a great job with his ball fakes on the play action. So we just got to be careful. He's accounted for starting with the tight ends. We lost tight ends a couple times the other day. We have to do a better job on that. So tactically, I mean, there's some things we need to do better put guys in better position that starts with me and we got to eliminate some of those explosive tight end plays and we if you want to see the stats for in terms of how they performed against the tight ends last week Cincinnati struggled in the past against tight ends Laurel Baller writes this particularly Pat Friermuth. He averages 61.9 yards on 4.9 catches and he's recorded four touchdowns in the last four matchups. He's twice had more 110 yards against the Bengals more than 110 yards against the Bengals last week. The Bengals gave up 140 yards on 12 catches to tight end Dalton Schultz for the Houston Texans to stopping Friermuth will be a focus on Sunday and it looks like Al Golden is taking accountability taking recognition of that and realizing that his guys really need to step up noting that it is going to be a carrot key area of focus. Aaron Rodgers is always a threat, you know, he's say what you want about him. He's a quarterback who has high IQ. He knows how to attack defenses. They haven't looked amazing through two weeks. But again, Pat Friermuth is a reliable tight end and the Bengals need to shut him down. I do feel more confident this year than I had, you know, last year and years past. I think that they've been playing better but again, got burned a little bit with Dalton Schultz and they still came out with the win though. So let's hope that remains true in tomorrow's game. But talking about the defense, there's a couple injuries offensively and defensively for the Bengals, but specifically on the defense, the big one that is doubtful for tomorrow is BJ Hill. Now, what does this mean? I'm kind of hoping that we end up seeing Landon Robinson get bumped up. I'm hoping we get some reps out of him. Not that he's in need. I think that our defensive line has done a great job up to this point. Jonathan Allen and Dexter Lawrence holding it down in the middle. Still got TJ Slayton, Chris Jenkins, but I would love to see Landon Robinson come in and make his NFL debut in the regular season. I think it's really exciting. I think he deserves a shot in the league in this season, specifically in this type of scenario when you got a guy doubtful this early on in the season. See what he's got. Get him out there. The defense has gelled really well together at this point, so we'd love to see Landon Robinson get involved. Now, offensively, of course, we have the injury of Andre Yoshivas. So, Yoshi's injured. We talked about it a couple of days ago. There's some guys that need to step up. I'm really excited to see guys like Dante Myers step up. Guys like Colby Young step up. I think Gusecki's going to have an increased role in the game, as well as Eric Hall, I would love to see more of. Altogether, ultimately, I think most people are thinking the wide receiver three position is going to be taken over by Dante Myers in Sunday's game. We'll have to wait and see. I don't think it's been clear on what the schematics are going to be there, but Burrow is confident on what they're doing offensively. He said, we have a lot of different personnel packages, so there will be constant communication in the huddle about what position a guy is, what route he has, what's his responsibility on this play. Both those guys are smart, capable, and have some unique skill sets at that position. There's a lot of different things we can do with those guys. Talking about Dante Myers and Colby Young, I would love to see both of those guys. Very excited for them to get more involved in tomorrow's game. Of course, you're going to have Jamar Chase and T. Higgins that you're more relying on, but in those short windows, both guys are locked up. I think that that opens up the playing field for Colby Young and Dante Myers to have a big day. Jeff Hobson of Bengals.com writes that word out of Pittsburgh is that after quarterback Aaron Rodgers got sacked four times and generated only a field goal last Sunday in New England, the Steelers are prepared to give first-round pick Max Ahinikor his first NFL start at right tackle with only four snaps under his belt picture there on the right. And with right guard Spencer Anderson suffering a broken bone against the Patriots, he might be replaced with Brock Hoffman, a fifth-year vet who's played three snaps this season after coming over from Dallas and made 16 starts in the previous four seasons. So, hurt offensive line of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I think that that opens up the floor even more for a guy like Boye Mafe, who is already playing very, very well, being very efficient in the pass rush, getting a lot of quarterback hurries, leading the league in that category. And I think he is primed to have a phenomenal performance. I think the same could be said about the rest of the defensive line. I think that Cassius Howell is primed to have a bigger game. I think that, you know, Myles Murphy is primed to have a bigger game. And of course, you can't forget the guys on the inside. And Zach Taylor does not forget the guys on the inside, specifically Dexter Lawrence, who has made a phenomenal impact. After Friday's practice, talking about Dexter Lawrence, he said he just loves it. I think he's contributed to the personality of our defense. Not only are they talented and confident in playing with this really good chemistry, they've got a really big personality as a whole. And he's obviously a big part of this, and that's what's fun. And I think that's what we were missing last year. We didn't have any personality. Trey Hendrickson, with all of his drama and everything, was the key piece of our defense, really. And he wasn't that dominant player that we needed. And he was a bit of a cancer off the field in terms of all the drama that went on in the media with him. The Bengals don't have that this year. And I can feel the character when I'm watching this team play through two weeks of the personality that Dexter Lawrence has brought to this team. And, I mean, of course, you talk about other guys too. Brian Cook, Boye Mafé, Cassius Howell. These new guys that they've brought in, they've completely revamped the personality of this defense. And truly, given the defensive personality, when last year they kind of had the personality of a wet blanket. So I really love to see the way these guys are gelling together. I think these, you know, especially in times where, you know, a BJ Hill goes down, I think these guys are really going to gel together and make an impact that can still be significant, even if, as the season goes on, we take on some more injuries. Obviously, hoping for the best when it comes to injuries, hoping that more don't happen, especially more significant ones like a player like Dexter Lawrence. Knock on wood, don't want to put that into the air. But I'm just saying that I think this team has really brought something special together and it just feels different defensively this year. So I'm excited to see how they overtake that offensive line of the Steelers and really take advantage of the weak points targeting that young offensive line side with their rookie and with Brock Hoffman there on that side. So, curious what you guys think. What is your score prediction for tomorrow's game? My current prediction, the way it stands, is Bengals 31, Steelers 24. You saw with Kalash earlier, I put the Bengals as a win. I'm still thinking that I'm putting them as winning by 30, winning 31 to 24 by 7 points. Sorry, that eluded me there. Lost my train of thought. But let me know what you guys think down in the comments below. Comment below what your predictions are and who you think is primed to have the biggest performance tomorrow. And be sure to watch along with us here on Bengals Digest.