The Bengals hit the road for the second straight week when they travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers Sunday at Acrisure Stadium. Cincinnati enters the matchup at 2-0 with wins over Tampa Bay and Houston. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET on CBS (Cincinnati’s channel 12).

Here is what to watch for:

Defensive Front Looks To Continue Strong Start

The Bengals' revamped defensive line has made an immediate impact through the first two weeks of the season. Cincinnati has recorded eight sacks, tied for the league lead, while allowing the third-lowest rushing average at 74.5 yards given up per game.

Defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II announced his presence in the Week 2 win at Houston with three tackles, including a TFL on fourth-and-inches while the Texans were driving inside the red zone. But as head coach Zac Taylor pointed out, the defensive line's noteworthy performance went beyond its All-Pro nose tackle.

"It's great, and it's not just Dexter," Taylor said. "It's all of the guys. Guys that are new and guys that have been here have really responded well. We've got a lot of momentum right now and just got to keep fixing everything we can fix and keep going."

Third-year defensive end Cedric Johnson enjoyed his first career multi-sack day against Houston, while free agent acquisition Jonathan Allen logged a sack for the second straight week and second-year edge rusher Shemar Stewart got in the sack column in his season debut. The depth of the D-line, which was an area of emphasis for Bengals coaches and player personnel during the offseason, has been as evident as perhaps any area of the roster.

Cincinnati's defensive front seeks another strong performance against a Steelers offense that has allowed six sacks so far this season, including four in last week's loss at New England.

Dynamic Duo Takes on Steelers Secondary

Ja’Marr Chase bounced back from a quiet Week 1 with seven catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns in the win at Houston. Tee Higgins has strung together a pair of strong performances, with 154 yards on eight total receptions (19.2 average) including five grabs for 95 yards against the Texans.

The Pro Bowl duo now takes on a Pittsburgh secondary that has helped the Steelers allow just 154.5 passing yards per game through the first two weeks, the third-best average in the NFL. They also are holding opponents to a 59.1 completion percentage, tied for the seventh-best mark among all defenses.

Chase and Higgins have found success in the past against their AFC North rival, with Chase netting 687 yards and six touchdowns in eight career matchups. In the Bengals' win over the Steelers last year at Paycor Stadium, he set a team single-game record with 16 catches for 161 yards. In the 10 contests Higgins has played versus Pittsburgh, he has six touchdowns, 856 yards overall and four 100+ yard performances.

Offensive Line vs. T.J. Watt

As is always the case when facing the Pittsburgh defense, much of the Bengals' offensive success is predicated on its ability to limit pass rusher T.J. Watt. Watt already has 3.5 sacks on the season (second-most in the NFL), and his 14.5 career sacks against Cincinnati are his third-most versus any opponent.

Watt has lined up on both sides of the defensive line through the first two games, utilized as an all-around chess piece by new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. He could see significant snaps against Bengals right tackle Amarius Mims, who is having a breakout start to 2026 with zero pressures allowed on 72 pass blocking snaps.

Another area of Watt's game that the Bengals are familiar with is his ability to bat down or intercept throws at the line of scrimmage. He already has a pick-six this season, taking an interception back 35 yards to the end zone in Week 1 against Atlanta.

"You try to minimize his chances to do that," said quarterback Joe Burrow on keeping the ball out of Watt's vicinity. "Mix up the looks on him up front. Chip him, screen him, try to do a lot of different things to him."

Watt has two career interceptions against Burrow, both coming in the 2022 season.

McPherson Nears Record Streak

Evan McPherson has started out his sixth NFL season in flawless fashion, converting all six of his field goal attempts and all five extra points through two games. He collected his fifth career AFC Special Teams Player of the Week award for his performance in Week 1, then followed up with field goals from 57 and 51 yards last week at Houston.

McPherson enters Sunday's contest having made each of his last 18 field goal attempts dating back to Week 11 of last season, which coincidentally was at Pittsburgh. It is the second-longest streak of consecutive made field goals in Bengals history, three shy of Shayne Graham's 21 straight conversions in 2007.

Through two weeks of play, McPherson leads all NFL kickers in scoring (23 points) and 50+ yard field goals made (four).

Young Defenders Continue Emergence

In addition to previously-mentioned Cedric Johnson and Shemar Stewart off to strong starts this season, Cincinnati has seen multiple other young defensive players make notable contributions. Second-year linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. leads the team with 19 tackles, including a career-high-tying 12 in the win over the Texans. His fellow starting LB, Barrett Carter, has filled the stat sheet with 13 stops, two tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a half-sack.

Starting cornerbacks Dax Hill and DJ Turner II, who are in their fifth and fourth seasons, respectively, had strong showings at Houston. Hill set a career high with four passes defensed while adding 10 tackles, and Turner, who tied for third in the NFL last season with 18 PDs, notched his first two of the 2026 campaign.

While the offseason additions have infused the defense with veteran leadership and consistency, the Bengals' young playmakers have been up to the task in the early stages of the season.

Extra Points

• In three career starts against the Steelers, halfback Chase Brown averages 92.3 rushing yards per game and 6.8 yards per carry.
• Burrow enters the game with 1,966 career completions, 34 away from 2,000. If he hits that milestone in what will be his 80th regular-season game, he would be the fastest player in NFL history to reach 2,000 completions.
• Chase enters with 6,924 career receiving yards in 80 regular-season games played. With 76 yards on Sunday, he would be the fourth-fastest player in league history to reach 7,000, trailing only Pro Football Hall of Famer Lance Alworth (72 games), Julio Jones (72) and Justin Jefferson (73).

Check out the Bengals 2026 Schedule.