Juju Smith-Schuster was heavily criticized for dancing to Bill’s logo before the Steelers Week 14 loss in Buffalo. Bills’ Cornback Jordan Poyer said watching the receiver dance on his team’s Pittsburgh logo added motivation to his teammates to beat the Steelers.
Despite the national backlash following last Sunday’s actions, Smith-Schuster danced to the Bengals’ logo before Monday’s game in Cincinnati. The Steelers, who lost two straight after starting 11-0, need a win against the Bengals to win their first AFC North title since 2017.
Bengals safety von Bell, who regularly took exception to Smith-Schuster’s bias, had to be knocked down after hitting Smith-Schuster on the crossing route at the end of the first quarter.
Smith-Schuster’s actions before Monday night’s game should come as no surprise. Steelers coach Mike Tom Malin did not buy into the story that contributed to the Steelers’ 26-15 loss through Smith-Schuster’s biased actions last Sunday.
“I doubt the group that knows the coach of that team, Sean M. Cadermot, I’m sure they were all motivated in the right way,” Tomley said, and that there was little consistency in terms of the style of play. ”
Tomlin, who was the key contributor to Pittsburgh’s first two losses of the season, pointed to the alarming growth in Steels’ drops instead. Tomlin also hopes the Pittsburgh running game will assert itself on Monday night, after the Steelers ran just 68, 21 and 47 yards in their last three games.
“Our focus hasn’t changed there,” Tomley said of his team’s desire to improve the running game. “We’re focusing on something there and will continue to work. We haven’t seen the fruit of that work yet, and we can find some of those short weeks.”
The Steelers will be without James Conner, who deals with Quad’s injury. He is replaced by second-year Benny Benny, who ran for 98 yards on 21 vehicles in Pittsburgh’s weekly 12-week win over the Bengals in 2019.
