Monday night is critical

[Preacherman0]

Let's just get a few facts out of the way.

The Steelers are a better team.  The Steelers SHOULD win against the Bengals.  But there are a few more facts that make this a critical matchup:

1.  From the Files of Mr. Obvious:  It's the AFC.  EVERY game is critical, especially when you're trying to stay near the top.

2.  The Patriots' loss gives the Stillers a chance to re-establish themselves as equal to the elites.

3.  We were horrible in the division last year.  Winning games becomes pretty meaningless if you can't take out the ones in your own division.  We already have the loss to the Ravens, and we don't need to go down that road again.

4.  We were horrible on the road in the division, 0-fer in fact.  And we weren't terrific on the road overall.  Need to establish that you can win on the road if you want to be elite.

5.  The Bengals ain't good, but we need to go ahead and bury them, right now.  Killer instinct means something, and it's time to put these Been-gals to rest.