by Bo Marchionte
Cincinnati – The Steelers were embarrassed 41-10 in second largest defeat to Bengals since they lost to Cincinnati 41-10, back in 1989.
“We got beat up on both sides of the ball,” said Mike Tomlin after the Steelers third straight loss to Cincinnati. The last time Pittsburgh lost three or more to Cincinnati was a span from September 17th, 1988, to December 2nd of 1990.
Cincinnati started fast right out the gate.
Bengals Joe Mixon ripped through the Steelers defense on the opening drive for a gain of 25-yards and never looked back. Mixon would finish with a career high 165 yards rushing on 28 carries. Pittsburgh had no answers for the fifth year running back, as he would carve through their defense deep into the fourth quarter.
“There is a level of respect and tradition that’s been set in that Steelers uniform,” said a fiery Cameron Heyward postgame. “That means getting off blocks. Stopping the damn run and we didn’t do it today.”
Heyward never pulls his emotions from the microphone, as a leader of this team, he stands in the face of praise and criticism depending on the outcome of the game. His mood today, seemed to indicate that others must begin to follow the traditions handed down to him by previous generations of Steelers greats in order to get the team back on the winning track.
“We need to play freaking better,” said Heyward.
“I won’t discuss anything here, but I got to be better, and I got to demand more, and I’ll get back to it.”
The Steelers are in a midseason funk, going 0-2-1 over their last three games. It’s the first time since 1989, the team has allowed back-to-back 40 points in back-to-back. Pittsburgh appears left with no answers after the way they were beaten up this afternoon.
“You could attribute to whatever you want to attribute it to,” said Tomlin after the loss. The bottom line is it was done. They won that mano-e-mano component much too often.”
When Mixon was gashing the defense, second year quarterback Joe Burrow was biding his time in the pocket and finding open spots in the Steelers secondary. His statistics did not jump off the paper, except one, passing for just 190 yards, but going 20-for-24 passing shed light on his ability to pick apart the Steelers slowly and methodically while Mixon punished helped them into submission.
“We can’t keep playing like this,” said T.J. Watt. “It’s absolutely embarrassing.”
“It wasn’t pretty, and not anything we’re proud of. You never want to have that feeling coming out of a game. We put it on tape; and now we have to own and move forward. So, we have to stop this before in continues to unravel and become a bigger issue than it already is.”
If you feel like the sky still hasn’t fallen, we haven’t even addressed the offense and how ineffective they were against Cincinnati in both games of 2021. Outscored, 68-27 in both contests this season. Plenty question the point of 39-year old quarterback Ben Roethlisberger playing into the final minutes of a meaningless game.
“There’s a Steeler way,” said Roethlisberger after the game in regards to why he still remained under center. “It’s fighting until the end. I thought for the most part we did that. Guys showed their character at the end. Who continues to fight and get extra yards? Pat Freiermuth took a crazy hit to the head. People will say ‘why,’ but it showed his heart and character. A lot of other guys, Diontae Johnson, the entire line up front, did that. Games like this are when that’s revealed.”
Wonder if those who failed to live up to that Steeler way as Roethlisberger described will be revealed in the coming weeks with less playing time.
With Baltimore on the horizon, Pittsburgh is going to have to dig deep into their most inner Steeler to help turn this current winless drought around.
“The AFC still seems open,” said Roethlisberger wearing a stylish scarf to match his suit postgame. “We didn’t do ourselves nay favors. But with six left, it’s about how we can bounce back.”
The ebb and flows of the Tomlin coached team have proved over his tenure that this year is much like the past. Pittsburgh will go on short stretches of both success and failure, it is just vital that this current losing trend transforms into a winning streak.
Bottled Up
Najee Harris played a big role in their first meeting, but this afternoon with the team falling behind so early the team abandoned an unproductive run game to begin with. What was odd, is in their last game, Harris set a team record with 14 receptions, today Harris managed only three receptions for 14 yards. He is too important not to touch the ball more.
Hilton Scores
Before the half, Roethlisberger was intercepted by former Pittsburgh nickel back Mike Hilton. A Mike Tomlin favorite, watching his former player had to hurt but probably would not have chosen any other Bengals player to have the honor of garnering a pick six off Roethlisberger.
Wideout Penalties
Observing from the press box this afternoon, was Chase Claypool getting into a little exchange with a secondary player of Cincinnati. It is not one or two plays later he is called for a face mask penalty. Was it simply an act of accidently grabbing the mask or a bit of frustration, we won’t know? What I do know and now you will know is that prior to Week 12 live action, both Claypool and Diontae Johnson ranked No. 1 and 2 respectively in the National Football League in penalties at the receiver position. With two by Claypool today he has nine overall, while Johnson has five. The league has five tied at four that includes Seattle Seahawk DK Metcalf.