As cliche as it sounds, it was a tale of two halves Sunday at Acrisure Stadium for the Pittsburgh Steelers in a 37-30 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals
In the first half, the Steelers looked rather good, especially offensively as rookies Kenny Pickett and George Pickens made big plays through the air, second year running back Najee Harris continued his strong two-week stretch in the run game, and the offensive line held up well in in pass protection while getting after the Bengals on the ground.
Defensively, the Steelers had their struggles generating pressure on Joe Burrow, but stopped the run at a high level making the Bengals mostly one-dimensional early.
The second half was an a different story offensively and issues continued defensively, even with the Steelers forcing two turnovers in the second half. The offense couldn’t put together drives and the Steelers defense, even without the services of Joe Mixon and Ja’Marr Chase for the Bengals, couldn’t get stops, resulting in a frustrating loss that dropped Pittsburgh to 3-7 on the season.
Sunday’s performance against the Bengals earned the Steelers a C- from CBS Sports Monday.
“The Steelers played a great first half, but fizzled in the second half,” CBS Sports writes. “Pittsburgh’s offense was unable to keep pace with Cincinnati’s while suffering several self-inflicting wounds by way of penalties. The Steelers defense fought but ultimately wasn’t able to contain Joe Burrow, who overcame the absences of Joe Mixon and Ja’Marr Chase.”
Sometimes, great players make great plays and come up big in key spots. Time and time again, that’s what Joe Burrow did on Sunday against the Steelers, even without his star receiver and star running back. While Burrow carved up the Steelers throughout the matchup, the Steelers defense couldn’t quite find its footing offensively after the break.
Penalties, poor execution and missed opportunities did in the Steelers on the day offensively. It was incredibly frustrating though to watch the league’s highest-paid defense in the NFL fail to make any key stops, letting a backup running back in Samaje Perine score three touchdowns and a practice squad elevation wide receiver in Trenton Irwin find the end zone as well.
