In the past, it was the opponent who often called out the Pittsburgh Steelers for their predictable offense. In fact, there once was a time in which the Cincinnati Bengals were commenting on how easy the Steelers were to figure out. Now, the shoe is on the other foot. After racking up a whopping 44 points to beat the Bengals at their own game, an offensive shootout, RB Najee Harris says the Bengals’ defense played perfectly into the Steelers’ strategy.
“We just knew exactly what they was gonna do,” Harris told reporters via the team’s website post-game. “Bringing certain pressures and certain looks that we knew that we was gonna have. It was gonna be big plays on all these screens and stuff like that in these passing things. So we took advantage of that. We knew exactly what they was gonna do and, and we took advantage of it.”
The Bengals had been a heavy blitz-team to compensate for their lack of overall pass rush. Despite having the NFL’s leading sack artist in DE Trey Hendrickson, Cincinnati came into the game with just 19 of them. Missing defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins hurt their d-line even more. It led the Bengals to send extra people to try and take down QB Russell Wilson.
Pittsburgh responded with the right answers. They used a heavy dosage of screens, especially early, to minimize the rush and take advantage of the Bengals’ defenders no longer in coverage. WR George Pickens’ touchdown came via a WR screen to tie the game at seven, a critical response following the pick-six to begin the game.
Cincinnati also attempted to take away the deep ball with more two-high looks and softer coverages. Wilson took advantage by peppering his running backs with catches underneath. Combined, Cordarrelle Patterson, Jaylen Warren, and Harris had 13 receptions and 146 yards. That accounted for 44 percent of Wilson’s 29 completions and 35 percent of his total yards.
After Myles Garrett’s big game, Hendrickson was quiet Sunday. He finished with just one tackle, one QB hit, and zero sacks, failing to make the impact Garrett did throughout the Browns’ victory.
The Steelers rolled the already-struggling Bengals’ defense to 520 total yards of offense. It’s the team’s best output since 2018 while their 44 points are the most since then, too. Cincinnati promised a win and came up empty, their season essentially over on the first day of December.
It was a bounce back outing not just from the players but the coaches. OC Arthur Smith called a poor game against the Cleveland Browns in Week 12. He and the rest of the coaching staff regrouped and took advantage of their mini-bye to come out with their best showing of the season. The Bengals will have to figure something else out for the rematch in the season finale.
