Having 10 days off after a disastrous loss on Christmas Day against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Pittsburgh Steelers talked a big game that Saturday night’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals to close the regular season was going to be different, and that it was personal.
They talked the talk, but didn’t walk the walk, dropping an ugly 19-17 game to the Bengals at Acrisure Stadium. The Steelers went out with a whimper late, with Russell Wilson making two inexplicable decisions with the football and Pat Freiermuth dropping a ball on a 4th and 12 when he would have had the first down.
The Steelers’ defense did all it could, too, holding the Bengals to just 19 points despite being on the field for 38 minutes in a performance that was rather reminiscent of the Eagles-Steelers matchup in Week 15 where there was such a lopsided time of possession.
Now, the Steelers await the completion of the Week 18 slate of games to determine their playoff seeding. Let’s get to some grades.
QB — D-
The Steelers needed another big performance from Russell Wilson against the Bengals. Instead, they got a major dud.
Wilson threw for just 148 yards in the loss. He had one touchdown pass to Freiermuth, and he threw a great ball to Mike Williams for a gain of 25 yards in the first half. Outside of that, Wilson was a disaster. He took some terrible sacks, had a complete meltdown on the final drive, scrambling and staying inbounds with the clock running and then taking a sack on the next play.
He then missed a wide-open George Pickens on a double move on the next play, too.
Wilson and the offense couldn’t find any rhythm early in the game and didn’t get going until the fourth quarter. He missed some throws, inexplicably targeted Pickens just once in the first half, and was off much of the night. He just didn’t see the field well at all as the Bengals confused him time and time again post-snap.
Dreadful performance.
RB — C-
Early on I liked what I saw from Najee Harris. He was hitting the hole hard, running downhill with force and looked like he really benefitted from the 10 days off, recharging his legs and his body overall. That showed on the second drive of the game as Harris ran for 34 yards and a touchdown on eight carries.
After that drive, Harris had four carries the rest of the way for just one yard. The Steelers got away from what was working with Harris, and the offense suffered because of it.
He finished with four catches for 20 yards, adding to his 12 carries for 36 yards and a touchdown. Harris did leave the game for a brief time to be evaluated for a head injury.
Jaylen Warren had some moments, too, but he ultimately finished with just 21 rushing yards on six carries. One of the bigger storylines in the game was Warren failing to get a yard on 4th and 1 late in the first half, giving the Bengals the ball with great field position.
WR — F
George Pickens was expected to have a big game for the Steelersagainst a team he usually has a ton of success against. Instead, Pickens fell flat on his face. One reception, zero yards, three drops.
He was a disaster. They were some ugly drops, too.
He wasn’t alone in an ugly night. Calvin Austin III was held without a catch, seeing just one target, which he was unable to corral early in the game on a short throw from Wilson.
Mike Williams had a great 25-yard catch in which he dragged both feet inbounds for the reception. But that was his only target of the night. Van Jefferson led Steelers receivers with three receptions for 18 yards. That should tell you all there is to know about the WRs on the night.
TE — C-
Pat Freiermuth had a decent night, hauling in eight passes for 85 yards and a score. He continues to put up numbers against the Bengals.
But his inability to stay inbounds for another yard late in the first half and then his drop on fourth down to close out the game really put a damper on the night. Yes, the production was nice to see, but that drop leaves a very bad taste. If he catches that, he gets a first down and might be able to get a few more yards, potentially giving Chris Boswell a shot at a long, game-winning field goal.
Instead, the Steelers went out with a whimper.
Darnell Washington didn’t see a target in the game and wasn’t all that impactful as a blocker, either.
OL — D-
Once again, the Steelers’ pass protection was a mess. Granted, the offensive line wasn’t helped out much at times with Wilson holding the ball and taking some bad sacks, but giving up four sacks and countless pressures was rather frustrating to watch.
Dan Moore Jr. was a disaster, having serious issues with Trey Hendrickson. The Bengals DE compiled 3.5 sacks, putting himself in position to win the NFL’s sack title.
Mason McCormick had some struggles, too, as did the rest of the offensive line. At times, pressure was far too quick against Wilson, which hindered plays right from the start.
This group wasn’t all that much better in the run game, either. The Steelers managed just 3.2 yards per carry. When you can’t run the ball and can’t pass protect…what do you do?
DL — B+
Cameron Heyward had another outstanding game, and he did so while playing through the flu. Heyward made just one tackle, but he had three pass breakups at the line of scrimmage and was in on a sack of Joe Burrow after bulldozing guard Cordell Volson.
There was no better player on the field for the Steelers Saturday night than Heyward.
Keeanu Benton had a nice game, too. He had a huge sack late, giving him his first on the season. Better late than never. He also had five tackles and played with a real burst. Larry Ogunjobi had one tackle, but he played the run well and was assignment-sound.
The Steelers held the Bengals to just 68 rushing yards, allowing just 3.2 yards per carry.
LB — B-
A solid night from the linebackers top to bottom. Patrick Queen had a couple of splash plays, forcing a fumble on a blitz in the first half and then helping rip the ball away from Ja’Marr Chase for Beanie Bishop Jr.’s interception. He finished with five tackles and was around the football a good deal, having an impact as a blitzer, too.
Payton Wilson was on the field a majority of the night and had a career-high 10 tackles, including one tackle for loss. The Bengals went at him in coverage at times, and he was a step late on a few occasions, but for the most part he played fast and free and was sideline to sideline all night.
Elandon Roberts had just two tackles and should have had a greater impact, seemingly drawing a hold in the first half, but it went surprisingly uncalled.
On the outside, T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith had solid nights. Highsmith made seven tackles, and though Watt didn’t show up on the stats sheet, he had a strip-sack taken away due to a penalty downfield on Cory Trice Jr. Watt had a number of pressures on Joe Burrow and impacted the game with his presence alone.
I’m sure that won’t show up in the advanced analytics though.
Preston Smith had a nice night in relief with a sack, while Nick Herbig had a sack as well. Good work from the depth pieces off the edge.
DB — C+
It was a strange decision to leave Cory Trice Jr. on an island against Ja’Marr Chase, and it backfired on the first drive as Chase beat Trice for a 12-yard TD. Chase should have had another TD in the first half with Trice on an island, but he had the ball go through his hands.
On nine targets with Trice in coverage, Chase had eight receptions for 80 yards. Trice did tackle well, finishing with 11 stops. He largely kept everything in front of him, which was encouraging.
DeShon Elliott had a strong game with eight tackles, one tackle for loss and another big stick in the flat on a swing pass to Khalil Herbert. He played downhill all game and was steady, though he did get beat on a route by TE Mike Gesicki on the first Bengals’ drive, which was rather ugly from Elliott.
Joey Porter Jr. had a really nice bounce-back game with six tackles and a pass breakup. He kept the clamps on Tee Higgins, and then once Higgins left with an injury played well against Chase. It’s been an up-and-down year for Porter, but Saturday was a good showing.
All Beanie Bishop Jr. does is make plays. Great hands on the INT. He needs to be playing more. Cameron Sutton just isn’t working out. The Steelers tried blitzing him off the edge time and time again and Sutton was a step or two slow consistently and did not have any impact.
Special Teams — C+
Nice night for Chris Boswell, who drilled a 54-yard field goal in 19-degree weather at Acrisure Stadium. What a remarkable season from that guy. Who knows where the Steelers would be without him.
Punter Corliss Waitman had a solid game, though he did drop a snap, recovering quickly enough to get the punt off. Waitman averaged 42.6 yards on five punts and was able to help force a turnover after a punt bounced off of a Bengals player leading to a Connor Heyward recovery. Nice to see that guy make another play for the Steelers.
While the fumble recovery was nice, Calvin Austin III had a lost fumble of his own on a punt return.
