On Thursday, the Steelers’ defense allowed the Bengals to score 34 points, producing 470 total yards, one of their worst games in years. Not only did they throw for over 300 yards, but they also nearly rushed for 150. And the Bengals came into the game with one of the worst rushing offenses and a quarterback who didn’t know all the plays.
“It was clearly a failure with the game plan. I know it’s a short week, you don’t have a ton of time to prepare”, Ray Fittipaldo said of the Steelers defense’s performance against the Bengals on 93.7 The Fan, but that doesn’t excuse the results.
He called it “one of the worst defensive performances that I’ve seen in quite some time” from the Steelers. “And T.J. Watt said after the game, it’s unacceptable. Cam Heyward was ticked off about it. The Steelers realize they’ve got some problems”.
Thanks to the Browns, the Steelers’ defense had to face Joe Flacco, who is tied for the most wins against Pittsburgh in the modern era now. His old rival, Ben Roethlisberger, warned us going into the game that it was trouble. Joe Flacco makes the Steelers “a much more dangerous team”, he said, and he appears to have been right.
The Bengals scored on seven of their final eight possessions against the Steelers, the defense forcing one punt. Notably, that was after a decision by Tomlin to punt the ball when many thought he should go for it. While it might have worked out in that one situation, it was practically the only time the defense stepped up.
“Obviously, they had no respect for that Steelers defense”, Fittipaldo said. “They were gonna open it up and throw on them in almost any situation”.
The Bengals were reeling when they encountered the Steelers’ defense. Having lost four in a row, they were watching their season spin out of control. Granted, they had just traded for Joe Flacco and hoped for the best. Surely even they didn’t expect to see what happened on Thursday, though.
The Bengals’ 470 yards of offense against the Steelers’ vaunted defense was their fourth-highest total in the past four years. And bear in mind that Joe Burrow is their starting quarterback, who is usually pretty good.
And as the Steelers reminded us leading into this game, they built this defense with the Bengals in mind. They acquired Jalen Ramsey and Darius Slay with an eye toward Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. We saw how that played out, at least in the first round. But they still have to play again, and surely it can’t go equally as badly again.
Needless to say, this needs to be the bottom of the barrel. If the Steelers get another defensive performance this bad, they can’t hope for much in 2025. They tried to outsmart everybody by picking up pedigreed guys whom others considered past their prime. Instead, they made a fading backup look like his Super Bowl MVP days.
