The national media hasn’t been kind to the Pittsburgh Steelers following their loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night. Playing against a 40-year-old Joe Flacco, the league’s highest-paid defense had no answers and surrendered33 points.
Since and the sports media world is starting to take its licks on the once-surprising, overperforming Steelers. On SportsCenter, analyst Mina Kimes called the team “one-dimensional,” highlighting their inability to play well across the board on defense, relying too heavily on the pass rush.
This reliance on the pass rush and continued miscommunication has Kimes questioning that the team can sustain its AFC North lead.
“They have struggled to handle motion now for two seasons, and it doesn’t seem to be getting better when they don’t get pressure,” said Kimes. “They struggle with both busted coverages, but also tackling. How many times did it feel like the first guy just could not bring Ja’Marr Chase down? And so moving forward, even if the offense can play like they did last night, I do think the Bengals’ defense factors into that as well.
“I am skeptical of this Pittsburgh defense moving forward.”
Hard to disagree. The team surrendered 470 yards of offense to a sputtering Bengals attack. Sure, Flacco’s addition to Cincinnati’s offense provided the team a shot in the arm, but Flacco is no Tom Brady. Before the game against the Steelers, he struggled, benched for rookie Dillon Gabriel in Cleveland.
Ex-NFL coaches are also raising an eyebrow at the Steelers’ defense. Dave Wannstedt, former head coach of the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins, voiced his concern for the team’s pass rush effort on a recent episode of The Herd with Colin Cowherd.
“They got no sacks,” said Wannestedt. “And, Joe Flacco’s not gonna get outta your way, you know, I mean, you gotta get to him. Pittsburgh comes up with no sacks to me. Wow. That’s a light goes off right there. That’s just a matter of not getting it done, really.”
Granted, Flacco was getting the ball out of his hands quickly, which the Bengals clearly game planned for to mitigate the pass rush. Still, with guys like T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig, and company, the team needed to find a way. With just one sack, they didn’t do that. And alluding back to Kimes’ point, when the sacks don’t come, the defense quickly falls apart.
Hopefully, the team can rejuvenate its defense in the coming weeks and become less predictable, as Chase said of the team after the loss. If Pittsburgh’s defense turns around and Aaron Rodgers continues to play like he did last week, maybe this team can make some noise in the division.
