The Pittsburgh Steelers went into Thursday night with a chance to put a lot of distance between themselves and the AFC North. Unfortunately, the only distance they put between themselves and anyone else on Thursday was the distance between Steelers’ players in the secondary and the wide receiver duo of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Both Bengals wide receivers, Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase, caught touchdowns as they ran wild on the Steelers’ defense. Higgins caught six passes for 96 yards. He also passed up a second touchdown at the end of the game to help the Bengals wind the clock all the way down for the winning field goal. And Chase dominated the game with 16 catches for 161 yards. It was a nightmare for the Steelers, especially after all the talk head coach Mike Tomlin did this week about how the Steelers’ secondary was built to deal with the Bengals’ duo.
So, do the Steelers still have a shot at the AFC North title? Or did the Bengals stake their claim for the top spot in the division? The latter is the question First Things First debated on Friday. And co-host Chris Broussard thinks the only definitive thing that came out of last night’s matchup was bad news for the Steelers.
“All last night showed us is that, as we all said, everybody except Danny [Parkins] said, the Steelers aren’t for real,” Broussard said. “That’s all last night proved… They are not very good.”
All last night proved was that the Steelers aren’t real, according to @Chris_Broussard:
“The Steelers aren’t looking great. The Bengals, I’m sorry, that defense is still bad… It’s right there for my Ravens.” pic.twitter.com/spMZ14gPmA
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) October 17, 2025
Broussard went on to call it a “blown opportunity” for the Steelers, and he’s right. With a win, the Steelers would have been 5-1 and three games clear of the Bengals in the division. Instead, they only have one more win on the Bengals, who now own the tiebreaker at the moment.
It wasn’t like the Bengals did anything unexpected, either. Everyone, including the Steelers, knew QB Joe Flacco was going to do everything he could to get the ball in the hands of those wide receivers. Yet the Steelers couldn’t even contain them, much less stop them.
Prior to the game, ESPN’s Mina Kimes trashed Stephen A Smith’s top five teams in the NFL because of the Steelers being included in that list. Her reasoning? The New York Jets “dogwalked” the Steelers’ defense in Week 1.
Well, the Bengals dogwalked the Steelers on Thursday night, too. And all the good will the defense built up over the last two games is gone. Despite the Bengals’ offensive line struggling this year, the Steelers’ vaunted pass rush couldn’t get to Flacco. Former Steelers (and Pro Football Hall of Famer) RB Jerome Bettis was not happy with the defense after the game.
So, what does that mean for the AFC North? Well, the Steelers are still leading the division. But the road gets tougher from here on out. The Bengals seem to have an answer at quarterback with Flacco at the moment. The Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns are in the muck with only one win apiece. It’s not looking pretty for the division that many called the best in the league not that long ago.
And one of the co-hosts of First Things First, Kevin Wildes, is quite down on the division.
“I’m going to take it a step further,” Wildes said. “I’m ready to write off the entire AFC North.”
