Winners and losers from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 33-31 loss against the Cincinnati Bengals Thursday night.
WINNERS
RB Jaylen Warren
Warren continues to play great football. Running hard, barreling through defenders, and being a source of energy. His consistency and hard-nosed style are made for these types of games, and his unselfish play is appreciated. Like on last week’s touchdown to Connor Heyward, Warren again threw a key block on a defensive lineman to give Aaron Rodgers time on this touchdown pass to TE Darnell Washington.
Warren put up big numbers and was Pittsburgh’s consistent source of offense. With 127, he nearly set a career high in rushing yards, falling two short of his high-water mark.
OL Spencer Anderson
Gotta show love to the big guys up front. Anderson has been an effective sixth offensive lineman and has shown more flexibility than the role typically holds. Anderson can and has aligned in two-point stances and motioned across the field on traps and tosses. A potent pairing alongside 300-plus pound Darnell Washington. Those two players give Pittsburgh an advantage most teams don’t have.
TE Pat Freiermuth
Freiermuth has owned the Bengals and if there was ever a guy who needed a night, it was him. Quiet for nearly the entire season, Freiermuth scored his first touchdown of the season, and his first 1st down since Week 2, on an 18-yard catch in the second half.
He had a good YAC play on the following drive, setting up Washington’s score. But his biggest play came on a fourth quarter scramble drill, getting open and Rodgers finding him for a 68-yard catch and run touchdown to give the Steelers a late lead – even if it was one that would be blown.
QB Aaron Rodgers
Overall, Rodgers played well. Of the two interceptions, only one was a bad ball and he threw four touchdown passes on the night to briefly rally the team. He had faults but the loss doesn’t fall on his shoulders. Had the defense gotten a late stop, he would’ve been the hero.
LOSERS
Front Seven
That’s run defense and pass rush. Cincinnati didn’t just have a bad rushing attack but the NFL’s worst by a considerable margin. It was a unit on pace to have the fewest single-season rushing yards in a non-strike year since the Miami Seahawks in 1946. RB Chase Brown came into the game managing just 2.7 YPC with the team’s longest run of 13.
Naturally, the Bengals ran at will. By half, Cincinnati rushed for more yards than it had all season. Brown went over 100 yards for the first time since last season and the Bengals routinely ripped off carries of 10-plus yards, including a 37-yard scoot by Brown. Pittsburgh tackled poorly and couldn’t get off blocks, two big issues from the first two games of the season.
A pass rush that had produced at least five sacks in three-straight games was on a milk carton tonight. Poor run defense played a role, there’s a clear relationship between the Steelers’ run defense and their rush (which is obvious enough), but even when the front had chances, it didn’t get home. The interior push was poor, and the EDGE players weren’t as impactful as usual.
HC Mike Tomlin/DC Teryl Austin
Bad defensive game plan. Soft zone coverage on third and long that was picked apart by Joe Flacco. Far too many slants allowed with cornerbacks not playing inside leverage to take away repeated over-the-middle throws to WR Ja’Marr Chase. Chase set the single-game record for most receptions against the Steelers, a mark that had previously held since 1981.
No doubt, tonight is why Tomlin was so perturbed by the Browns trading for Flacco. But this was an eminently winnable game. Flacco is better than Jake Browning but played bad ball in Cleveland. Pittsburgh’s normally good at taking away top targets. Not tonight. The curse of the short week continues.
Tomlin continued his conservative decision-making with a 4th-and-4 punt at around midfield with five minutes left in the game. One of the analytic models called highly cowardly.
CB Darius Slay & Joey Porter Jr., & Jalen Ramsey
Slay’s legs look like toast and a 34-year-old corner trying to cover on a short week is dubious. He’s also routinely banged up in-game, leaving briefly tonight with a rib injury. Porter’s penalties continue to be a problem versus Cincinnati, the third-year man flagged multiple times for pass interference. Pittsburgh rotated all corners on Chase and lost nearly every time.
Jalen Ramsey did the best job but even he had some fits. He was flagged once, gave up a touchdown (though there was a highly-questionable no OPI) and allowed a deep-ball completion to Tee Higgins to set up the Bengals’ game-winning field goal.
