Steelers Now
Death, taxes, and Mike Tomlin’s club struggling in road games on Thursday Night Football versus divisional opponents. After jumping out to a quick 10-0 start in this one, it looked like the good guys might run away with this one in similar fashion to last week’s performance against the Cleveland Browns. Zac Taylor’s squad said not so fast, thanks to heroic performances from Joe Flacco and Ja’Marr Chase in a 33-31 Bengals win.
Let’s talk through some winners and losers from an ugly performance and one that ultimately cost them a chance to further solidify their stronghold in an extremely banged-up AFC North.
The Steelers’ starting tailback had a fantastic game and, at times, looked completely unstoppable. His 155 yards from scrimmage were a career high, and he was able to consistently keep the offense on schedule with an impressive 62.5% rushing success rate. Pittsburgh had a ton of success getting out to the perimeter in this one, and he took advantage of some shoddy tackling and poor angles to find cutback lanes. When you add in all of the little things he does, specifically in pass protection, his contract extension looks like it’s going to age incredibly well for the front office.
It’s no coincidence that the Steelers’ push for cornerback help this offseason was partially aided by the fact that they knew they’d have to see Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins twice a year. Let’s just say that the first round of the match went to the Bengals playmakers by knockout decision. Ramsey struggled immensely in this one, with multiple penalties, giving up a touchdown to Chase on a fade route in the second quarter before allowing Higgins to get behind him for the dagger on the final drive of the game.
In some ways, Slay was lucky because out of the three starting corners, Joey Porter Jr. included, he seemed to have the easiest assignments on average. Even then, the results were not good enough whatsoever. Andrei Iosivas torched him for a huge gain of 37 yards, which was the most notable loss, but he was beaten on a handful of slant patterns over the middle as well. Pittsburgh wants to play more man coverage this season, but with two older cornerbacks that are having trouble staying in phase down the field, it’s fair to wonder if they’ll be able to stick with that philosophy much longer. These two vets know all about having a short memory, having played this game a long time, and tonight was certainly one to forget.
The box score isn’t quite indicative of how well the old gunslinger played during stretches in this one. In a game where his defense simply couldn’t get enough stops, Rodgers led his unit to three touchdown drives in four possessions in the second half. Without Trey Hendrickson, the Bengals’ pass rush was truly anemic, and the offensive line...
