Steelers Now
The Pittsburgh Steelers were able to enact some revenge on the Cincinnati Bengals, pulling away late in the second half thanks to a couple of timely turnovers forced by a defense that is quietly finding their footing. As a result, Mike Tomlin’s squad is still clinging to the AFC North lead, with the Baltimore Ravens hot on their trail. The tougher part of the schedule now looms. But before looking ahead, let’s review some winners & losers from a hotly contested battle at Acrisure Stadium.
Whenever the Bengals come to town, the number one thing on the scouting report is: how do we slow down Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins? Arguably the top duo in the league combined for just 93 yards on a whopping 17 targets, and the lone touchdown came when the Bengals caught Jack Sawyer in pass coverage. Porter was fantastic, forcing multiple tight window throws, and perhaps most importantly, didn’t register a penalty. Pierre, in just his ninth career start, was mostly nails in this one whenever he was tested down the field. Regardless of the health of Darius Slay, who is still working his way through concussion protocol, these two guys should remain the starters moving forward.
You never like seeing guys get hurt out there, and we’ll see what the initial prognosis is here soon. However, the future first-ballot Hall of Famer just isn’t playing very good ball right now. Over the last three weeks, the Steelers rank 31st in dropback EPA/play and 29th in passing success rate. The numbers weren’t quite that bad in the first half, but Pittsburgh was really mostly moving the ball when Cincinnati was committing penalties. Despite having mostly clean initial pockets, he looked frantic, and the accuracy down the field on the few times where he’s actually willing to trigger on those throws remains a significant concern. This was a Bengals defense that has been historically bad and should have been a get-right game for their aerial attack.
The former Wisconsin Badger got the nod today with Alex Highsmith dealing with a pec injury, and he took full advantage of the additional playing time. Herbig tied for the team lead in pressures with 4, including one on a stunt that helped force Kyle Dugger’s pick six. Bengals left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. really stood no chance and looked completely overwhelmed with his speed, and it was only a matter of time before he got home. His sack in the fourth quarter down near the red zone helped get Flacco and company behind the chains to a point where they had to settle for a field goal instead. The Steelers have an embarrassment of riches off the edge right now, and if the coverage is merely solid, you should see even more box score production down the stretch.
Even acknowledging the poor quarterback play recently,...
