Now that a few days have passed since the disappointing loss by the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Cincinnati Bengals in Ohio on a late fourth quarter game winning field goal for a 33-31 final, looking back raises some serious red flags as to the state of the Steelers after six games. My immediate thought following the game was that Pittsburgh’s secondary needs some serious help. While the talk has been that a wide receiver should be the team’s aim before the trade deadline expires, my opinion was that a defensive back would go a lot further in helping the team.
Then after watching some analysis on ESPN and the experts talking about the defensive scheming Pittsburgh used with Cincinnati, my eyes turned towards Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin. My belief is that on any other team after a defensive performance such as what the Steelers put on display would result in a DC getting fired. Until last season, the Pittsburgh Steelers did not make it a practice to fire coaches during the season.
That changed when they fired Matt Canada as offensive coordinator in November of last season. I had called for Austin’s firing before the season began based on the defensive collapse in last year’s five game losing streak to end the regular season and playoffs. But additions to the defensive from free agency bringing in seasoned veterans like Jalen Ramsey and Darius Slay would improve the defense. After the victory over the Cleveland Browns in week six, the defense had put forth their best game of the season.
Then came the Bengals and an old foe in Joe Flacco. Reviewing the game as a whole, it was a complete disaster for everyone on defense and the blame has to be shouldered by Mike Tomlin for improper preparation and more so on Teryl Austin for not developing a better defensive plan. At first my belief was that the team is lacking more talented secondary athletes. On second thought, I believe this team is very talented defensively but what the Bengals did to them on Thursday Night Football is not only embarrassing but disgraceful.
Steelers fans will remember the 2024 season when down the stretch the schedule had back-to-back games against the Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs, and then the Baltimore Ravens. Those consecutive games were being called the “gauntlet.” Now what lies ahead for the Steelers are the Packers on Sunday Night Football in Pittsburgh, a second game the following week also at home against the Colts, and then a trip out west to face the Chargers. As of this writing, those three teams have a combine record of 12-3-1. Brace yourself Steelers fans.
At 4-2, I believe the Steelers MUST win at least one of those three. If that happens the Steelers would be 5-4 after those games. There is the chance they could lose all three and that is feasible. After those three the schedule favors them more. It includes a rematch with Cincinnati in Pittsburgh, the Bears on the road, Buffalo at home, the Ravens in Baltimore, Miami at home, Detroit on the road, in Cleveland, and a finale with Baltimore.
For sure there will be losses in those final nine games and from my perspective I can foresee a best record of 12-5. At worst the Steelers could easily finish at 10-7. Either finish should put them back in the playoffs and ensure Mike Tomlin has yet another winning season. But first and foremost, the defense has to find out who they really are and establish an identity and not have a solid game here and a poor game there.
As for the most recent Bengals game, Mike Tomlin must hate Thursday Night Football. After all, his record on this night for his career is 2-10 and he has never defeated an AFC North rival going 0-6 for his career. As to the defense again I believe Austin needs to go and if I was Mike Tomlin, I would promote Karl Dunbar to the position of DC. Dunbar is an outstanding coach currently responsible for the defensive linemen.
Karl Dunbar is in his eighth season as the Steelers’ defensive line coach and his 19th year as a defensive line coach in the NFL. He was hired by the Steelers on February 8, 2018. There is too much talent on this Steelers defense to allow the Bengals to run over and around them the way they did in the 33-31 loss so if Teryl Austin has no clue what he’s doing in preparing the defense for an opponent he has to go.
What Joe Flacco and his offense did to the Steelers’ again is embarrassing and inexcusable. Do not get me wrong. Ja’Marr Chase is a beast. He is in fact one of the if not the best receiver in the NFL right now. He is hard to defend and a game changer but he and the Bengals while beating the Steelers are still 3-4 on the season. Still, Chase, Flacco, and Tee Higgins’ numbers in this victory are downright ridiculous.
Ja’Marr Chase set a record in this game for most receptions for one game in team history. Thank you, Steelers. He was targeted an insane 23 times. On his 16 receptions came 161 yards. Let me say that again…161 yards. His per reception average was 10.1 yards. Then there was Tee Higgins with another 96 yards receiving and a per catch average of 16.0. The receiver’s numbers were downright crazy. Andri Iosivas (who?) caught three passes but his average per catch was 16.3 yards. Noah Fant, with four more receptions, averaged 11.0. That my friends is a first down on every catch for these dudes.
Flacco? Try 342 yards passing, three touchdowns, no interceptions and sacked just twice. So, the Steelers who had been plagued by a weak rush defense surrendered 108 yards on the ground to Chase Brown and a stupid 9.8 per carry average. Cincinnati had 27 first downs to the Steelers 19. The Bengals had 72 offensive plays and Pittsburgh 54. But Cincinnati’s 470 total yards is just inexcusable.
So, let’s talk about that Pittsburgh defense that seemingly had corrected their issues a week before. Perhaps the short week played a factor, but I will put the onus on Mike Tomlin for not having his defense prepared and again, Tyrel Austin for a terrible game plan. Six quarterback hits were all the defense could muster. Third in the league in sacks coming in, the Steelers managed only two. Only six passes were defended.
The newest Steelers this season coming from free agency are Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay, Juan Thornhill, and Brandin Echols. All of them are secondary players and look at the results especially in this game. Is a lack of talent or scheming? I’d say both but lean more toward defensive game planning because I’ll bet Ja’Marr Chase does not repeat this past performance again this season.
Now, let’s talk offense. That is nowhere near a problem. I’m sold now on the fact the Steelers, Omar Khan, and Mike Tomlin made the right decision is signing Aaron Rodgers. The old man can still play. He’s proving that game after game. He’s a winner and his experience glares through every game. The Steelers offense can provide enough fire power to beat any team in the NFL if the defense holds up their end of the bargain. They are not doing that right now.
Up by 10 then down by 10, Rodgers brought the Steelers back to take a 31-30 lead with around two minutes to play, and the defense could not hold the lead. That’s a shame because Rodgers and the offense played a fantastic game with an excellent offensive plan. That can’t be said for the defense so credit to Arthur Smith for doing his job.
While not as productive as Cincinnati’s numbers, Rodgers did throw one terrible interception and then a second when DK Metcalf could not secure a pass from Rodgers. Those both resulted in Bengals’ points on the board so that stings. But with that said, look at the offensive numbers. Rodgers did finish with 249 yards passing with four touchdown throws. His quarterback rating was a strong 103.7.
Then there was Jaylen Warren, 127 yards rushing for his best game of the season. A 7.9 yards per carry average. What most Steelers fans wanted all along was passes to the tight ends. That finally came to fruition when Rodgers found Pat Freiermuth for five receptions and 111 yards, Jonnu Smith for another three and a touchdown, and big Darnell Washington for three as well with also a touchdown albeit his three catches were for only two yards. Freiermuth scored twice including the go ahead score at 31-30.
On camera when the Bengals were driving for the winning field goal Aaron Rodgers could be seen shaking his head. He knew he did his job and that the defense was not doing theirs. The defense was obviously the only low point in this loss. Ke’Shawn Williams returned three kickoffs for an impressing 30.3 yards per return and Kenneth Gainwell another three for a 29.3 mark.
Now the Steelers have a longer break to prepare for the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night and it should be a fun game to watch as Aaron Rodgers gets a shot at the team he played nearly all his career for and the same club that gave up on him so Jordan Love could take over. The same thing happened to Brett Favre when Rodgers took over for him, so you have to wonder if Rodgers has any revenge factor on his mind. He has a bit of that in the season opener when the Steelers knocked off the Jets.
Again, Steelers faithful, prepare yourself for the next three weeks. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.
