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Airing of Grievances: Bengals humiliate Steelers in every possible way
During his Tuesday news conference, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin stopped short of calling Sunday’s game in Cincinnati a “must win.”
Barely.
Good thing. Because if he really felt the Steelers absolutely had to have that game, they failed miserably.
The Bengals thrashed the Steelers, 41-10, Sunday afternoon, dropping them to 5-5-1 with six weeks left to go in a tightly packed AFC playoff race.
“This is a big week for us, and I think that’s one of the approaches we’re gonna take this week. We’re not gonna play it cool and pretend like it’s not or downplay it. This is significant AFC North football for us,” Tomlin said Tuesday. “These games are big. They are. You’re not gonna backdoor your way into the single-elimination tournament. You’re not gonna backdoor your way into division significance. You’ve gotta go on the road and win games in this division, and that’s just the reality of it. The sugar on top is, obviously, earlier in the season, they were able to come to our place and win. It’s a big game for us, it’s a big game for them. There’s positioning relative to it, and so we’re not gonna play it cool. We’re not gonna pretend like it’s not.”
Well, now Tomlin and company might be best served pretending like the game never happened. And Steelers fans might be best served pretending like this team still has a shot at the playoffs instead of looking at reality.
Then again, maybe we’ve been doing that since they started 1-3.
Regardless, there are plenty of frustrations to voice in this week’s “Airing of Grievances.” After all, this is the first time the Steelers have been swept by Cincinnati since 2009 and the first time they have lost three straight games to the Bengals since 1990.
Is that a good place to begin?
Sickening start: The first quarter of Sunday’s game felt like the fifth quarter of last Sunday’s 41-37 loss in Los Angeles.
The Bengals opened the game on a long offensive drive that featured little resistance from the Steelers defense. It lasted 10 plays and covered 75 yards, ending in a quarterback scramble for a touchdown by Joe Burrow.
Whatever it takes, @JoeyB: Watch on CBS pic.twitter.com/6axjMiv5Kk
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) November 28, 2021
Did that look familiar? Chargers QB Justin Herbert had 90 scrambling yards last week. Thankfully, Burrow had only 8 yards rushing. But his touchdown set the tone for Cincinnati.
The Chargers scored on their first five possessions last week. Cincy scored on its first four possessions Sunday.
Run ragged: The Steelers rush defense continues to be atrocious. It yielded 198 on the ground to the Bengals at a clip of 5.2 per carry.
That’s the seventh time in eight games that the, um, “Steel Curtain” has given up more than 100 yards rushing. It’s the sixth time in seven games that opponents have averaged more than 5.0 yards per carry.
Despite a week’s worth of discussion about the need to stop him, Joe Mixon ended up with two touchdowns and 165 yards on the ground. He had 117 by halftime.
Uncool Claypool: Second-year wide receiver Chase Claypool had an adventure of a day.
He was flagged for an illegal formation penalty and a facemask, had two drops and appeared to be out of sync with Ben Roethlisberger on a first quarter interception by Eli Apple.
Back-to-back weeks with an INT for @EliApple!: Watch on CBS pic.twitter.com/zjeEooVvWy
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) November 28, 2021
At least Claypool made a positive contribution to the box score with three catches for 82 yards.
Tee time: In the first matchup, Tee Higgins was inactive for the Bengals. He was very active in Sunday’s rematch.
To the tune of 114 yards via six receptions, including one for a touchdown over James Pierre.
MOSS'D HIM. WOW, @teehiggins5!Watch on CBS pic.twitter.com/a77Bcnk2oh
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) November 28, 2021
Ja’Marr Chase and Tyler Boyd combined for eight catches, 101 yards and three touchdowns in Week 3. But it was Higgins who did damage in Week 12.
It’s gotten so bad for the Steelers defense that they’ve allowed 41 points in back-to-back games. Eighty-two points over two games is the most in the Tomlin era.
Bad Ben: Second-year Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow continued to give Bengals fans a glimpse of a bright future. He was 20 of 24 for 190 yards and a touchdown. That’s after going 14 of 18 for 172 yards and three touchdowns in the first meeting.
Meanwhile, Roethlisberger made Steelers fans long for an all-too-distant past. He was 24 of 41 for 263 yards, a touchdown, three sacks, a fumble and two interceptions.
One of those picks went back for a touchdown courtesy of ex-Steeler Mike Hilton.
Glad to have you in Cincinnati @MikeHilton_28Watch on CBS pic.twitter.com/Gxz7clJGXP
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) November 28, 2021
“Glad to have you in Cincinnati.” Subtle work there by the Bengals Twitter feed.
To borrow a phrase from Tomlin, you could say that was “the sugar on top” of the game for the Bengals. It certainly seemed to be for Hilton.
TALK TO 'EM, @MikeHilton_28! pic.twitter.com/5sYs5gJAIV— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) November 28, 2021
That was Hilton’s first interception as a Bengal.
Of course it was.
Watt was he doing out there?: Much like when he missed a game and a half earlier in the year, T.J. Watt was far from his usual impactful self.
In September, the All-Pro linebacker missed the second half of the loss to the Las Vegas Raiders and the entire ensuing defeat to Cincinnati. He came back in Week 4 and didn’t do much but trip quarterback Aaron Rodgers and touch him up on a slide for a pair of token sacks.
Watt returned to action Sunday after missing the second half of the tie against the Detroit Lions and the loss in Los Angeles. And apparently Watt needed this game to get reacclimated just like he did in Green Bay.
Watt finished the game with just two tackles and was on the field well into the fourth quarter.
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