Steelers vs. Bengals Week 12 film study: Cincinnati's domination began in trenches
NFL football analyst Matt Williamson will break down each of the Steelers games this season in the Trib’s Steelers Film Study. Here’s what he saw in the Steelers’ Week 12 loss to the Bengals.
In Cincinnati, the 5-4-1 Steelers squared off against the 6-4 Bengals in a pivotal AFC North matchup. These teams’ records were much closer than what was displayed on the football field, as Cincinnati totally dominated this game from the start en route to a 41-10 victory.
Over the past four games, the Steelers defense has given up 722 rushing yards to the Bears, Lions, Chargers and Bengals. Over the past two games, they have allowed 903 total yards from scrimmage. This was the sixth time in the last seven games that the Steelers opponent has averaged over 5 yards per rushing attempt.
The Steelers have surrendered 82 points in the last two weeks. Over the past two games, Pittsburgh’s opponents have scored on every first-half drive but one. Let that sink in for a minute.
Pittsburgh’s defense is incredibly soft right now and clearly the offense is in zero position to make up for it. Their collective score against Cincinnati in 2021 is 65-20. The Bengals have now beaten Pittsburgh three times in a row for the first time in 31 years.
The Steelers have yet to take the ball away multiple times in a game this season. This was the eighth time the Steelers defense gave up at least 100 yards rushing this year…and it looks like it is only getting worse.
Stats tell the story
Here are the numbers specific to this game of importance. They favor Cincinnati of course. But truthfully, these stats make this game seem more competitive than it really was.
• The Bengals averaged 5.7 yards per play against 5.1 for Pittsburgh. And Cincinnati only ran six more plays.
• Cincinnati averaged 6.4 yards per pass attempt against 5.7 by the Steelers.
• But here is the one that does truly tell the story: the yards per rush leaned in Cincinnati’s favor 5.2 to 3.4.
• The Steelers turned the ball over three times against one by Cincinnati, but the penalties and penalty yardage was very similar.
• The Bengals did score a touchdown on defense and still possessed the football for 35:20, more than 10 minutes more than Pittsburgh.
This game was over at halftime and the numbers at the half are a bit more telling.
• The Bengals controlled the football for more than 19 minutes and averaged 6.7 yards per play in the game’s first 30 minutes. Pittsburgh averaged 4.1 yards per play in the first half.
• But how about this: The Bengals produced 18 first downs in the first half against just five for Steelers.
• Joe Mixon had 20 first-half rushes for 117 yards while Najee Harris gained just 16 yards on his five carries before halftime.
• Ben Roethlisberger went into halftime completing just 7 of 15 attempts for 83 yards and two interceptions. One of which was a pick-six by Mike Hilton, who was stellar in this game.
• The Bengals’ offense was also 4 of 5 on third down conversions in the first half.
Battle in the trenches
Without question, the biggest reason this game was so lopsided was because the Bengals just abused Pittsburgh on both lines of scrimmage.
The Steelers were without some big men in this game, but by no means should the absence of Kevin Dotson, JC Hassenauer, Carl Davis and Isaiah Buggs as a healthy scratch be an excuse for the physical domination exhibited by the Bengals on Sunday.
Of course, that doesn’t account for the absence of Tyson Alualu and Stephon Tuitt, but they basically haven’t been in the picture all year and really don’t count in this conversation.
Buggs might have been useful, but he isn’t a difference maker, which is the case for all the Steelers defensive linemen outside of Cameron Heyward. Chris Wormley and Isaiahh Loudermilk were the best of the remaining defensive linemen, but neither resembles a traditional nose tackle type defender. Pittsburgh’s front was blown backward on downhill runs and was especially exploited on outside zone stretch plays.
On offense, tackle Zach Banner did see the field for two snaps in this game. Maybe it is time to expand his role, although the Steelers’ offensive tackles didn’t hold up poorly in protection in this game. In fact, Pittsburgh’s pass protection from their offensive line should not be lumped in with the other awful line play the Steelers displayed in this game on both sides of the ball, although Cincy’s Trey Hendrickson was disruptive coming after Roethlisberger.
Rough day for Pierre
With Steelers cornerback Joe Haden shelved with an injury, James Pierre got the start and had just a dreadful game — usually in coverage against Tee Higgins. Higgins finished with six catches for 114 yards and a touchdown over Pierre in which Pierre showed off terrible ball skills.
He missed some tackles and was penalized for a low block as well. The Bengals went after Pierre, and he clearly failed that challenge. Of course, Pierre isn’t alone on the naughty list, but he did really stand out in a negative way in this game.
Inside linebackers also to blame
The Steelers linebacker pair of Devin Bush and Joe Schobert were every bit the liability that Pierre was Sunday. And that has become a recurring theme, especially with Bush. Bush’s tackling was a little better this week, but both players hurt the defense in the passing game, as well as their inability to get off blocks and properly read plays as they developed. It looked as though Bush was benched early in this game for Robert Spillane, but Spillane left the game with an injury after just eight snaps.
It was clear outside linebacker T.J. Watt wasn’t himself, but he played 55 of a possible 68 defensive snaps. Watt made little impact and really struggled with his tackling. Alex Highsmith played fewer snaps (48) than Watt. Derrek Tuszka chipped in with 15 plays on defense and did a nice job playing the run. Taco Charlton was called upon for 18 snaps and was average with his performance.
Burrow stands tall
Bengals QB Joe Burrow finished the game with just 190 passing yards, but only four of his 24 pass attempts were incomplete. He played well and is quickly becoming an excellent player who should haunt the Steelers for years. But again, the dominance of this game occurred on the lines of scrimmage.
Pittsburgh’s five wins have come against Josh Allen with the entire offseason to prepare for, Teddy Bridgewater, Geno Smith, Baker Mayfield and Justin Fields. They tied Jared Goff. The Steelers’ five losses have been against Derek Carr, Burrow twice, Aaron Rodgers and Justin Herbert. Seeing a trend here?
Problems on offense
The only time the Steelers have moved the ball with any consistency over the past three weeks is when they are down huge on the scoreboard late in the game and the opposing defense changes tactics accordingly.
They saw a lot of man coverage Sunday, and WR Diontae Johnson was the only receiver beating man-to-man regularly. When they attempt a deep ball, it is always a go route down the sideline and almost always down the right sideline. The Steelers’ opponents don’t fear Pittsburgh’s passing game, especially between the numbers. And they rarely blitz because the ball comes out so fast and Pittsburgh’s protection struggles as it is with just a four-man rush. It’s the same story.
The Bengals defensive snap counts from this game are extremely telling and back up this point. Cincinnati’s defense was on the field for 62 snaps. But the Bengals’ coaching staff didn’t feel the need to play any member of their defense for more than 39 snaps.
The Bengals had seven defensive players participate for 37 snaps or more. That is extremely unusual and just showed how little the Bengals felt threatened. A whopping 23 Cincinnati defensive players saw at least 18 snaps, which is 29% of the action. That is a startling number that really tells the entire story of this game when Pittsburgh possessed the football.
Harris’ limited production
Steelers rookie running back Najee Harris has just 62 rushing yards over the past two games. He touched the ball just 11 times in Cincinnati and accounted for only 37 yards from scrimmage. This was Harris’ fewest number of carries as a professional, and he only played 36 of a possible 62 offensive snaps.
Is there something going on with him that we don’t know about?
The Steelers offense goes as Harris goes, but in Harris’ and his blocking’s defense, this running game really needs volume and patience to pay off over the course of a game. That hasn’t been anything close to the case against Cincinnati and Los Angeles, games in which Harris has a combined 20 carries.
On the bright side?
If you squint hard, maybe we can say that Johnson, Chase Claypool and Pat Freiermuth were bright spots in this blowout loss. Johnson certainly was a bright spot. Much of it was in garbage time of course, but these three did finish the afternoon with 16 catches for 217 yards, with Freiermuth making an exceptional play late in the game for the Steelers’ only touchdown.
Freiermuth played more than 75% of the offensive snaps, something that should become the norm now. Johnson and Claypool are improving with contested catches, and Johnson’s ability after the catch is showing up on a weekly basis. Still, there is way too much inconsistency and immaturity to Claypool’s game at this point.
All the remaining Pittsburgh pass catchers accumulated a measly 46 receiving yards. In fact, the combination of James Washington, Anthony Miller, Zach Gentry, Anthony McFarland, Benny Snell and Kalen Ballage ran a collective 72 routes, but were only targeted eight times as basically non-factors. It might not be a bad idea to see what the Steelers have in Miller going forward.
Questionable coaching calls
• Down 24-3 with just under two minutes left in the first half, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin decided to punt the football on fourth and 1. This was an inexcusable coaching decision.
The Steelers’ defense was getting destroyed on just about every snap at that point and hadn’t forced a punt yet in the game. Plus, the Bengals had three timeouts for that drive that resulted in a Minkah Fitzpatrick interception.
But, the results really aren’t important here — the coaching decision was poor. You must go for it there in that situation. There is just zero way around that.
• Why was Roethlisberger on the field for the Steelers first drive of the fourth quarter with Pittsburgh losing 41-3? Why was Watt still in the game playing against Brandon Allen down 38 points with 10:36 left in the game? The same could be asked about Heyward, as well.
Tomlin’s team just didn’t show up in what was a crucial game, and the Steelers are now getting immediately outplayed from the start of games, which doesn’t speak well to the preparation and game planning. Pittsburgh used to always be one of the NFL’s toughest and most physical teams, and that reputation was earned. That simply isn’t the case anymore.
Looking ahead
Making the playoffs will really be an uphill climb for Pittsburgh after dropping the last two games and tying the Lions. Not to mention just how terrible the Steelers played in Cincinnati.
Pittsburgh has five wins. Eleven teams in the AFC have six wins or more. The Dolphins are not even one of those 11 teams, but Miami has won four in a row and is playing much better football than the Steelers. Four of Pittsburgh’s final six games are on the road. The five remaining opponents (counting Baltimore twice) have a combined record of 42-26.
As for the Bengals, they have now outscored their last two opponents 73-23, and this was their seventh game of the season in which they held their opposition to 21 points or less. They too have a difficult schedule, as is the case for all AFC North teams, but four of Cincinnati’s remaining six games are at home, and the Bengals are already 3-1 in the division.
They host the Chargers next week and could have a lot of success running the ball in that game as well. After watching Sunday Night Football, the Bengals are the class of the division. Times have changed.
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