Steelers Week 3 film study: Numbers don't tell the story in loss to Bengals
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 3 loss to the Bengals.
In a divisional battle of 1-1 teams at Heinz Field, the Steelers played just a miserable game as the Bengals won 24-10 on Sunday.
Zac Taylor came into this contest 1-15-1 on the road as the Bengals head coach. On Sunday, Taylor got his second career road victory, and the Steelers are now 2-7 in their last nine games.
Pittsburgh also hasn’t scored a first quarter touchdown in any of those nine games or scored more than 24 points since Week 9 of the 2020 season. The Steelers entered this game having scored three offensive touchdowns and are now up to just four in three full games of play.
Numbers don’t tell the story
Pittsburgh ran 77 plays and possessed the football for more than 35 minutes. The Bengals ran just 42 plays in this game.
The Steelers turned the ball over twice. Cincinnati turned it over once.
Both teams were penalized 10 times for a combined 162 yards.
There weren’t any massive game-swinging plays on special teams or defensive touchdowns.
That doesn’t sound so bad from a Steelers perspective, right? Well, sometimes such important numbers just don’t tell the whole story. Pittsburgh could have run 100 plays in this game, and it might not have mattered.
Another slow start
As has been the theme, wow, did Pittsburgh’s offense start slow? The Steelers didn’t convert a first down in the first quarter. The Steelers committed four offensive (many self-induced) penalties on their first eight plays from scrimmage, followed by an interception by Logan Wilson where quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was hit when he threw. That gave Cincinnati the ball at midfield.
There are just so many areas to assign blame with this offense, but early on, it was just dreadful execution. Whether it was a penalty, a blown assignment or just one player’s inability to execute his specific assignment, the Steelers offense imploded play after play against an improved Cincinnati defense. And we saw even less pre-snap creativity and motion that was expected from offensive coordinator Matt Canada.
Clearly Pittsburgh wanted to lean heavily on Najee Harris and get the run game going from the start. The early penalties were brutal and played a big factor in not getting that accomplished. But the Steelers also came out early with heavy personnel on the field, which the Bengals countered with big defensive personnel of their own.
Many defenses wouldn’t have taken it to the extreme that Cincinnati did, as most teams prefer lighter, more agile defenders, even against heavy personnel. But the Bengals aren’t in that mold and were happy to battle it out — and win — in the trenches with behemoths on the field for both teams.
Harris making an impact
Harris is already the Steelers’ best offensive player. Coming into this game, of the 32 NFL backfields, Pittsburgh’s backfield ranked 32nd in touches. That is criminal. Well, at least the offense realized the errors in their former ways.
Harris’ role greatly increased in this game, including running wide receiver routes from a detached position. He touched the ball 28 times, including a whopping 14 receptions out of many different alignments. Harris was targeted 19 times.
Harris and wide receiver Chase Claypool, who fought cramping throughout the second half, were targeted 34 times combined. Harris also ran hard and had several big runs brought back because of penalties. But in the end, only one of his carries on Sunday generated a first down.
Protecting the passer
The Bengals sacked Ben Roethlisberger four times, and while Pittsburgh’s pass protection certainly wasn’t great, much of that pressure falls on the quarterback’s shoulders. There were a few instances when Roethlisberger held the ball too long; he often didn’t hold it long enough (like on the fourth down swing pass to Harris to conclude the game) to let plays develop or simply couldn’t create any space in the pocket with his now limited movement skills.
He no longer extends plays in a positive manner or creates second reaction positive yardage. Roethlisberger has shown very little control of his deep ball going back to last year, and this offense just doesn’t attack the middle or deep middle of the field. Worse, there were a lot of open receivers in this game that just didn’t get the football thrown their way.
Quick passes continue
Once again, the ball came out of Roethlisberger’s hands under 2.3 seconds on average. His average depth of target was just 5.6 yards downfield and his completions were, on average, 3.3 yards past the line of scrimmage. This now happens game after game going back to last year and makes the Steelers passing game far too easy for NFL defenses to play against.
The passes were often inaccurate, and Roethlisberger far too often made his pass catchers work too hard for even easy completions. But drops were also an issue. On the final drive, there were three straight dropped balls, two by Harris, which is just inexplicable. Roethlisberger threw the ball poorly, and his receivers hauled it in poorly.
Bengals defense shines
Wilson’s second interception of the day (and third in two weeks) was just a miserable read and decision by Roethlisberger, as he nearly just handed the ball to the Cincinnati linebacker a few yards past the line of scrimmage.
Wilson, an up-and-comer at the linebacker position, was exceptional in this game and is a real bright spot for the Bengals overall, as was the Bengals’ vastly underrated four-man interior defensive line rotation. Jessie Bates, one of the top safeties in football, also stood out in a positive manner, playing every snap, as he usually does.
More offensive woes
None of this excuses the Steelers offensive line though. That unit rarely won one-on-one matchups and every starting member of the line was flagged at least once. Plus, two starters were injured. Maybe Zach Banner returns next week to help this mess, and it should be noted that Joe Haeg did hold his own quite well for his 33 snaps on Sunday.
Pittsburgh’s offense was forced to run 19 plays on third down. For comparison’s sake, the Bengals offense snapped the ball just nine times on third down. Of those 19 attempts, Pittsburgh converted just nine.
More telling and indicative of their persistent inefficiency on early downs, Pittsburgh’s average down and distance on third downs was 7.5 yards to go (on 24 total third down plays) when you factor in all the plays that didn’t count in the scoresheet because of penalties.
This offense ran 32 plays on first down and gained 2 yards or less on 17 of those snaps. They gained well under 3 yards per play on average on first downs and too often went backward to start a new set of downs. They failed to gain even one first down on more than half of their possessions against Cincinnati. That is a losing formula.
Hurry-up success
If there is any offensive bright spot other than the play Harris and possibly tight end Pat Freiermuth and Claypool, who is still too inconsistent, the Steelers offense flashed slight signs of life when they used their hurry-up. But as this game went on and the Steelers played with tempo and rhythm, bench players like Haeg, receiver Ray Ray McCloud and even receiver Cody White were getting legitimate snaps.
McCloud was on the field for 47 snaps in this game. He should see the field for a handful of snaps, not 47. It got so bad that James Washington, who played 66 snaps, was too often Pittsburgh’s top available wide receiver.
When the Steelers did move the ball, it was when they were down on the scoreboard and Cincinnati was playing soft zones and allowing short throws in the middle of the field. Also, when you run 77 plays, the offense runs out of new things to throw at the opponent that was repped during the week of practice.
Bengals offense overcomes injuries
The Bengals were without receiver Tee Higgins in this game, and Jackson Carman also got his first career start at right guard — and held up OK. Still, Cincinnati averaged two more yards per play (6.4 compared to 4.4) than Pittsburgh on Sunday. The Steelers’ defense had their share of struggles, as well.
Before this week, Bengals QB Joe Burrow showed uncertainty with his recovering knee and only had one short rushing attempt coming into this game. But Burrow made plays with his legs against Pittsburgh and was barely touched. The second-year quarterback was never uncomfortable, but he also only had to drop back just 19 times to assure the road victory.
He threw the ball very well, on time and in rhythm with precision. Despite getting it out quick, Burrow’s average completion came 7.1 yards past the line of scrimmage and his average attempt was 8.4 yards downfield. Burrow’s final stats (14 of 18, 172 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT) aren’t overwhelming, but he played very well.
Playmakers on defense
Let’s spotlight outside linebacker Melvin Ingram: He was called for a questionable roughing the passer penalty, didn’t wrap up on Tyler Boyd’s touchdown and did a fair amount of rushing from interior. Still, with T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith inactive, Ingram was the only edge pass rusher on this defense that won his matchups with any regularity, and, of course, the Bengals often leaned their protection schemes his way. There is no reason to be concerned with Ingram though. He’s a great player.
When healthy, Pittsburgh has the best defensive front in football with six impact players on the front line. In this game, the Steelers had just two of those six available.
This was the first time in 76 straight games the Steelers failed to record a sack. Cameron Heyward played extremely well, and his pass-rush created the Burrow interception. The interior of Cincinnati’s line had plenty of rough moments and many might not have noticed, but Isaiah Buggs’ play was promising and Chris Wormley’s performance on 91% of the defensive snaps were also impressive. Also, while Devin Bush did return from injury, neither he nor Joe Schobert greatly impacted this game.
Bengals playmakers step up
Running back Joe Mixon played a huge role and is a foundational player for Cincinnati. Immensely talented, he made sharp upfield cuts and broke tackles. Mixon ran for 90 yards on 14 carries, but really helped the Bengals control the game and they leaned on him from the start, especially when used as an outside zone runner stretching the Steelers’ defensive front laterally.
This is now three weeks in a row that Ja’Marr Chase has caught a long touchdown pass, this time in single coverage against James Pierre to give the Bengals a 14-7 halftime lead. That was the biggest play of the game and calling such an aggressive defense in that situation made little sense.
Chase’s second touchdown came after a horrendous Roethlisberger interception on a play in which Burrow just had all day to throw. Chase’s average depth of target in this game was 16.2 yards downfield. He is going to be a star in this league and a thorn in the Steelers side going forward. Chase and Boyd were the only Bengals’ pass catchers that were targeted more than twice, which is rather amazing.
The Steelers lack of pure speed at cornerback showed up without a dominant pass rush, and this was far from cornerback Joe Haden’s best day as a pro. Arthur Maulet did make a case for getting more snaps as the slot cornerback, albeit on just a dozen snaps out of a possible 47.
Cincinnati came out to open the second half using massive offensive personnel with extra offensive linemen and tight ends. And subsequently, ran the ball very well. The Steelers simply don’t have the depth on their defensive front to combat such a tactic. It was a little surprising that Cincinnati didn’t stick with this approach, but they were also dealing with some offensive line injuries of their own.
Give them credit
The Bengals are an improving football team. They are now 2-1 and have outscored opponents by 14 points through three games. They deserve all the credit in the world for this win, but the story here was just how poorly the Steelers played, especially when they had the football.
Buffalo hasn’t lost since Week 1 against the Steelers and has outscored opponents 78-21 since that game. The Raiders are undefeated, and the Bengals now have a winning record. These are not easy opponents. And the Steelers have been riddled by injuries without question. Still, the product Pittsburgh put on the field Sunday was well below the line.
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