Untimely big play again plagues Steelers’ depleted defense in loss to Bengals

The actual word he used was slightly less tasteful, but the way unit captain Cameron Heyward described the Pittsburgh Steelers defense’s effort Sunday was that it “stunk.”

Safety Terrell Edmunds termed it “not acceptable at all.”

Those assessments belie the statistics associated with Sunday’s loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Steelers allowed season lows in yards (258) and first downs (12). Even the 24 points the Bengals scored is no better than an average output for a modern offense.

So why was the Steelers defense so cranky after the game? Start with a second consecutive defeat, 24-10, that dropped them to 1-2 this season, of course. But the timely plays the Bengals made compelled Steelers defenders to shoulder blame for the loss.

“If we want to be a successful defense, we’ve got to get off the field. We can’t have penalties. We can’t give up big plays,” Heyward said. “For our younger guys and just for our team in general, this is an example what not to do. And what better way to learn from it.”

The most disappointing aspect of the day for the defense was what little resistance it offered the Bengals on the drive immediately following the Steelers only touchdown of the game.

Pat Freiermuth’s score with 64 seconds before halftime tied the score and provided a stark and sudden momentum shift after a listless first half in which Cincinnati held a 7-0 lead. But instead of going into halftime tied, the Bengals marched 75 yards in three plays to take a lead they would not relinquish.

Remember when people thought Ja’Marr Chase couldn’t catch????
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— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 26, 2021

“The offense went down there and scored; we have to get off the field there,” Edmunds said. “We have to … figure out what we can do there in that situation.”

Until that point, in almost an entire half, the Steelers had allowed just 95 yards, three first downs and seven points.

Over 27 seconds on the Bengals’ fifth drive, though, quarterback Joe Burrow had completions of 7, 19 and 34 yards and the Bengals were handed another 15 yards on a Melvin Ingram roughing-the-passer penalty.

“For a 2-minute drive, we’ve got to get off the field. It starts with a penalty and ends with a touchdown,” Heyward said.

The touchdown was a connection between two former LSU, national championship-winning teammates, Burrow to Ja’Marr Chase. It went 34 yards with Chase beating James Pierre down the left sideline.

“It was a lot of fun,” Burrow said. “I mean, Ja’Marr came to me before that play and he was like, ‘Just throw it up to me, just throw it.’ And so I was like, ‘OK, I’ll just throw it up.’ And he went and got it.”

The sequence from the Steelers’ perspective was alarmingly similar to what happened seven days prior in the home opener. Just 100 seconds after a Najee Harris touchdown had pulled the Steelers to within 2 points of the Las Vegas Raiders and flipped momentum, the Raiders’ Derek Carr and Henry Ruggs connected on a 61-yard touchdown that proved the seminal moment of the game.

Moments like those have cast a pall on the outlook for a Steelers’ defense that began the season with such hope after a dominating effort in a win at the Buffalo Bills. Even with starters T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Tyson Alualu and Stephon Tuitt injured, Heyward quickly retorted the defense has “no excuses.”

The same can be said for an overall effort that wasn’t bad – except at a critical juncture when it needed to be.

“You can’t give up deep balls or big plays, particularly in situational,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “That’s two weeks in a row on third-down-and-10 we gave up a deep ball in a significant moment. We’re in 2-minute ball, and we gave up another one.”

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