The Bengals’ season was essentially ended by their bitter rivals on Sunday afternoon.
The Cincinnati Bengals’ season is essentially over. In yet another must-win game and this time in the AFC North, Cincinnati just couldn’t keep up with the Steelers’ offense. Here are the best and worst in the Bengals’ 38-44 loss to the Steelers.
Winners
Chase Brown:
With the Bengals in “catch-up mode” and having their offense off of the field for much of the latter half of the game, Brown’s stats and contributions got overshadowed. He was an all-around weapon again, garnering 100 total yards (70 rushing, 30 receiving) and a touchdown in this one.
Joseph Ossai:
A bad officiating call put the Bengals in a bad situation (so did their defense all afternoon), but they had a bailout. Even though he hasn’t rounded out as an ancillary edge defender, Ossai had a pivotal play in the game, blocking a field goal from the usually-automatic Chris Boswell.
Tee Higgins:
Joey Porter, Jr. had arguably one of the worst possible days as an NFL cornerback this Sunday. He was tasked with guarding Higgins most of the afternoon and was flagged for four penalties, while No. 5 had 69 yards and a score on Sunday.
Losers
Lou Anarumo:
On one hand, I think most can understand the approach from Anarumo against Russell Wilson. He’s been playing more of a brand of downfield passing, so Cincinnati’s defense, so they let them take the underneath stuff to avoid the big play.
However, the Bengals’ defense allowed the best first half of passing in Russell Wilson’s Hall of Fame career with 257 yards in the first two quarters alone. Anarumo’s unit had zero answers for the Steelers’ offense most of the afternoon.
Frank Pollack:
Orlando Brown, Jr.’s return was welcomed and Pollack and Co. made a change at left guard, but the curse of T.J. Watt continued. The future Hall of Fame edge defender made yet another huge play against the Bengals. Also, does anyone want to block Cameron Heyward?
Cody Ford:
It didn’t work. Cincinnati tried replacing the struggling Cordell Volson with the veteran and Heyward completely took over the game. Ford had a critical false start and a play later disaster ensued to spiral the game out of control.
Basically anyone in the secondary
Cam Taylor-Britt had some brilliant moments (a pick-six and a big hit on Calvin Austin III), but the secondary was largely an absolute mess. Geno Stone is playing horribly at safety and the Jordan Battle replacement theory for Vonn Bell didn’t pay off this week. No one is immune from criticism in this unit.
Additionally, Josh Newton struggled in his first extensive experience at corner and the team had zero answers for Wilson and Co. Just an absolutely embarrassing performance by the defense, which forced just one punt all day.
Charles Burks and Jordan Kovacs:
The Bengals’ secondary coaches need to be held responsible for a unit that has been atrocious, despite having guys like Cam Taylor-Britt, Geno Stone, and Mike Hilton, all of whom have played good football but now look lost in this defense.
The Bengals’ front office:
The disparity between the Steelers and Bengals franchises was painfully on display Sunday afternoon. A lack of finding trench answers and banking on woefully ineffective outside free agency acquisitions were part of the formula to a disastrous season.
Organizational vision, staffing, coaching, culture, contract handling and personnel should all be heavily under the microscope going into 2025. They are wasting Joe Burrow’s prime.
Zac Taylor:
You can’t lose to a hated division rival in a must-win, season-saving game by what very well could have been multiple possessions...you just can’t. Cincinnati put up a valiant fight through about three quarters, but it’s painfully obvious that the chasm between this version of the Bengals against the Ravens and Steelers is relatively wide—particularly in the trenches.
The optimists will point to the 1-7 record in one-point contests this year. It’s also an indictment of a lack of closing and/or seizing clutch moments, which could also be pinned on coaching.
