What once looked like a magical season has begun to crash down to earth. The Steelers dropped their third game in a row and fell to the hapless Bengals. It was the first division loss for the Steelers this season and it put a division title on hold if not in jeopardy.
Ben Roethlisberger looked lost and worn out on Monday night, his slump continued. He played the worst half of football in his career with an abysmal 5 for 13 and a paltry NEGATIVE TWO yards. He looked confused and out of synch all night. Roethlisberger would finish 20-38 for 170 yards and accounted for two turnovers. That yielded 10 points for the Bengals.
The receivers too are playing poorly after a great start, JuJu Smith-Schuster has all but vanished from the offense, only making his presence known with a fumble, that pretty much sealed the Steelers fate and a TickTock dance ritual that is driving EVERYONE crazy. Diontae Johnson had a nice bounce back game and led the team in catches, Chase Claypool made a nice play for 37-yards.
The running game showed flashes of life and Benny Snell racked up 84 yards on the ground and grinded through the game. It was a nice effort for Snell, once again the Steelers struggled though to convert short yardage situations and it cost them.
The shorthanded defense hung in there but wore down as the game went on. The Bengals blasted the Steelers front for 152 yards. Giovani Bernard had 83 tough yards on the ground, fighting for every inch of his gains. Ryan Finley had the back breaker with a 23-yard scramble. He could never find his niche passing and the Steelers did lay him out with two sacks, but he made the plays when he needed to.
T.J. Watt’s production is hurt without Bud Dupree and Alex Highsmith has not been a huge factor since taking over.
The special teams played well and had a good week. Jordan Berry average over 50 yards per punt…and there were a lot of them. Ray-Ray McCloud had a 30-yard kick return. The coverage units seemed to fix any of the leaks and hopefully things are trending up.
The Steelers coaches need to do some real soul searching. The Washington game was a breakdown, this was an implosion. The Steelers completely fell apart in the first half yielding 17 points on turnovers and the mistakes on defense are really about gap integrity and non-disciplined play. After a valiant effort at the beginning of last season the Steelers collapsed losing the last three, this team looks like they are on the verge of another catastrophic collapse.
Just for the record, the refs last night were atrocious again. They missed several key calls including a game breaking pass interference call. They also missed several cheap shots by both teams. The Monday Football announce crew is absolutely horrible. The game was nearly unwatchable.
Regaining some semblance of a running game and getting back a few of the starters on defense should help. Otherwise, a once promising season will be a footnote in history!
BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!
My “GAME BEER” goes to: Benny Snell, he played tough grind it out football and showed some glimpses of a running game. Also Considered: Diontae Johnson, who had a nice bounce back game.
Where I watched the game: At the house with KGB and the Tailgate Kids (At least two of them).In the “Steel the Snacks”, KGB made Cincinnati Coney Hot Dogs, loaded with chilly, onions and cheese. The dogs were phenomenal and no kidding the Steelers turned it around at least for a little while when they came out. I had Bushwick Lager Pounders (They came in a black and gold can which is why I picked them) and KGB had Harpoon Holiday! Dante had A&W Root Beer. Need to make some changes on the beers and such.
My Stat of the week: Stat of the week 3-6 over the last two years in the Month of December. The Steelers historically thrive this team of year…the last two years they have faded down the stretch. The first half was one of the worst I have ever seen the Steelers play.
My Thoughts on next week: The Steelers need a win desperately to clinch the division. The Bengals seem like the likely candidate, they now must face down a game Colts team and then possibly play for the Division title against the resurgent Browns. The Steelers have got to win out now.
This week’s Jersey: No Jersey this week because it was a Prime-Time game.