What a difference one week makes, after scoring a paltry three points in an embarrassing loss at New England, the Steelers put up 30 on the Cincinnati Bengals.
Glimpses of the Head Coach Mike McCarthy offense have begun to show. He had a good early rhythm with his play-calling that staked the Steelers to early leads, and Aaron Rodgers set the tone right out of the gate with some precision throws for big plays. Rodgers was a perfect 3-for-3 on the opening drive, capping it off with a pretty ball to Roman Wilson for a 38-yard touchdown less than two minutes into the game. On the first three drives, Rodgers was 10-for-14 as Pittsburgh built a 17-10 lead.
The Bengals’ pass rush got to him a couple of times in the second half, but Rodgers finished 19-for-34 for 292 yards and three touchdowns. His lone interception was a perfect pass that Wilson dropped and landed right in the hands of Bengals safety Jordan Battle, who returned it to near midfield to set up a Cincinnati score just before halftime. The pressure was on the offense after two bad games to start the season, and Rodgers made sure his unit jumped the Bengals off the bus.
The Steelers leaned on Jaylen Warren early and late, and he responded with one of the best games of his career. Getting the bulk of the workload with Rico Dowdle out, Warren had 176 yards from scrimmage and turned in big play after big play. He’ll have to live with getting caught from behind on a couple of plays and tripping over the fifteen-yard line short of the end zone late in the game, but he was the driving force behind the offense. The run game got going early and opened up the passing game for Rodgers, that’s exactly how McCarthy designed the offense and it worked perfectly.
Pittsburgh had five players with receptions of 20 yards or more, including Darnell Washington’s 47-yard catch-and-run that set up the game-winning field goal late in the fourth quarter. Backed up at their own 21-yard line, Rodgers flipped a pass short to Washington, who tiptoed down the sideline all the way to the Bengals’ 32. Washington led all Steelers receivers with 67 yards. Roman Wilson, Ben Skowronek, and DK Metcalf all caught touchdown passes, with Skowronek grabbing his first TD reception since Week 1 of last season.
There were still mistakes that need to be addressed. Metcalf was called for holding twice, including one that wiped out an 87-yard run by Warren. There are also still hiccups with the overall offensive operation. The Steelers blew through their three first-half timeouts by the midpoint of the second quarter because they couldn’t get the play call communicated in time, and they had to burn timeouts again in the second half in similar situations. It didn’t haunt them yesterday, but there will be games where they’ll desperately need those timeouts.
The changes on the offensive line seemed to eliminate some of the pass protection issues from the first two weeks. Brock Hoffman and Max Iheanachor made their first starts of the season and kept Rodgers clean for the most part. Dexter Lawrence had two second-half sacks, but there were clean pockets for most of the afternoon. Meanwhile, the tandem of Troy Fautanu and Mason McCormick paved the way for Warren, whose best runs came on the left side. The Steelers averaged 6.0 yards per carry, and it would have been higher if not for Metcalf’s holding penalty.
On defense, the Steelers’ only sack of the game came in the final minute, but boy, did Derrick Harmon make it count. With the Bengals driving for the potential tying or winning score, the second-year defensive lineman strip-sacked Joe Burrow. Sebastian Joseph-Day recovered the fumble, saving the game for Pittsburgh.
Burrow got rid of the ball so quickly that it neutralized edge rushers T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Nick Herbig. The key on the Harmon fumble was that the edge rushers stayed in their rush lanes, giving Burrow no avenue to escape the pocket. Inside linebacker Patrick Queen led the defense with 13 tackles. It was a quiet day for Cam Heyward (1 tackle) and Keeanu Benton (0 tackles), and Bengals back Chase Brown averaged 4.7 yards per carry, though his longest run was held to 13 yards.
This was also the first time the Steelers truly missed cornerback Joey Porter Jr. Just before halftime, Tee Higgins bodied up Asante Samuel Jr. in the end zone for a 28-yard touchdown, using his six-inch height advantage to box him out. Samuel was also in coverage when Ja’Marr Chase caught a 3-yard touchdown in the first quarter. Rookie Daylen Everette replaced Samuel for much of the second half to counter the size mismatch. On Cincinnati’s go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth, a blown coverage on 4th-and-2 allowed tight end Mike Gesicki to get behind the defense for an easy score. In the end, Burrow is one of the NFL’s elite quarterbacks, and the defense held him under 300 yards when it mattered most.
On special teams, Skowronek recovered a muffed punt early in the fourth quarter, leading to Chris Boswell’s game-tying field goal. Boswell was a perfect 3-for-3 on the day, including two clutch kicks in the fourth quarter. However, special teams coach Danny Crossman has to address a leaky kickoff coverage unit that allowed 26.3 yards per return, leading to 10 Bengals points off favorable starting field position. Meanwhile, returner Kaden Wetjen needs to run more vertically up the field rather than bouncing returns outside.
It wasn’t completely seamless, but finding a way to beat a division rival on the road after a brutal week is a massive step forward.
BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!
My “GAME BEER” goes to: Jaylen Warren. He was the absolute engine of the offense today with 176 yards from scrimmage, setting the tone on the ground and opening up the entire playbook for Rodgers. Also Considered: Derrick Harmon for the game-saving strip-sack on Burrow, and Aaron Rodgers for bouncing back sharply with 3 TDs.
Steel the Snacks: I am traveling on business so watched the game at a corporate event.
My stat of the week: 6.0 yards per carry. After struggling to establish any semblance of a ground attack over the first two weeks, the Steelers averaged 6.0 yards per rush against the Bengals, a mark that would have been significantly higher if not for Warren’s wiped-out 87-yarder.
My thoughts on next week: As in three days, the Steelers head to Cleveland to battle the Browns. Todd Monken is going to be out for blood, after former Steelers coach Mike Tomlin called the Browns out. Opposing offensive coordinators are going to try to mimic Cincinnati’s quick passing game to neutralize the pass rush. It’s going to be up to defensive coordinator Patrick Graham to come up with a counter and get his best playmakers in position to affect the game. On offense, if McCarthy continues to let Warren drive the bus and keeps Rodgers in a rhythm early, this team can build some real momentum.
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