CINCINNATI — Good thing Mike Tomlin challenged his players on the critical nature of meeting the Cincinnati Bengals.
Imagine what might have happened if he pretended it wasn’t a big game.
You thought the first 45 minutes of what happened in Los Angeles last week was embarrassing? This made that performance look like a coaches’ clinic.
“If we do what we did out there today, we won’t win another game,” defensive end Cam Heyward said.
If the Steelers were intent on paying back the Bengals for what happened at Heinz Field or trying to end a two-game winless streak or merely just wanting to remain relevant in the AFC North, they had a funny way of showing it. They were manhandled and exposed by the Bengals, 41-10, at Paul Brown Stadium, matching the worst defeat in Tomlin’s 15-year tenure.
Coming on the heels of their 41-34 loss to the Chargers, it’s the most points the Steelers have allowed in back to-back games since Tomlin became coach in 2007. The old record was 74, set in 2013 in losses to the Chicago Bears (40-23) and Minnesota Vikings (34-27) in Weeks 3-4.
“You can’t keep playing like this,” said outside linebacker T.J. Watt. “It’s absolutely embarrassing.”
If Bengals receiver Tyler Boyd thought the Steelers quit in a 24-10 loss in Week 3 at Heinz Field, he must have thought they even failed to show up on Sunday. It was 31-3 at halftime, and it was no accident. The defense couldn’t stop running back Joe Mixon, who had 117 of his career-high 165 yards in the first half; or quarterback Joe Burrow, who completed 10 of his first 11 passes for 117 yards.
“I’m not going to make any excuses,” Heyward said. “We sucked out there today. We dropped the ball.”
It was the Bengals’ third consecutive victory over the Steelers, the first time they have done that since 1990. If you’re wondering if the tide has turned in a series dominated by the Steelers, the Bengals (7-4) have outscored the Steelers in two games this season 65-20.
“We have to stop this before any of this starts to unravel and become bigger than it already is,” Watt said.
It was an alarming performance by the Steelers (5-5-1), who haven’t won since their 15-10 victory in Cleveland. Tomlin delivered a very public message to his players during the week, saying he’s not going to “play it cool and pretend like it’s not” a big game for his team. “This is significant AFC North football for us,” he said at the time.
That message apparently did nothing to motivate the Steelers, who fell behind by 28 at halftime after the Bengals scored 21 points in the second quarter. One week after allowing 533 yards to the Chargers, they surrendered 261 yards to the Bengals in the first half. If you’re keeping score at home, that’s 794 yards in a six-quarter span.
“We stunk it up today,” Tomlin said. “We don’t play football like that, but we have been the last couple weeks.”
Ben Roethlisberger, who was the only quarterback in the league to not throw an interception since Week 5, threw two in the first half — one that was returned 50 yards by cornerback Eli Apple to set up a field goal, the other a 24-yard touchdown return by former teammate Mike Hilton.
It was such a bad outing for Roethlisberger in a stadium where he owned a 14-3 lifetime record that he also fumbled on a sack in the third quarter, leading to a field goal. And don’t be fooled by the 263 passing yards. Most of that came after it was 41-3 and Tomlin left him and the other starters in the game because “we need the work,” he said.
“I thought the guys were ready to go,” Roethlisberger said. “It got away from us too quick. At that point, you’re trying to do anything you can.”
The Steelers looked to be well on their way to their worst loss in 32 years when Mixon scored on a 1-yard run early in the fourth quarter to make it 41-3. The 38-point differential would have eclipsed the worst previous loss under Tomlin — 34-3 in Philadelphia in 2016.
But Roethlisberger’s 15-yard touchdown strike to tight end Pat Freiermuth with 2:59 remaining prevented it from being the worst franchise defeat since a 51-0 loss to the Cleveland Browns in the 1989 season opener.
“It wasn’t something any of us were proud of,” Watt said.
After rushing for just 45 yards in the first meeting at Heinz Field, the Steelers managed only 51 yards on 15 carries this time — the longest a 13-yard run by Kalen Ballage. Conversely, the Bengals did what every team seems to do against the Steelers these days — they rushed for 198 yards on 38 attempts, an average of 5.2 yards per carry.
And they wasted no time doing it. Mixon’s first carry was for 25 yards on the second play of the game. Eight of the 10 plays on their opening touchdown drive were runs, accounting for 61 of the 75 yards.
Since holding the Browns to 96 yards rushing on Halloween, the Steelers have allowed an average of 180.5 yards rushing the past four games.
“We couldn’t stop the run,” Watt said. “That’s been a common theme for way too long.”
The Steelers will likely get one last chance to stay afloat in the AFC postseason picture when they play host to the division-leading Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. But, unless something changes, there is little reason to expect a dramatic turnaround in the final six games.
“There’s a whole lot that needs to be cleaned up,” Heyward said.
