It was supposed to be a get-right game against a two-win team, which is an excellent phase to end a two-game halt on Monday night football.com and reclaim the AFC North Crown for the first time since 2017.
Instead, it was a confusion.
Instead of capturing the division, Pittsburgh State reduced their third straight loss to a 27-17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals to lead the Steelers to an 11-match winning streak against the franchise.
The Steelers entered Monday night’s game as a 14.5-point favorite. With the loss, they matched their biggest upset defeat since 1966.
Week 15 marked the fourth time in the Super Bowl era that two underdogs of 14+ points had won outright, including the Rams’ defeat to the Jets on Sunday.
Ben Rothlisberger, the 38-year-old Steelers quarterback, looked at every age in his opening half, putting together two quarterback performances that led to the worst offensive effort of any first half in his 17-season Steelers career.
In addition to setting new goals in play yards () and play per yard (1.4), the Steelers also moved to the first half with Rothlisburger to match their short-term first downs (2) and most turnovers (). 17-point halftime deficit.
The Bengals took those three turnovers – two fumbles and one interception – and turned them into two touchdowns and field goals.
Instead of relying on a short pass, Rothlisberger came out and tried a long and intermediate throw that seems to have been missing from the offense for the past few weeks. But he had no success in pushing the ball down the field, working incorrectly and knocking out his receivers.
The drops that had put his receivers in trouble in recent games were not a problem. Rothlisburger’s throws weren’t just on target.
Rothlisburger failed to complete any of his seven throws of 10+ air yards in the first half, and six of them were intercepted by the Bengals or even the defenders of the Bengals.
For the first time in 20 seasons, including the post-season, the Steelers went 3-in-out on their first five assets, including two scats that led to 10 points for the Bengals. It was the first time since 3 weeks of 2017 on the Bears that they lost two wickets in the first quarter.
The Stats failed to get a first week in the quarter for the first time in 2018, with Week 8 vs. Browns 2018. His first down came with less than 10 minutes to go into the second quarter.
The Steelers started to come out of the three-score hole in the third quarter as Rothlisberg hit 7 of 10 passes for 89 yards and Dionte Johnson touched down on a 23-yard deep strike – the first completion of his 10+ air yard on Monday night.
Playing without James Kerner, who was ruled out due to a quad injury before Monday’s game, the run game once again did not exist in the first half. But this time, Benny Snell came alive in the second half with runs of 13 and 29 yards. The 29-yard advantage was the longest run by the Steelers after 2 weeks when Connor picked up 59 yards.
Yet, that was not enough.
Rothlisberger completed 20 of 20 attempts for 170 yards with a touchdown and an interception to the game, which is enough to give him 60,000 passing yards in his career.
The offense of the Bengals, led by third-line quarterback Ryan Finley, was wearing the Steelers defense playing with significant injuries to the linebackers inside him.
Finlay used his foot in the crucial drive to create a 23-yard game-ceiling touchdown late in the third quarter and early in the fourth.
Prior to Monday night’s game, the Steelers were of the opinion that a three-game stretch in 12 days contributed to the first two losses of their season. He believes this week is an opportunity to reclaim his signature materiality and finally get the much-needed week of preparation. Instead, the offense stumbled again, and so did the Steelers.
The report used ESPN statistics and data research.
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