Losses to Cincinnati just hit different. As much as we may want to drink this one away – my Steelers loss pick-me-up of choice is a vanilla milkshake with rainbow sprinkles – it’s not “on to Green Bay” yet. It’s our duty to drink in the loss, learn what we can from it, and then we can forget about it and start thinking about the Packers. So, let’s take a deep breath and get right to it.
On WR Tyler Boyd’s TD catch, Devin Bush was in coverage. Boyd created separation with an inside-out move to get the first down. Bush saw Ingram coming from the other side, ready to lay a lick on Boyd, and Bush pulled out of the play. Boyd, however, absorbed Ingram’s shoulder tackle, changed direction and was able to get vertical and dive into the end zone. Minkah was also in the neighborhood:
During this week of preparation, Mike Tomlin and company were frequently asked about the ineffectiveness of the running game to date. Specifically, Derek Watt’s name was mentioned as a possible catalyst for success in the ground game. Here the Steelers’ OLine handles the Bengals’ DLine, but LB Logan Wilson was still free. Watt led the way and took a nasty hit, but the extra guy was able to buy Harris 4 yards where there were none:
Current Bengal and former Steeler CB Mike Milton had a “classy” return to the city that made him a millionaire.
Though he was demonstrative in celebration, he was burned more than a few times. On consecutive plays here he allows a catch to Claypool underneath and then was SEVERELY offside to draw a flag (unfortunately the play was whistled dead):
Chase Claypool was flagged twice in this game for offensive pass interference. This first one speaks for itself:
The Bengals aren’t the Bungles of yore. They’re not even “those guys get paid to play too” guys; they’ve got some legit talent on both sides of the ball. They have over $150 million invested in their defensive line, and that’s where they’ve gotten a lot of their production. Like this QBH by DE Sam Hubbard:
***ARTHUR MAULET TFL*** Maulet takes on the pulling RG, sheds the block and gets to Mixon. Mike Hilton who?
This was another sack by a big beefy Bengal: DT BJ Hill:. I’m not sure what Ben was trying to do here, but at the bottom of the screen to his left he had TE Pat Freiermuth calling for the ball, and he chose to take off to scramble right. I will say Najee needs to know his job is to run towards the QB in a scramble drill, not away from him:
At least the OLine was helping him up after he got knocked down this week (kudos to Alex Kazora at Steelers Depot for breaking that story).
Najee totaled only 40 yards of rushing on the day, but 20 of them came in this single scamper. Their most successful run of the day came out of a spread, 3-WR set, but you better believe there will be more questions about heavy packages and Derek Watt this week:
Harris had another nice catch-and-run here, but look at Claypool at the top of the screen here. I feel like Hines Ward wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to stick his nose in and make a tough block to help his guy bend the edge into the endzone:
Claypool took a pretty good lick from CB Eli Apple here. It came close to the head/neck area with very forcible contact on a defenseless receiver, but I like the no-call here. As long as my guy gets up, I’m not afraid of physical football.
The good news is there are reinforcements coming. TJ Watt and Alex Highsmith both sat out this game and the rotational pass rushers were DE Chris Wormley and a free agent OLB Derek Tuszka, behind Ingram and OLB Jamir Jones. The Steelers are going to improve at that position.
That missed tackled on Tyler Boys must have been bugging Minkah; look at him return the favor:
Here’s Ben’s second INT. He tries to force it into a tight window between two Bengals to Juju. But he doesn’t account for Logan Wilson dropping into coverage. Wilson has all three of Cincinnati’s interceptions on the season; he is to that team what MLB Joe Schobert was supposed to be to this team. Anyway, Ben had Najee open at the bottom of your screen, he had Derek Watt open at the top of your screen, but he forced it over the middle to his third down safety valve:
This incompletion to Claypool should have been a TD. Chase beat his man with a double move and the whole middle of the field was wide open, but Ben’s throw sailed to the outside and Claypool was visibly frustrated. For the second week in a row he misses an easy TD opportunity because of Ben’s ball placement:
Into the fourth quarter now. Another – against Mike Hilton here, getting beat one-on-one by WR Ray Ray McCloud on a deep fade:
You’ll see Claypool and McCloud at the bottom of your screen. Chase was a little too aggressive with the blocking and picked up his second OPI penalty of the day, but McCloud was also manhandled by his face mask on the play. There should have been offsetting penalties, replay the down:
The fans didn’t care for the Steelers’ decision to kick a field goal on 4th down after they had driven 88 yards on 18 plays. There was an uncomfortable moment between Ben and his coach after he came off the field:
Minkah had an assist on Edmunds’ INT earlier, and CB Jame Pierre almost paid him back here. Pierre reaches in to knock the pass away, and Minkah nearly scooped the tipped ball for what would have been a huge momentum shift:
This alarmed me at first; I thought I was looking at #93 MLB Joe Schobert split up wide covering a wide-out. Upon further review it was Joe Mixon, but still alarming to see a guy with a number in the 90’s covering on the outside:
Another instance of Claypool slacking in the blocking game. I’ve loved the player ever since he was drafter, but I wish I had seen more from his off-ball play today. I realize he was dealing with cramps intermittently, but if you’re too hurt to block you probably shouldn’t be on the field at all.
I won’t make you watch the infamous 4th & 10, but this is the 3rd & 10 that set it up. This throw to Ebron at the goal line isn’t technically a drop; it appears S Von Bell got a finger in there to tip it ever so slightly, but Ben was clearly frustrated afterwards:
The Steelers ended the game with three consecutive drops. Tyler Boyd said after the game that the Steelers players quit on Mike Tomlin, and I have a hard time disagreeing. Take a look and see what you think:
Well, it mostly wasn’t pretty. There were some diamonds in the rough, but a ton of room to improve. The protection needs to get better – both for Ben and the running game. Most of all this team needs to get healthy. Look for a post later this week when the first injury report is released.
Steely Cam 