Cincinnati Bengals defense fails to get stops in loss to Pittsburgh Steelers | Takeaways

The statistics say Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterback Russell Wilson had one of the better days of his NFL career against the Cincinnati Bengals, but the Bengals' defense allowed Wilson to pad the box score.

After throwing a first-quarter interception returned 51 yards for a touchdown by Cam Taylor-Britt, Wilson settled down and delivered a performance that amounted to his most passing yards in more than four years. Wilson went 29-of-38 passing for 414 yards (or 10.3 yards per completion) as the Steelers downed the Bengals, 44-38, Sunday at Paycor Stadium before a crowd of 66,112.

Pittsburgh improved its AFC North-leading record to 9-3. Cincinnati fell to 4-8 ahead of its trip to AT&T Stadium to play the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football on Dec. 9 (8:15 p.m., ESPN).

In addition to his 414 yards passing, Wilson struck for three touchdown passes, finding George Pickens, Pat Freirmuth and Calvin Austin III. Five Steelers combined for 110 rushing yards, too. Najee Harris logged a game-high 75 yards and one touchdown.

Opposite Wilson, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow on Sunday went 28-of-38 passing for 309 yards. His day included touchdown tosses to Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Andrei Iosivas. It also featured two fumbles (one returned for a touchdown by Pittsburgh's Payton Wilson), and an interception. Burrow was also sacked four times.

In a half-empty stadium and with many fans departing, Burrow still managed to set the Bengals up to have a chance to win it late. At 44-38 and with the Steelers facing a third down-and-long situation coming out of the two-minute warning, a stop would have given Cincinnati the ball back, potentially for the final drive of the game.

In a likely running scenario, the Bengals saw Pittsburgh backup quarterback Justin Fields clinch the win for the visitors with a seven-yard run on a quarterback keeper. Fields slid in-bounds to keep the clock moving, and two further plays out of the victory formation polished off what remained of the game clock.

"Not enough to win," Burrow said of the 31 points he helped produce. "Some good, some bad. Just like every week... We just haven't executed the way we needed to."

The story of this game was a narrative that should be familiar to Bengals fans, and the headline was that the defense struggled again on a day when the offense more than held up its end of the bargain.

"I'm not going to say (the defense) gave up 44 − you give up 37 points," Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said afterward. "You've just got to find ways to get stops. That starts with tackling. Credit to their offense. I thought they did a great job. I thought Arthur (Smith, Steelers' offensive coordinator) had a great game plan and they executed it, kept us off balance, kept themselves in really manageable second downs and that shows by the score."

Bengals defense vs Steelers

Taylor-Britt picked off Wilson and returned it 51 yards for a touchdown. Taylor-Britt had his hands all over wideout George Pickens on the play and it certainly looked as though the referees missed a pass interference call. Still, it was a good grab and Taylor-Britt's return was a smooth and patient one.

Any goodwill generated by the interception return was cancelled out by halftime, though, as the Bengals' defense labored to make fundamental tackles and didn't make another stop until the third quarter. The Steelers scored on each of their five drives to close the first half following the pick-six and took a 27-21 lead into the intermission. Pittsburgh amassed 310 yards by halftime.

By game's end, Pittsburgh had racked up a season-high 524 yards − an average yardage of 7.9 per play. The 37 points scored by the Steelers' offense was also a season-best.

When the Steelers weren't reaching the end zone, kicker Chris Boswell was taking care of business as he lashed home 3 of 4 field-goal attempts and four successful point-after conversions.

The Bengals managed just three stops on the day, including Taylor-Britt's interception and forced one Steelers' punt. A Boswell field-goal attempt was also blocked on the opening drive of the second half, which kept crucial points off the board.

Germaine Pratt disagreed with the assertion that missed tackles were key to Cincinnati's struggles, saying the Steelers hit on many attempts on screen plays, adding: "They weren't really doing too much. They were just getting the ball out quick."

Thirty-eight points usually would be enough to win most games. On Sunday, hanging 38 on Pittsburgh only served as window dressing for the Bengals' third straight loss.

The loss dropped Cincinnati to 1-7 in one-score games.

Burrow said he was still confident in the team's defense.

"I know the work that those guys put in," Burrow said. "They work really hard all week to go and put their best foot forward. There's been some tough games but there's been some good ones, too."

Bengals lose another winnable game

Pittsburgh's defense had its difficulties on the day, which made the Bengals' defensive struggles that much more frustrating.

The Steelers's defense conceded 31 points, and Chase (nine targets, six catches, 86 yards, one touchdown) and Higgins (10 targets, five catches, 69 yards, one touchdown) found spots to make an impact.

But the Steelers also disrupted the Bengals rhythm enough to outlast the prolific, Burrow-led unit.

T.J. Watt was a bully up front, registering two sacks, a game-high five quarterback hits and a game-high three tackles-for-loss.

While the Bengals were alive in the contest until basically the final minute, turnovers undid some of their efforts. The Wilson scoop-and-score with 11:14 to go in the fourth quarter made it 41-24, and proved to be the most costly turnover of the game.

The Steelers produced just three points from the Bengals two other turnovers, and the field goal Boswell made was from 50 yards.

"I guess some of it's some of those turnovers at the end of the game," Higgins said. "We can't have those. Yeah, we just can't have those turnovers... The defense played amazing. They played good enough to where we could have won the game. We can't have those turnovers like we did on offense, or the outcome could probably be totally different. We just have to figure it out and get it going."

How was Joe Burrow's wrist in the cold?

Burrow, who came out during pre-game introductions wearing a glove, didn't have his best day but his surgically repaired wrist didn't appear to be an impediment to his performance in sub-freezing temperatures.

There was some discussion leading up to the game about how the wrist would perform, given it was the first game for Burrow in truly cold temperatures since his wrist surgery. Even Burrow said he wasn't sure how his wrist would react to the conditions.

Afterward, Burrow said his biggest injury concern was a cut sustained after he was cleated in the first quarter.

Burrow's miscues didn't appear to result from any kind of discomfort other than that inflicted by the Steelers' defensive front. Burrow's two fumbles were caused by sacks, and his interception in the third quarter was tipped at the line of scrimmage by Pittsburgh's Cam Heyward.

At one point in the third quarter, Burrow appeared to have trouble with the hand warmer he wore around his waist. He tossed it aside and played without it, seemingly without any qualms in doing so. It was noticeable when Burrow made a fastening gesture at his waist toward his sideline, seemingly to indicate he wanted a new warmer to wear. But again, he played without it, too. And with large chucks of the game played in the shadow cast by the grandstands on the west sideline of the stadium, any quarterback likely would have wanted it.

Burrow cautioned that post-game ailments usually pop up hours and days after games are finished, but he seemed far more concerned with what he called a "gash" on his leg than the wrist.

A solid bounce-back game for Evan McPherson

Dogged by questions leading up to the Steelers game about his uncharacteristically inconsistent 2024, McPherson came out of the bye week strong enough. He connected on all five of his point-after kicks, plus a 38-yard field goal in the third quarter.

McPherson saw the ball sail through the uprights six times. No hiccups and eight points on the scoreboard. That's exactly what he needed.

McPherson missed two critical field goals late in Cincinnati's last game out, a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Nov. 17.

It can at least be said that McPherson wasn't the reason the Bengals lost to Pittsburgh.