Bengals Aren’t Good, Steelers Are Worse

Steelers lose again. Again, neither team looks great.

For the second straight week the Pittsburgh Steelers faced a less than impressive opponent—last week it was the Tennessee Titans, this time it was the Cincinnati Bengals—and for the second straight week they looked substantially worse than their subpar opposition.

In their 20-10 loss to the Bengals, the Steelers were a nightmarish 3-12 on third down conversions, having rushed for two of them on the night. They generated just 278 yards of total offense on 12 drives and 55 plays.

Again quarterback Ben Roethlisberger looked solid, given the circumstances. He completed 20-of-37 passes, averaging 6.8 yards per pass, with one touchdown and one interception. Considering the ground game remains an absolute non-factor for Pittsburgh—they rushed for 44 yards on 16 attempts—Roethlisberger’s performance looks even better by comparison.

That being said, if it wasn’t for the efforts of Cincinnati running backs BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Giovani Bernard who combined for over 110 yards on the ground, who knows how the Bengals would have fared against the Steelers.

Quarterback Andy Dalton wasn’t terribly efficient going 24-of-45 passing for 280 yards and a touchdown. But he didn’t take any sacks and he didn’t turn the ball over—pretty much all it seems is going to take to beat the division rival Steelers this year.

So much like the Titans last week, the Bengals (and their fans) might want to wait and see how they look next week before making any real assessments. They’ll be playing the Green Bay Packers at home on Sunday, which will be a much more relevant measuring stick for the future prospects of the likely division-winning Bengals.

Monday night was the first of four prime-time appearances for the Steelers this season—they actually play the Chicago Bears next Sunday night—which means we’re in for a lot more terrible football in the spotlight.